Green Sheet interviews Chargeback Gurus CEO Tim Tynan

Visa's new Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) merges fraud and dispute ratios into a single metric, raising the stakes for merchants, especially those in high-risk sectors. In this Q&A, Tim Tynan, CEO of Chargeback Gurus, explains the program's core objectives, how the new formula works and which merchants are most vulnerable. He also shares practical strategies, from early dispute alerts to operational fixes, that can help merchants lower their ratios, avoid penalties, and adapt to a compliance environment where prevention and data-driven monitoring are key.

1. What is the core objective behind Visa combining fraud and dispute ratios into a single metric under the Acquirer Monitoring Program, and how will this change affect merchants?

Visa's intent in merging fraud and dispute monitoring under VAMP is to simplify oversight and create a unified view of merchant risk. Visa also wants acquirers to be more involved in monitoring their merchants. Under the new system, some merchants may face stricter ratio limits from their acquirers. 

2. With transaction counts under review increasing, which types of merchants are most at risk of exceeding VAMP thresholds? 

As with the previous system, merchants in high-risk industries like travel, event ticketing and sports betting face the greatest risk, as chargebacks are more common overall for these businesses. However, VAMP also creates additional risk for merchants with a high percentage of fraud-related chargebacks.  

Visa has adjusted the new thresholds to account for the fact that fraud-related chargebacks are counted twice under the VAMP formula, but that adjustment assumes that roughly 67 percent of a merchant's chargebacks are due to fraud. For some merchants, that figure can be over 90 percent, making it much more difficult for them to stay compliant under the new system. 

3. What are some early warning signs that a merchant's VAMP ratio could be trending toward noncompliance?  

The best way for merchants to know when their VAMP ratio is trending in the wrong direction is to track that ratio for each of their MIDs and set up early warning notifications that trigger when it starts getting too close to the threshold.  

Unfortunately, many merchants have trouble tracking their VAMP ratios without the assistance of a chargeback management company or processor that provides that service. In these cases, merchants can look for other warning signs such as a spike in transactions that are denied by fraud prevention tools or an increase in chargebacks overall. 

4. How can tools like early dispute alerts and Visa's Rapid Dispute Resolution help merchants lower their ratios before October 1?

Both Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) and chargeback prevention alerts allow merchants to preempt the chargeback process by issuing a refund for the disputed transaction. Since no chargeback is processed for these refunded transactions, they don't count against the merchant's VAMP ratio in that regard, although the issuer may still file a fraud report (TC40) depending on the circumstances.

For merchants who are near or exceeding the VAMP threshold, these tools are the most direct way of reducing their ratios.     5. Beyond technology, what operational or procedural changes should merchants implement now to prevent penalties and fees?  

Analyzing chargeback data for patterns can help identify the root causes of disputes, allowing merchants to make operational changes that reduce chargebacks. Those causes will vary from one merchant to the next, but some common areas of concern include having a clearly recognizable billing descriptor, ensuring customers understand policies regarding fees and refunds, and providing easy access to customer support. 

6. Looking ahead, how might VAMP enforcement influence the broader relationship between acquirers, merchants, and fraud/dispute management partners? 

VAMP shifts more compliance pressure onto acquirers, which in many cases may cascade down to merchants. We're still in the early stages, so it remains to be seen how common it will be for acquirers to have trouble staying below the new thresholds, but those that do may impose their own thresholds on merchants that are stricter than Visa's.      More merchants will likely begin partnering with specialized fraud and dispute management companies like Chargeback Gurus that can provide integrated prevention, monitoring and resolution strategies. Some acquirers may also form partnerships with these companies to offer easy access to these services across their merchant portfolios. The emphasis will move from reactive dispute handling to coordinated, data-driven prevention. 

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