Monitoring programs and ratio thresholds
VAMP
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. Visa measures fraud reports and disputes against your settled sales. A merchant above the excessive merchant level, 1.5 percent in the US since April 2026 with at least 1,500 counted cases in the month, can face fines and closer monitoring. Your acquirer's notice is the final word for your account. The chargeback ratio monitor tracks it for every connected account.
ECM
The Mastercard Excessive Chargeback Merchant program. A merchant usually enters it at around 1.5 percent of transactions and 100 chargebacks in a month, with fees growing the longer the account stays in.
Pre dispute alerts and automatic resolution
RDR
Rapid Dispute Resolution from Visa, delivered through Verifi. Rules you set decide whether a dispute is refunded automatically before it becomes a chargeback, so it does not count in your dispute ratio. Read more about Visa RDR.
CDRN
The Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network from Verifi. The issuer sends an alert before filing a chargeback, and you have a short window to refund and stop it.
Ethoca
Mastercard's alert network. Participating issuers share confirmed fraud and dispute alerts with merchants, so a refund or a cancelled shipment can stop the chargeback. See Ethoca alerts.
Evidence rules and dispute stages
CE 3.0
Compelling Evidence 3.0, a Visa rule for reason code 10.4 card absent fraud. If you show earlier undisputed orders from the same customer that match on data like IP address or device, liability can shift back to the issuer. See compelling evidence 3.0.
Inquiry
A request for information from the issuer before a formal chargeback. A good answer can close the case with no fee and no dispute on your record.
Pre arbitration
The second round after you win a dispute, when the issuer or cardholder disagrees with the decision. You can send new evidence or accept the loss before it goes to the network for a final ruling. Read the pre arbitration guide.
Reason code
The short code the card network attaches to every dispute, like Visa 13.2 or Mastercard 4853. It decides which evidence the issuer expects. Browse the reason code library.