Leading fraud prevention platform Ravelin is urging merchants to take immediate action on Visa’s updated VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program).  It warns failure to minimise fraud will mean incurring significant, recurring fees, and even losing the ability to accept Visa payments.

Ravelin has published a simple VAMP guide to help businesses save time, money, and avoid disruption.

VAMP enforcement begins on October 1 2025, from when merchants with high rates of fraud will have to pay new penalties.  VAMPconsolidates Visa’s dispute and fraud monitoring, for both merchants and acquirers, into a single global framework. It is intended to encourage merchants to manage fraud more closely.

Under VAMP, merchants who have more than 2.2% of disputed transactions, whether fraudulent or not, will find themselves subject to a fee of $8 per dispute.  From April 2026, this threshold will be reduced to 1.5%.  For high-volume businesses, these charges could swiftly mount up.

VAMP also introduces new controls on enumeration attacks, in which criminals test stolen card details by attempting small purchases.  Merchants will be subject to VAMP if more than 20% of their transactions are enumeration attacks, irrespective of their value.

Ravelin CEO, Martin Sweeney, said: “With VAMP, Visa compels merchants to get on the front foot with fraud.  If they don’t, they may find themselves hit with additional fees, or even blocked from accepting Visa payments altogether.”

Ravelin recommends merchants take the following steps now:

1. Review their current dispute and fraud rates using Visa’s new calculations.  Understand how close the business is to the VAMP and enumeration thresholds.

2. Invest in real-time fraud prevention tools to identify and block fraudulent activity before payments go through

3. Check their acquirer’s policies around chargebacks, as well as any changes planned for VAMP. Consider switching if they are unclear or inflexible.

4. Ask acquirers to send data for all chargebacks - in case there is fraud you haven’t seen before.

5. Consider deploying 3D Secure at merchant level.  An in-house 3D Secure solution optimises authentication data, reduces fraud, and increases opportunities for frictionless, uninterrupted buying journeys.

Sweeney continues: "No merchant wants to find themselves unable to accept Visa payments – which make up almost 40% of global card transactions. Maintaining low fraud rates is not just a cost-control or compliance issue; it’s a business-critical priority.  Merchants can’t afford to sit back. VAMP is here, and the impact will be felt across customer experience, operations and revenue."