Also called: VFMP
What the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program was
VFMP was Visa's monthly program for flagging merchant locations with excessive fraud. Visa monitored reported fraud and notified the acquirer when a location crossed the program's limits. The acquirer was responsible for engaging the business and addressing the problem.
Under the legacy standard schedule, a location met the documented threshold when it reached both $75,000 in fraud value and a fraud-to-sales ratio of 0.9% in a month. These are historical VFMP thresholds, not current limits. The old program also had separate schedules for certain high-risk merchants and other cases.
VFMP is retired, but its core lesson remains: track fraud reports by location and fix the activity behind them.
How VFMP related to VAMP
Visa retired VFMP in 2025 as it consolidated the fraud and dispute monitoring programs into the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP). VFMP focused on reported fraud. VAMP combines Visa fraud reports, known as TC40, with disputes, known as TC15, and divides that total by settled card-not-present transactions.
As of 2026, the U.S. VAMP Excessive merchant threshold is a 1.5% ratio and at least 1,500 fraud reports plus disputes in a month. That is a current VAMP threshold, not a VFMP rule. Use the separate VAMP article for its current monitoring requirements.
What VFMP meant for costs and disputes
The legacy VFMP schedule assessed non-compliance fees to the acquirer, not directly to the merchant. It does not establish that a merchant was charged a VFMP fee or show a VFMP-specific statement line. Your direct exposure came from fraud losses and the operational work of investigating and responding to disputes.
A related Visa Condition 10.5 dispute could involve a transaction Visa had identified through VFMP. The issuer could dispute that transaction when it had not successfully disputed it under another condition. A response could include proof of an earlier accepted dispute, a refund or reversal, or the cardholder's written confirmation that they no longer disputed the sale.
What you can actually change
VFMP is retired, so you cannot change your business practices to meet its old thresholds. You can still track the fraud signals that feed current monitoring and reduce the underlying activity.
- Track TC40 fraud reports, fraud dollars and fraud as a share of sales by merchant location.
- Review card-not-present activity daily and investigate sudden increases in fraud or account testing.
- Record disputes and refunds by reason, then fix the sales, fulfillment or fraud-control issue causing them.
- For a Condition 10.5 dispute, send evidence of an accepted prior dispute, processed credit or cardholder confirmation when applicable.
- Review fraud reports. Compare TC40 reports and fraud dollars with sales for each merchant location, rather than relying only on a company-wide total.
- Investigate unusual activity. Use daily transaction reviews and fraud controls to identify account testing or a sudden change in card-not-present sales.
- Document dispute responses. Keep refund records and cardholder communications ready so you can support a response to a Condition 10.5 dispute.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program still active?
No. Visa retired VFMP in 2025 and consolidated it with other monitoring programs into VAMP. The legacy VFMP thresholds are historical, while VAMP has current fraud and dispute monitoring requirements.
What were the VFMP fraud thresholds?
Under the legacy standard schedule, a merchant location reached the documented threshold at both $75,000 in monthly fraud value and a fraud-to-sales ratio of 0.9%. These are historical VFMP figures, not current VAMP limits.
Did VFMP charge merchants a monthly fee?
The legacy schedule assigned non-compliance fees to the acquirer and does not establish a direct VFMP fee charged to the merchant. Fraud losses, disputes and the work of responding to them could still affect your business.