Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECM in Canada: A Plain Guide for Shopify Stores

A Kelowna store that sells outdoor gear gets an email from a friend in e-commerce: "Did you see the new Visa program? Go over 1.5% and they fine you." The owner sells about 2,500 orders a month, counts 38 disputes and fraud reports last month and spends a bad evening doing sums. Is that 1.5%? Is it a fine? Does it apply to a store this size at all? Visa VAMP in Canada is one of those topics where the headline is loud and the detail is quiet. This guide gives you the detail: what VAMP and Mastercard's ECM program measure, the thresholds as reported by industry sources, what they mean for a small Shopify store and a simple monthly routine to keep your numbers down.

Quick answer: VAMP is Visa's Acquirer Monitoring Program. It replaced two older Visa programs on 1 April 2025 and counts fraud reports and disputes against your card-not-present transactions. Mastercard's ECM program counts chargebacks against sales. Industry sources report that the merchant "Excessive" level in Canada needs both a 1.5% ratio and a minimum volume of counted events, so a small store usually sits far below it. Your real job is to keep disputes low anyway, because acquirers and processors can act earlier than the network line.

This guide is for you if:

• You sell on Shopify Payments in Canada and have read scary headlines about VAMP or ECM.
• You want to know whether a store with a few thousand orders a month can be affected.
• You want a monthly calculation you can run yourself in ten minutes.

Last updated: 23 October 2026

Disclosure: ChargeFix publishes this guide and sells an app that helps with Shopify Payments disputes. The VAMP and ECM figures come from industry articles by Chargeflow and Chargeback.io, not from Visa, Mastercard or Shopify, so treat them as reported figures and confirm with your processor. The Shopify rules come from Shopify's Help Center. We found no Shopify page that sets a VAMP or ECM threshold for stores, and this guide says so where it matters.

TL;DR

• VAMP replaced Visa's older dispute and fraud programs on 1 April 2025, and its ratio adds fraud reports and disputes, then divides by settled card-not-present transactions.
• Reported merchant Excessive level for Canada: a 1.5% ratio and at least 1,500 events in a month.
• Mastercard ECM, the Excessive Chargeback Merchant program, as reported: 100 or more chargebacks in a month and a ratio of 1.5% or more.
• Winning a dispute or refunding the order does not remove an event already counted.
• Fewer disputes is the only fix. Prevent, answer fast and refund early where you owe it.

Do this today

1. Pull last month's order count and your count of fraud-related reports and disputes.
2. Run the ratio below and save the number.
3. Write down which orders turned into disputes and why.
4. Ask your processor or Shopify support how they treat these programs for your store.
5. Set a monthly reminder for the calculation.

Visa VAMP in Canada: the process in one table

Step	What you do	Why
1. Count the month	Settled card-not-present transactions	This is the bottom of the ratio
2. Count the events	Fraud reports plus disputes	This is the top of the ratio
3. Divide	Events divided by transactions, times 100	Gives your VAMP style ratio
4. Compare	Reported 1.5% and 1,500 event lines	Shows distance to the merchant level
5. Check Mastercard	Chargebacks this month over sales last month	Mastercard uses a different base
6. Find causes	Group disputes by reason and product	Fix the biggest group first
7. Act	Prevent, answer or refund	Your count falls only if disputes fall

What is Visa VAMP?

VAMP stands for Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. According to a Chargeflow article updated in 2026, VAMP replaced Visa's older dispute and fraud monitoring programs, VDMP and VFMP, on 1 April 2025. It is Visa's single system for tracking fraud and disputes, and it is measured through the acquirer, the company that processes card payments for merchants. A separate measure covers card testing, which the industry calls enumeration.

For a Shopify merchant the acquirer side is mostly invisible. Shopify Payments handles processing, and the monitoring happens above you. The reason to understand VAMP anyway is that the same counts, your disputes and fraud reports, are what your processor sees about your store, and they come from your customers' banks.

Term	Plain meaning
Acquirer	The company that processes card payments for merchants
TC40	A fraud report filed by an issuing bank
TC15	A dispute record
Card-not-present	Online and phone sales where the card is not swiped or inserted
Counted event	A fraud report or dispute that counts in the ratio
Enumeration	Card testing, where fraudsters try many card numbers

How is the VAMP ratio calculated?

The Chargeflow article gives the formula in one line. The numerator is counted TC40 fraud reports plus counted TC15 disputes. The denominator is settled in-scope card-not-present transactions for the calendar month. Divide and multiply by 100.

