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May 2025 • Issue 25:05:01

The changing chargeback landscape

Currently, the initial threshold for merchants is 1.5 per-
cent, dropping to 0.9 percent in January 2026. For acquirers,
fines for "above standard" fraud and chargebacks begin at
0.3 percent in January, rising to 0.5 percent for those in the
"excessive" category. Enforcement fees may also apply: ac-
quirers could be charged $5 per transaction when classified
as "above standard" and $10 per transaction when deemed
"excessive." Merchants classified as "excessive" may face
$10-per-transaction fees.
By the numbers

Datos conducted research for Mastercard in the fourth
quarter of 2024. It used a combination of qualitative and
quantitative interviews with executives at 23 financial in-
stitutions across four countries: the United States., UK,
Brazil and Australia. Datos also conducted quantitative in-
terviews with executives across an equal number of mer-
By Patti Murphy chants in those countries. The merchants were classified as
midsized or large.
new report from Mastercard and Datos Research
predicts that global chargeback volume will Across the countries, 25 percent of merchants reported an-
chart double digit growth between now and nual chargeback volume in excess of 1 million transactions,
A 2028, when they are expected to reach 324 Mastercard reported in The chargeback window of opportunity:
million transactions. The value of global chargebacks is A global view of the 2025 chargeback trends and how to turn them
expected to grow from $33.79 billion in 2025 to $41.69 in into opportunities. For 13 percent of merchants, chargeback
2028. Other reports portray an even bleaker outlook. volume is on average 2 percent of their total sales or higher.
Forecasted growth varies by region, the Datos research re- Merchants across the four countries have an average
vealed. But the lion's share – $20.47 billion – is forecast to chargeback amount of $94; in the United States, it's $110.
occur in North America. Of the different categories of merchants represented in the

Meanwhile, in April 2025, Visa’s updated Visa Acquirer
Monitoring Program (VAMP) took effect. Designed to sim-
plify monitoring while offering a more comprehensive Contributed articles inside by:
view of fraud and chargeback activities, VAMP replaced
the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program and the Visa Fraud
Monitoring Program. Notably, fraud-related disputes re- Allen Kopelman .....................................................................................16
solved through Rapid Dispute Resolution or the Cardhold-
er Dispute Resolution Network are now included in VAMP Ken Musante .........................................................................................19
ratio calculations. Anne Willem de Vries ..........................................................................28
According to a Chargeback Gurus briefing paper, the Chad Otar ................................................................................................30
changes have required acquirers to update how they track Ryta Zasiekina........................................................................................32
and calculate merchant ratios. VAMP establishes two sets of
ratio thresholds—one for acquirers and one for merchants. Chris Jones ..............................................................................................34
Both groups face penalties for exceeding these thresholds.
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