Visa Acquirer Monitoring Programme Changes 2024: What’s New and How to Stay Compliant

Visa is changing its compliance framework with the updated Visa Acquirer Monitoring Programme (VAMP) which will affect European merchants, acquirers, and payment processors. We explore the upcoming changes which are designed to enhance fraud and dispute monitoring starting from 1st April 2025.

As part of Visa’s continuous efforts to streamline and enhance its monitoring programmes, Visa will retire its Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) by April 2025. These programmes will be replaced by the new refreshed VAMP, which aims to establish a more stringent framework for managing fraud and disputes, significantly impacting how merchants handle their compliance obligations.

VAMP: The Basics

VAMP is a component of Visa’s compliance programme suite, aimed at monitoring acquirers and their agents who surpass acceptable dispute and fraud thresholds. The key goal of VAMP is to safeguard the Visa brand by preventing fraudulent practices and reducing chargeback occurrences within the Visa network. Non-compliance can lead to corrective actions such as penalties, fees, and potential closure of merchant accounts. 

On a monthly basis, Visa will evaluate the performance of acquirers and their associated merchants. This evaluation includes a detailed analysis of non-fraud disputes for card-not-present transactions, instances of fraud, and enumeration performance. The assessment will be based on the overall sales activity of the preceding month.

Visa will strive to collaborate with acquirers to enhance the security of the payment ecosystem. As part of this partnership, a Visa representative may engage with acquirers to discuss performance metrics, remediation strategies, and any pertinent issues. Moreover, Visa will launch a performance tracking dashboard via OneERS, giving clients the tools to pinpoint the primary factors affecting their performance.

What’s Changing?

Visa is implementing new compliance criteria with VAMP, introducing a transaction count-based metric that combines both fraud and non-fraud disputes, including service, processing errors, and authorisation chargebacks. This change aims to simplify the management of acceptable dispute ratios. Acquirers and merchants often find it challenging to maintain an effective chargeback management system and navigate complex card scheme rules.

Additionally, Visa will enhance the monitoring of enumeration – attempted payments used to test card account numbers or credentials – using the Visa Account Attack Intelligence (VAAI) Score system. This new system will replace the current static Risk Operations Center (ROC)-blocked transactions, offering more precise and efficient monitoring

Furthermore, VAMP will shift from enforcement based on non-compliance assessments to a risk-based enforcement approach. This change aims to provide clients with greater flexibility and accommodate different levels of risk tolerance.

What Should Merchants and Acquirers Do?

VAMP is designed to encourage merchants to utilise Visa and Verifi’s dispute management services. Disputes resolved through Verifi CDRN or Visa Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) will not affect Visa monitoring ratios. This includes Order Insight, Compelling Evidence 3.0, and resolved TC40 notices via CDRN or RDR.

Impact on Merchants

Currently, all chargebacks influence a merchant’s chargeback ratio. Even if a refund is issued to avoid a chargeback, it can still negatively impact a merchant’s fraud-to-sales and dispute-to-sales ratios. Additionally, exceeding specified limits on these indicators can lead to higher processing fees and penalties.

With VAMP, European merchants can bypass the limitations of VDMP and VFMP by resolving disputes through specific Visa and Verifi channels. This will also enhance fraud protection across the Visa ecosystem.

Impact on Acquirers

The VAMP program is intended to help acquirers manage risk, fraud, and disputes within their portfolios more effectively. 

These changes aim to offer acquirers greater flexibility in managing their overall portfolios and improve their oversight of individual merchants.

How to Prepare

Both merchants and acquirers must understand and prepare for these changes to minimise risks and ensure compliance. It is important to be familiar with the new compliance criteria and utilise the OneERS platform for enhanced performance management. These changes are designed not only to protect the payment ecosystem but also to equip merchants and acquirers with the necessary tools to maintain compliance and mitigate the risks of fraud and disputes.

AJC’S VISA Audit Services

AJC is a trusted and VISA approved Global Acquirer Risk Standards (GARS) assessor, specialising in risk mitigation strategies. We guide acquirers and third-party agents and merchants through their risk remediation journeys, offering unbiased evaluations and realistic recommendations. Among the few VISA approved firms, AJC provides invaluable assistance and assurance to acquiring businesses and merchants directly with bespoke reviews and remediation approaches, engaging personally with all of our clients. Find out more.

Please contact us on 020 7101 4861 if you think we can help.

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