VAMP ratio (as reported by Chargeflow)

ratio = (counted TC40 fraud reports + counted TC15 disputes)
        / settled card-not-present transactions x 100

Example from the article (illustrative numbers):
(60 + 40) / 10,000 x 100 = 1.0%

Two points from the same article matter for every merchant. A single transaction that has both a fraud report and a dispute counts twice. And winning a dispute or refunding the order does not remove an event that has already been counted. The article adds that voiding an authorization before capture avoids a fraud report altogether, which is a point about timing and not about how Shopify works, so ask your processor what applies to you.

Here is the same sum for the Kelowna store.

Kelowna store, last month

Settled card-not-present transactions = 2,500
Fraud reports (TC40)                  = 17
Disputes (TC15)                       = 21
Events                                = 17 + 21 = 38

Ratio = 38 / 2,500 x 100 = 1.52%

That is 1.52%, just over 1.5%. Alarming? Not yet. Look at the second condition in the next section.

What are the VAMP thresholds for Canada?

The Chargeflow article groups Canada with Asia Pacific, Europe and the US for the merchant Excessive level. It reports a 1.5% minimum ratio together with at least 1,500 counted events in the month. It gives no separate Canada figure. It also says that the merchant threshold change took effect on 1 April 2026, when the Excessive merchant ratio fell to 1.5% in those regions.

Level	Ratio	Other condition	Source type
Merchant Excessive (Canada, US, Europe, Asia Pacific)	1.5% or more	1,500 or more events	Industry article
Acquirer Above Standard	0.5% to 0.7%	None given	Industry article
Acquirer Excessive	0.7% or more	None given	Industry article
Enumeration	20% or more	300,000 or more enumerated attempts	Industry article

Now go back to Kelowna. With 38 events, the store meets the ratio condition but is nowhere near 1,500 events. On the reported table, it would not be at the merchant Excessive level. A store would need roughly 100,000 monthly transactions at a 1.5% ratio to produce 1,500 events, which is far beyond most Canadian Shopify stores.

That is the good news. The caution is that the same article reports a lower trigger in some processors' own documents. It says that if the acquirer is flagged, Braintree documents a merchant trigger of 0.5% with at least 5 counted events, and Stripe lists the same figures as a Non-Compliant threshold. We found no equivalent figure for Shopify Payments, so a small store cannot assume it is safe at 1.5%.

What does the timeline look like?

The reported dates help you see why the topic is in the news in 2026.

Date	What happened (as reported)
1 April 2025	VAMP replaces VDMP and VFMP, advisory period begins
1 October 2025	Enforcement begins for the Excessive level
1 January 2026	Stricter Above Standard level applies to acquirers
1 April 2026	Merchant threshold change in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia Pacific

The article is dated in 2026 and lists two dates without labelling which is the update. Treat it as current to autumn 2026 and check with your processor before you act on any single number.

What are the fees under VAMP?

Visa's own fact sheet, according to the article, does not publish fee amounts. The fees quoted come from payment processors. Braintree and NMI are reported to charge US$8 per counted event at the Excessive level and US$4 per counted event for merchants under an Above Standard acquirer. Stripe confirms that fees apply at Excessive without giving an amount.

Source	Fee reported	Applies to
Braintree and NMI documents	US$8 per event	Excessive
Braintree and NMI documents	US$4 per event	Merchants under an Above Standard acquirer
Stripe	Fees apply, amount not given	Excessive
Shopify	Not found in the pages we read	Unknown

We could not find any page from Shopify that says whether or how such fees are passed on. If your volume is large enough that the question matters, ask Shopify Payments support in writing.

How do exclusions work?

The article lists adjustments that may remove an event from the count, with a warning that data timing matters.

Adjustment	What the article says
Compelling Evidence 3.0	Qualifying fraud reports are excluded, subject to data extract timing
Pre-dispute resolution	Disputes resolved this way are excluded, subject to timing
RDR, CDRN, Verifi and Ethoca	One processor lists these as exclusions when the dispute and resolution fall in the same month. Other commentary says RDR-resolved fraud reports still count. Sources conflict, so confirm with your acquirer
Order Insight	Not covered by the article

Compelling Evidence 3.0 is Visa's rule that lets a merchant show a history of earlier undisputed transactions with matching details. In an Adyen FAQ we read earlier, it asks for two prior undisputed transactions settled 120 to 365 days before the dispute, with two matching elements including the IP address or a device ID. We treat it as the kind of history that helps, not as a code you select in Shopify. For more on building that history, see our guides to IP address evidence and to billing and shipping address matches.

What is Mastercard ECM?

