Acquirers Monetise Fraud Data After Visa Lowers VAMP

Visa lowered its Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) ratio from 220 to 150 in April 2026. The change increases acquirer accountability for combined fraud and dispute events across settled Visa transactions and is affecting how acquiring banks manage and price services.

Acquirers ultimately absorb losses when merchants cannot cover chargebacks or fraud-related refunds. The VAMP ratio is calculated as combined fraud and dispute counts divided by total settled Visa transactions. The lower threshold requires risk management at the portfolio level rather than managing risk only at individual merchant accounts.

Merchants are making fraud performance part of supplier selection. Request for proposal documents now often ask for false positive rates and chargeback handling times alongside price. Industry research shows that in 2026 about 65% of merchants estimate their e-commerce false positive rates fall between 2% and 10%.

Market data highlights the scale of non-fraud losses. Global merchant losses tied to false positives are projected to exceed $231 billion in 2026, while estimated card fraud losses are $39.6 billion. Those figures reflect revenue lost when legitimate transactions are declined or blocked.

Acquirers are expanding use of machine learning models that make real-time risk decisions across channels and payment types. These models combine transaction signals with device fingerprints, identity verification and network-level data. Digital ID tools aim to verify customer identities more accurately, and issuer and scheme signals add context that can help separate fraudulent patterns from legitimate behaviour.

Explainability and operational efficiency are being emphasised. Models that produce clear reasons for declines or approvals help risk teams tune thresholds and give merchants clearer information for disputes. Automated dispute workflows and structured evidence collection are being adopted to speed resolution and reduce loss rates while meeting scheme requirements.

Some acquirers are including fraud performance metrics in sales materials and RFP responses. They present lower false positive rates, faster chargeback handling, and portfolio-level monitoring as service features. Reporting on acceptance rates and conversion impacts is being used to show how improved controls can recover lost sales for merchants.

Operational changes are supporting the technical upgrades. Integration among fraud engines, payment processing systems and merchant onboarding platforms allows faster rule updates and model tuning for specific merchant verticals. Network intelligence and Digital ID reduce dependence on single signals and support more nuanced acceptance decisions, which can improve authorization rates while keeping fraud losses under control.

An industry webinar organised with ACI Worldwide and moderated by researcher Sharon Kimathi will bring together payment industry experts to discuss balancing fraud loss reduction with acceptance rates and practical deployments of AI and identity tools across acquiring portfolios.

Background: The VAMP formula and the April 2026 threshold change are increasing explicit performance expectations for acquirers on portfolio fraud and dispute ratios. Acquirers are responding with a mix of technology, operational changes and commercial reporting to address those expectations.