Visa is keeping a scorecard on your business. Every chargeback counts against it. So does every time a customer tells their bank “I did not make that charge,” even if you refund them, and even if it never becomes an official chargeback.
Most business owners have never heard of this program. In one 2026 survey, nearly a third of merchants could not say whether it affects them. That is not a knowledge failure on your part. The program officially applies to payment processors, so most processors never explain it to the businesses whose numbers are being counted.
It is called VAMP, and here is the plain English version, including the one number worth remembering.
What is VAMP?
VAMP stands for Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. Think of it as a monthly report card. Visa adds up two things: your chargebacks, and your fraud reports, which happen every time a cardholder tells their bank a charge was fraud. It divides that total by your number of online, phone, and invoice card sales for the month. That percentage is your score.
Two things make this different from the old rules. Fraud reports and chargebacks used to be counted separately, and now they count together. And a fraud report sticks even if you refund the customer. Once their bank files it, it has already been counted.
“I only do 100 sales a month. Why does this matter to me?”
Fair question, and here is the honest answer.
Visa’s official penalty line is aimed at big companies. A business does not hit it without at least 1,500 chargebacks and fraud reports in a single month. You will likely never see that number in your life.
But you are being measured on a percentage, and small numbers make scary percentages. According to Chargebacks911, a large dispute management firm, processors can face fines for any merchant whose score goes above 0.3%. That is 3 disputes per 1,000 sales. If you process 100 sales a month, one single dispute puts you at 1%. Three times over that line, from one unhappy customer.
One bad month will not usually end an account, but a pattern of them gets you flagged. And your processor is not waiting for Visa to act, because Visa grades the processor on the combined score of every business it serves. Processors protect their own report card first, with holds, reserves, and closed accounts.
If you use Stripe or Square, this is a big part of why accounts get frozen suddenly with no warning and no person to call. The math above is running in the background on every account, automatically.
The fee you see and the fines you do not
You probably already know the chargeback fee. Your processor charges it every time a dispute comes in, usually somewhere between $15 and $45, and you pay it whether you win the dispute or not.
VAMP fines are a separate thing. Visa charges them to processors, $4 to $8 for each dispute, when scores get too high. Some processors pass that cost along to merchants as a line item of their own, sometimes labeled a VAMP fee, and in my experience they do not apply it to everyone. If a fee like that shows up on your statement, ask your processor exactly what triggered it. And if you are not sure what you are looking at, here is how to read your merchant statement.
How do you keep your score down?
The fixes are ordinary, and they work.
- Make sure customers recognize you on their card statement. A huge share of disputes start with “I do not recognize this charge.” Look at what name actually shows up next to your charges. In one 2026 survey, only about half of business owners knew.
- If you bill customers on a schedule, send a reminder before the charge. The cheapest dispute is the one that never happens.
- Answer customer messages fast. A customer who cannot reach you calls their bank instead.
- Do not count on refunds to fix things after the fact. A refund can be the right call for the customer relationship, but it does not remove a fraud report.
- Ask your processor two questions: “What is my dispute ratio?” and “Am I set up on Visa’s programs that resolve disputes before they count against me?” Those programs exist, they are the escape hatch built into VAMP, and your processor is the one who has to set them up. If the answer is a blank stare, that tells you something.
Frequently asked questions
Does VAMP apply to in-person payments?
No. The score only counts card-not-present sales, meaning online, phone, and invoice payments. In-person disputes still cost you money, but they do not feed this score.
Why is there a “VAMP fee” on my statement?
Visa fines processors when dispute scores climb, and some processors pass that cost to their merchants as a separate line item. Not every processor does it, and not every merchant gets charged. If you see one, ask your processor exactly what triggered it and whether it will keep appearing.
If I refund a customer who claims fraud, does that fix my score?
No, and this surprises almost everyone. The fraud report is filed by the cardholder’s bank, and it counts the moment it exists. Refunding may still be the right call for the relationship, but it is not an eraser.
Can a high score get my merchant account closed?
It can. Processors usually act well before Visa fines them, and in serious cases a closed account can also land a business on an industry watchlist called the MATCH list, which makes getting the next account much harder. The MATCH list deserves its own post, and it is coming.
Not sure where your score stands?
If you do not know your dispute numbers, or your processor cannot tell you, reach out through my contact form and I will help you figure out where you stand. No pressure and no sales script. It is a five minute conversation that can save you a very expensive surprise.
About the author: Julie Franke is a Certified Payments Professional (CPP) and has led Electronic Merchant Services since 2015. She has worked in payments since 2009 and specializes in helping high-risk and high-ticket businesses get approved, stay approved, and keep their money moving. EMS has served business owners since 2001.