ECM stands for Excessive Chargeback Merchant. According to Chargeback.io's Mastercard guide, dated August 2026, a merchant is in ECM with 100 or more chargebacks in a calendar month and a chargeback ratio of at least 1.5%. High ECM, or HECM, starts at 300 or more chargebacks and a ratio of at least 3%. A separate Excessive Fraud Merchant program applies at 1,000 or more e-commerce transactions with a fraud ratio of at least 50 basis points once fraud chargebacks pass US$50,000.

Program	Chargebacks	Ratio	Source type
ECM (Excessive Chargeback Merchant)	100 or more in the month	1.5% or more	Industry article
HECM (High Excessive Chargeback Merchant)	300 or more in the month	3% or more	Industry article
EFM	Fraud chargebacks above US$50,000	0.5% or more (50 bps), 1,000 or more e-commerce transactions	Industry article

The Mastercard ratio is built differently from Visa's. The article says it divides the current month's chargebacks by the prior month's sales. A drop in sales can raise your ratio even if your chargeback count stays flat, which matters for seasonal stores.

Mastercard ECM style check (as reported by Chargeback.io)

ratio = chargebacks this month / sales (transactions) last month x 100

Example: 12 chargebacks in January, 1,800 transactions in December
12 / 1,800 x 100 = 0.67%

To reach ECM you would also need 100 or more chargebacks in the month.

Because ECM needs both 100 chargebacks and the ratio, most small Shopify stores will never meet it. The ratio matters more as a signal, and the count matters as a gate.

What do the Mastercard fines look like?

The same article reports a table of fines by months in violation, in euros or US dollars. The first month has no fine.

Months in violation	ECM fine	HECM fine
1	None	None
2	1,000	2,000
3	2,000	4,000
4 to 6	5,000	10,000
7 to 11	25,000	50,000
12 or more	50,000 to 100,000	100,000 to 200,000

An issuer recovery assessment adds 5 per chargeback above 300, and exiting either program requires three consecutive compliant months. Remember that these fines hit the acquirer and are passed down in whatever way the acquirer's contract allows. Whether a Shopify Payments merchant would ever see such a charge is not covered in the pages we read.

Does this affect a small Shopify store in Canada?

Probably not at the network line. Probably yes at the practical line, because your processor watches the same numbers and can act on a pattern long before a network threshold. A store with a rising dispute count is also paying C$15 or US$15 on every dispute it loses, and often on every one it files.

Store size (orders a month)	Events at 1.5%	Reaches merchant Excessive?
500	7 or 8	No, far below 1,500
2,500	37 or 38	No
10,000	150	No
50,000	750	No
100,000	1,500	At the line

The table uses the reported thresholds and ignores any lower trigger a processor may set. Use it as an orientation, not a guarantee.

Why watch your ratio if you are far from the line?

Three reasons.

1. Cost. Every lost dispute costs the order amount plus the C$15 fee, and the fee is returned only on a win.
2. Account review. None of the Shopify pages we read list a chargeback rate that triggers review, so you cannot rule one out. Our chargeback audit guide shows how to build a calm record of your numbers.
3. Growth. A store that doubles volume can see its ratio rise before its prevention catches up.

Ratio band	What it suggests	Action
Under 0.5%	Healthy	Keep logging
0.5% to 1%	Worth a look	Group disputes by reason
1% to 1.5%	Pay attention	Add prevention, tighten checks
1.5% and over	Act now	Talk to your processor

These bands are our working labels, not network rules. They line up with the reported acquirer levels of 0.5% and 0.7% and the merchant level of 1.5%.

How do you lower your count?

Disputes come from a handful of causes, and the fixes are known. This is the short list.

Cause	Fix	Related guide
Unrecognized charges	Clear statement name, strong receipts	Unrecognized charge guide
Fraud	Review risky orders before shipping	Fraudulent chargebacks guide
Parcels not received	Tracking, signature on high value	Product not received guide
Goods not as described	Accurate listings, photos	Product not as described guide
Refunds not seen	Refund fast and email the buyer	Credit not processed guide
Subscriptions	Clear terms and easy cancellation	Subscription chargebacks guide

Shopify makes two points that help here. An inquiry takes no money from you, and a full refund while the case is still an inquiry stops it becoming a chargeback. So refunding quickly where you owe the money can keep a dispute from ever being counted as a chargeback. The caveat from the VAMP article is that refunding after an event has been counted does not remove that event, so speed matters.

Should you answer disputes if winning does not remove the count?

Yes. Answering still matters, for three reasons.

1. Money. Winning returns the order amount and the fee. Losing costs you both.
2. Pattern. A won dispute shows the pattern was one customer's claim, not your sales process.
3. Prevention. The evidence you gather shows where your process is weak.

