New York, USA — Sept. 23 — Visa just announced a major change: the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) will take effect on October 1, 2025. This program combines fraud (TC40) and disputes (TC15) into a single, stricter threshold. Merchants exceeding 50 basis points will be flagged as “Above Standard,” creating new urgency for businesses to evaluate their ratios.
To support merchants ahead of this transition, Chargeblast today announced it is offering free VAMP Ratio Analysis. The initiative is designed to help retailers, restaurants, and other payment-accepting businesses better understand their cost structures, identify risks, and prepare for this new compliance environment.
Why It Matters for Merchants
The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) has long emphasized the importance of transparency and fairness in payments. With Visa’s October deadline approaching, many merchants remain unclear on how their VAMP ratios are calculated or how they may impact operations, profitability, and acquirer relationships.
VAMP ratios reflect the relationship between fees from value-added services (such as loyalty programs, fraud tools, or bundled add-ons) and a merchant’s overall transaction volume. Unfavorable ratios can result in higher costs, compliance exposure, and strained contract negotiations.
“Merchants deserve clarity on how much they are paying for value-added services, and how those fees impact their bottom line,” said Qi Cao, CEO at Chargeblast. “By offering this analysis at no cost, we’re empowering merchants to enter the October compliance period informed and confident.”
What the Free VAMP Ratio Analysis Includes
- Detailed VAMP Ratio Calculation based on recent merchant transaction data.
- Benchmarking Against Industry Peers to help merchants understand how their numbers compare.
- Identification of Hidden or Inflated Fees within value-added service bundles.
- Actionable Recommendations to improve compliance, strengthen negotiating leverage, and enhance cost efficiency.
The service is available to all merchants, regardless of size or vertical, and will be delivered with strict data privacy standards.
Preparing Before October
With Visa’s new VAMP framework in effect October 1, the free analysis helps merchants by providing:
- Risk Mitigation: Avoid being flagged as “Above Standard” and incurring unfavorable terms.
- Operational Efficiency: Gain insights to streamline contracts and reduce unnecessary spend.
- Strategic Leverage: Enter discussions with acquirers and networks backed by clear, accurate data.
“This is about more than compliance,” added Qi Cao. “It’s about putting merchants in control of their payments strategy, exactly the kind of leadership MAG champions across the industry.”
Media Contact
Pia Pawaan
Marketing Operations Specialist
www.chargeblast.com
Angeline Viray
Head of Marketing
www.chargeblast.com
