Visa’s VAMP Thresholds Drop to 1.5% on April 1: Are You Ready?

On April 1, 2026, the safety net for Visa's VAMP thresholds gets significantly smaller. 

For merchants and acquirers operating on the edge of compliance, this date isn't just another square on the calendar; it's a potential tipping point. Businesses that are compliant today could wake up facing penalties, increased fees, and operational scrutiny overnight.

The transition to the unified Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) has already reshaped the dispute landscape. But the upcoming tightening of the dispute and fraud ratio from 2.2% down to a strict 1.5% for merchants in key global regions represents the most significant challenge yet.

This post breaks down exactly what the April 1 deadline means for your bottom line, explores the tangible risks of inaction, and explains why proactive fraud prevention is no longer optional. It's essential for survival.

The New Reality: What Changes on April 1, 2026?

The VAMP framework was designed to simplify Visa's risk monitoring by combining fraud reports and dispute counts into a single metric: the VAMP ratio. While the initial rollout provided some breathing room, that grace period is coming to a close.

The Threshold Shrinks Significantly

The most critical change arriving on April 1 is the reduction of the "Excessive" threshold for merchants. Currently set at 2.2%, this limit will drop to 1.5%.

This change applies to merchants in major markets, including North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. While a 0.7% difference might sound small on paper, in the world of high-volume transaction processing, it represents a massive reduction in the margin for error. A merchant processing 100,000 transactions a month with 2,000 combined fraud and dispute instances is currently "safe" at a 2.0% ratio. Come April, that same merchant will be deep in the red zone, triggering immediate enforcement protocols.

The End of the Warning Tier

Unlike previous monitoring programs, which often included "early warning" systems or "standard" tiers that served as a yellow traffic light, VAMP’s merchant structure is far more binary.

There is no "Above Standard" or warning tier for merchants under these new rules. You are either compliant (below 1.5%), or you are "Excessive" (1.5% and above). If your ratio hits 1.6% on April 1, you don't get a warning letter; you get entered into the enforcement program immediately. This leaves little room for reactive adjustments once the deadline passes.

The High Cost of Crossing the Line

Falling into the "Excessive" category isn't just a compliance headache; it carries immediate financial and operational consequences that can erode profit margins and damage business relationships.

Immediate Financial Penalties

The VAMP fee structure is designed to incentivize rapid compliance. Once a merchant crosses the 1.5% threshold (and meets the minimum count of 1,500 disputes/fraud instances), the meter starts running.

Merchants are charged $8 per fraudulent or disputed transaction each month they remain in the program. If you have 2,000 disputes in a month, you are looking at $16,000 in direct penalties on top of the lost revenue and standard chargeback fees.

For acquirers, the stakes are equally high. Acquirers face portfolio-level assessments, paying $4 per dispute for "Above Standard" performance and $8 per dispute for "Excessive" levels. This fee structure transforms a high-risk merchant from a revenue generator into a direct liability.

Increased Acquirer Scrutiny

Because acquirers are now financially penalized for the risk in their portfolios, their tolerance for high-risk merchants is plummeting. VAMP incentivizes acquirers to manage their portfolios aggressively.

If your ratio threatens your acquirer's standing with Visa, expect immediate pressure. This could take the form of demands for immediate remediation plans, requirements to hold larger rolling reserves, and even threats of account termination or "offboarding" to protect the acquirer's wider portfolio.

Shifting from Reactive to Proactive Defense

Many merchants rely on chargeback mitigation tools that fight disputes after they happen. In the VAMP era, this reactive strategy is a recipe for failure.

Why Reactive Tools Are No Longer Sufficient

Strategies like rules-based "alert" networks or rapid resolution services have their place, but they have a critical blind spot under VAMP.

According to the new framework, fraud disputes characterized by a TC40 data element still count against your VAMP ratio, even if you resolve them through pre-dispute channels like Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR). In other words, you cannot simply refund your way out of a high fraud ratio. If the fraud happens, the damage to your ratio is done, regardless of whether you return the money.

The Power of Real-Time Monitoring and Automation

To survive a 1.5% threshold, you must stop the fraud before the transaction is authorized. This requires a shift toward real-time monitoring and automated prevention:

• Enumeration Defense: VAMP focuses specifically on "enumeration" (card testing) attacks. Automated tools detect and block these high-velocity, low-value attacks instantly to prevent them from inflating your fraud metrics.
• Pre-Auth Blocking: Utilizing machine learning to score transactions in real-time allows you to decline high-risk attempts before they become a statistic on your VAMP report.
• Merchant-Level Monitoring: You can set custom rules and real-time alerts to proactively monitor and prevent chargebacks and fraud, ensuring you stay well below VAMP Thresholds. Acquirers also get the high-level oversight needed to ensure network-wide compliance and minimize systemic risk exposure.

Auditing your current fraud and dispute rates using the new VAMP calculation (Fraud + Disputes / Total Transactions) is the first step. If your internal audit shows you sitting anywhere near 1.4% or 1.5% today, you are already in the danger zone.

Ready to secure your VAMP compliance strategy?

The April 1, 2026 deadline is a critical turning point for the payments ecosystem. The thresholds are lower, the penalties are steeper, and the grace periods are gone. Relying on old methods of fighting chargebacks after the fact is no longer a viable business strategy.

Proactive fraud prevention, real-time monitoring, and a clear understanding of your current VAMP ratio are non-negotiable for staying compliant and profitable in this new landscape. Don't wait until the enforcement letters arrive to understand your exposure.

Download our complete White Paper today. It provides a comprehensive breakdown of the new fee structures, detailed compliance checklists, and actionable strategies to keep your ratio safely below the 1.5% threshold.

Book a demo today and discover how our tailored solutions can simplify VAMP compliance and protect your business.