Visa Dispute Monitoring Program
Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) is used as both a penalty for excessive disputes and a corrective effort to help manage disputes more effectively.
Visa® carefully monitors the risk that individual merchants pose to the brand. If certain risk metrics exceed predetermined thresholds, the card network will enroll the merchant in the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program.
How Does Visa Measure Risk?
Visa uses two benchmarks to evaluate risk: number of disputes and the dispute-to-transaction ratio. Merchants who breach both of these thresholds are enrolled in the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program.
Two Program Types: Standard and Excessive
VDMP has two program types.
Standard Program
The standard program is used to manage merchants who receive 100 or more disputes in a month and have a dispute-to-transaction ratio of 0.9% or above.
Excessive Program
The excessive program is used to manage three groups of merchants:
- Merchants with a high-risk MCC (merchant category code) who receive 100 or more disputes in a month and have a dispute-to-transaction ratio of 0.9% or above.
- Merchants without a high-risk MCC who receive 1,000 or more disputes in a month and have a dispute-to-transaction ratio of 1.8% or above.
- Merchants who Visa thinks cause undue harm to the payment system.
The standard Visa Dispute Monitoring Program is managed with the following timeline (applicable to all regions except Europe).
Visa considers the first four months to be a “workout period”. During this time, the merchant is not penalized with fees. The “enforcement period” begins in the fifth month.
MONTH #1
- The merchant is notified of enrollment in the program.
- The acquirer reviews the merchant’s activity and tries to find the cause of the excessive disputes.
MONTH #2
- The merchant creates a dispute remediation plan, submits it to the acquirer, and immediately implements the plan.
- The acquirer submits the remediation plan, contract (if requested), and merchant application (if requested) to Visa.
MONTH #3
- The merchant updates the remediation plan and notifies the acquirer.
- The acquirer shares the updated plan with Visa.
MONTH #4
- The merchant updates the remediation plan and notifies the acquirer.
- The acquirer shares the updated plan with Visa.
MONTH #5
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #6
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #7
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #8
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
- The acquirer notifies the merchant that payment processing privileges may be revoked if disputes aren’t below program thresholds by month 12, and shares a copy of the notice with Visa.
MONTH #9
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #10
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #11
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant continues abiding by the dispute remediation plan.
- If the plan is updated, the acquirer shares the revised plan with Visa.
MONTH #12
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Review fees are assessed.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant is eligible for disqualification.
The excessive Visa Dispute Monitoring Program is managed with the following timeline (applicable to all regions except Europe).
MONTH #1
- The merchant is notified of enrollment in the program.
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The acquirer reviews the merchant’s activity and tries to find the cause of the excessive disputes.
- The merchant creates a dispute remediation plan, submits it to the acquirer, and immediately implements the plan.
- The acquirer submits the remediation plan and other requested information to Visa.
MONTH #2
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #3
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #4
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #5
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #6
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
- The acquirer notifies the merchant that payment processing privileges may be revoked and shares a copy of the notice with Visa.
MONTH #7
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #8
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #9
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #10
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #11
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant adheres to the dispute remediation plan and proves to the acquirer it is effective.
- The acquirer shares a monthly status report with Visa.
MONTH #12
- Program fees are assessed for each dispute received.
- Non-compliance fees are assessed.
- Review fees are assessed.
- The merchant is eligible for disqualification
Additional VDMP Details
- All disputes — except 10.5 Visa Fraud Monitoring Program — are counted against the thresholds.
- If a merchant moves from the standard program to the high-risk program, the merchant stays in the high-risk program until exit — there is no downgrading to the standard program when counts decrease.
- If the merchant changes acquirers while enrolled in the VDMP, program management will transfer to the new acquirer.
- A merchant can exit the program when counts are below thresholds for three consecutive months.
Need Help Managing Chargebacks & Disputes?
Midigator® simplifies the dispute process for the entire payment ecosystem.
If you are a merchant, Midigator has the tools you need to reduce disputes and abide by thresholds. We can help you exit the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program and avoid enrollment in the future.
If you are an acquirer or processor, Midigator can help you identify the source of disputes to better manage them. The technology enables unparalleled transparency.
