How a chargeback monitoring programme works
Each month the scheme divides the disputes on a merchant's transactions, and often the reported fraud, by the merchant's transaction count. Where the ratio and a minimum count are both exceeded, the scheme identifies the acquirer, never the merchant directly. The acquirer then owes the scheme remedial action, and may be assessed sums that it passes on to the merchant.
The Visa and Mastercard programmes
Visa runs the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP). Its 2025 fact sheet says VAMP brought Visa's earlier fraud and dispute monitoring programmes into one, with new thresholds from 1 June 2025, and that it measures an acquirer's whole portfolio as well as single merchants.
Mastercard runs the Excessive Chargeback Program. In its Security Rules and Procedures of 4 August 2026, a merchant over the monthly threshold is an Excessive Chargeback Merchant, with a second category, High Excessive Chargeback Merchant, above it.
Why it matters to an acquirer or a PSP
The scheme holds the acquirer responsible, so an acquirer or payment facilitator monitors each merchant itself and acts well below the scheme's level. A merchant that stays in a programme is usually offboarded, and a termination for excessive chargebacks can be recorded on the MATCH list, which makes a new merchant account hard to obtain.
Where a chargeback monitoring programme shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- Merchant onboardingBusiness sign-up, verification and underwriting, from application to first payment.
- Analytics & monitoringProduct analytics, attribution, engagement and crash reports, on a tracking plan you control.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 18 April 2026 (Visa)
- Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program fact sheet, 2025 (Visa)
- Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, 4 August 2026 (Mastercard)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.