Visa’s VAMP rules are coming: Why Australian merchants need to act now

Sep 03, 2025

News

By Michael Mallon, Director of Global Product Management | Accertify

Australian merchants face a critical challenge in 2025: Visa’s new Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) is tightening the screws on chargeback and fraud thresholds, and businesses that aren’t prepared will feel the financial sting.

While VAMP launched with an advisory period from April through September 2025, giving merchants time to adjust, the clock is ticking. Enforcement begins October 1, 2025, with additional threshold tightening in January and April 2026, bringing penalties, fees, and potentially disrupted processing relationships for those who fail to meet the stricter standards.

The New Reality

VAMP represents a significant shift in how Visa monitors and manages risk across its network. The programme significantly lowers acceptable thresholds for acquirers – dropping to just 0.5% by 2026. For merchants, the initial threshold is set at 2.2%, dropping to 1.5% by April 2026 in the Asia Pacific region. While these merchant thresholds may seem higher than the previous 0.9% standard, the new calculation method that combines fraud and non-fraud disputes means merchants who previously operated within acceptable limits may suddenly find themselves in violation.

For Australian businesses already grappling with rising digital fraud rates and evolving consumer dispute patterns, this couldn’t come at a more challenging time. We’re seeing particular concern from subscription-based businesses, high-risk verticals like gaming and adult entertainment, and organisations with slower dispute response capabilities.

Why Many Merchants Aren’t Ready

The uncomfortable truth is that most merchants aren’t aware of potentially exceeding VAMP thresholds. Even fewer have the infrastructure in place to respond effectively. Based on hundreds of merchant conversations globally, we’re seeing three critical gaps:

Limited visibility into current metrics Many merchants lack real-time monitoring of their chargeback and fraud ratios, operating instead on monthly reports that arrive too late for proactive management.
Fragmented dispute management Dispute handling often spans multiple teams and systems, creating delays that push resolution times beyond acceptable windows and increase the likelihood of chargebacks.
Outdated fraud prevention Legacy fraud tools that worked five years ago aren’t equipped for today’s sophisticated fraud patterns, let alone tomorrow’s stricter thresholds

The 90-Day Myth

Here’s what keeps fraud prevention professionals up at night: merchants often believe they can implement quick fixes when problems arise. But transforming fraud prevention or dispute operations isn’t a 90-day project. It requires:

Technology implementation and integration
Staff training and process redesign
Data analysis and strategy refinement
Testing and optimisation cycles

Merchants starting now might just make it. Those waiting until enforcement begins in October will find themselves playing an expensive game of catch-up.

Australian merchants need a three-pronged approach to VAMP readiness:

Start with assessment: Understand your current chargeback and fraud ratios, not just at the enterprise level but broken down by product line, acquisition channel, and customer segment. Keep in mind that VAMP is measured by the acquirer plus descriptor level. This means you need to understand how to aggregate your merchant ids to correctly calculate your ratios. You can’t fix what you can’t measure.

Modernise your tech stack: Invest in real-time fraud prevention and automated dispute management. Ideally someone who can do both will give you the best chance to manage both aspects being monitored. Look for solutions that use machine learning to adapt to evolving fraud patterns and can scale with your business, as well as a solution which understands the regulations for managing disputes that can help you streamline and automate your process.

Build operational excellence: Technology alone won’t save you. Develop clear escalation procedures, establish SLAs for dispute response, and create feedback loops between your fraud, chargeback, customer service, and operations teams. Constant feedback ensures that your fraud and chargeback strategy will adapt quickly as trends change.

The Bottom Line

VAMP isn’t just another compliance requirement; it’s Visa’s response to the evolving payments landscape. For Australian merchants, it represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Those who act now can turn meeting VAMP thresholds into a competitive advantage, building customer trust through better fraud prevention and smoother dispute resolution.

The alternative – waiting until the October enforcement date forces action – will be costly. Not just in fees and fines, but in damaged acquirer relationships and lost customer confidence.

The message is clear: VAMP is coming, and Australian merchants who aren’t actively preparing will feel the pain before they see any gains. The time for action is now.

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