The short answer
VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) is Visa's current program for monitoring merchant chargeback and fraud patterns. It flags acquirers whose merchants exceed defined thresholds, with fines + remediation requirements that roll downhill to the merchant.
In plain English
Visa doesn't directly monitor you — they monitor your acquirer's merchant portfolio. When your chargeback ratio crosses the threshold, the acquirer gets flagged, which fires back to you through elevated fees, forced remediation, or account closure. The ratio is calculated monthly: chargebacks ÷ transactions × 100.
VAMP replaced two older programs (VMM and VDMP) in 2025-2026. The thresholds tightened in the merge.
How it shows up in your business
- Your acquirer's risk team starts paying attention at 0.65% (pre-threshold warning).
- At 0.9% for 1 month + $50k+ in chargebacks, you're flagged.
- Flagged status = higher fees, forced remediation plan, monthly reporting requirements.
- "Excessive" status at 1.8% = acquirer often closes the account.
- Representment wins don't retroactively lower the ratio; chargebacks count at filing, not resolution.
Numbers to know
Thresholds (current as of 2026):
- Below 0.65%: no action
- 0.65% - 0.9%: pre-threshold warning at the acquirer level
- 0.9% + $50k chargebacks: flagged as "standard" — remediation plan + elevated fees
- 1.8% + $50k chargebacks: "excessive" — enforcement actions, account closure risk high
Monthly fine for flagged merchants: $100-$25,000+ depending on tier + duration. 12 months flagged = typical account closure trigger.
Why multi-brand operators care
VAMP measures ratio at the MID (Merchant ID) level. Multiple brands on one parent merchant account pool the ratio — a spike on one brand can elevate the portfolio's number. Multiple brands on separate merchant accounts ≠ pooled. Operators choose: concentration (easier ops, higher portfolio risk) vs isolation (harder ops, lower portfolio risk). Parent merchant account structures make the tradeoff explicit and usually favor concentration once the ops simplification is factored in.