The point is only that you should not expect answers to change the ratio. Prevention changes the ratio. Answers change the money.

Monthly dispute review (run this on the 3rd of each month)

Month: __________
Settled card-not-present orders: ______
Fraud reports + disputes counted: ______
Ratio (events / orders x 100): ______ %
Chargebacks this month / orders last month x 100: ______ %

Top three reasons:
1. __________  count ____
2. __________  count ____
3. __________  count ____

One fix to try this month: ____________________________

How do seasonal swings change the Mastercard ratio?

Because the Mastercard ratio divides this month's chargebacks by last month's sales, a quiet month after a busy one can push your ratio up even when nothing about your store got worse. A gift shop sees this every January.

Month	Transactions	Chargebacks that month	Ratio (chargebacks / prior month sales)
November	3,200	14	14 / 1,900 = 0.74%
December	4,100	22	22 / 3,200 = 0.69%
January	1,500	31	31 / 4,100 = 0.76%
February	1,300	9	9 / 1,500 = 0.60%

The example numbers are illustrative. The pattern is real in the formula: January chargebacks mostly come from December sales, but the ratio compares them with the larger December base, so seasonal stores usually look better than they feel. The risk is the reverse, a busy month followed by a collapse in sales. Track both the ratio and the raw count.

What should you ask your processor?

You do not need to guess how your own account is treated. A short written question to Shopify Payments support costs nothing and gives you something to file.

Message to Shopify Payments support (adapt to your store)

Subject: Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECM monitoring for my store

Hello,

My store [name] sells in Canada and processes about [number] card
transactions a month through Shopify Payments. Last month I had [number]
disputes and [number] fraud-related reports.

Could you tell me:
1. Whether my store is measured under Visa VAMP or Mastercard ECM, and how.
2. What ratio or count would trigger a review of my account.
3. Whether any network fee is passed on to merchants, and how it appears.
4. Whether disputes resolved before they become chargebacks are counted.

Please reply in writing so I can keep it with my records.

[Name], [store], [phone number]

Save the reply with your monthly sheet. If support gives you a number, use that number, not the ones in this guide, because a processor's own trigger beats any industry article.

What if your ratio crosses a line?

Stay calm and be methodical. The ratio is a signal about causes, and causes can be fixed.

1. Confirm the numbers. Recount events and transactions for the month. A wrong denominator is a common error.
2. Name the top reason. If one product or one region drives most events, fix that first.
3. Contact your processor early. A written plan from you reads better than silence.
4. Tighten checks for a month. Review first-time, high value or rush orders before you ship.
5. Refund faster. Where you owe money, an early full refund can stop an inquiry turning into a chargeback.
6. Record what changed. The next month's numbers show whether it worked.

Situation	First move
One product causes most disputes	Check the listing, photos and shipping method
One country or province causes most	Check delivery times, duties and address quality
Many unrecognized charges	Fix the statement name and confirmation email
Many fraud reports	Add review rules and consider holding risky orders
Many unanswered disputes	Set a daily check and use ChargeFix to speed up filings

How does ChargeFix help with Visa VAMP in Canada?

ChargeFix does not report your VAMP ratio, and it does not talk to Visa or Mastercard. What it does is the part you control: answering Shopify Payments disputes with evidence so that every one you can win, you win.

1. Dispute fetched. ChargeFix fetches the chargeback when it opens.
2. Records read. It reads the order, addresses, fulfilment and tracking data and the refund history.
3. Evidence scored. It flags what is present and what is missing, and gives a plain verdict: worth fighting, improve the evidence first or weak evidence.
4. Letter from facts. The response is drafted only from verified facts.
5. Your choice of mode. ChargeFix prepares each response in Manual mode, which is the default. You review and file it, or let Auto mode handle them. Auto mode is on Starter plans and above, off until you turn it on and confirm.

ChargeFix handles Shopify Payments disputes only. It cannot promise a win, because the card company decides, and it cannot remove an event from a count. It stores minimal data: case ID, amount, reason, status, dates and shop settings. The free plan includes 2 filings a month, and every paid plan starts with a 14 day free trial.

What does a 30 day plan look like?

Day	What you do	Done when
Day 1	Count last month's orders, fraud reports and disputes	Ratio calculated
Day 2	Group disputes by reason and product	Top three causes named
Day 3	Ask your processor how it treats VAMP and ECM for your store	Question sent in writing
Day 5	Check statement name and confirmation email	Both are clear
Day 8	Add signature rules for high value orders	Rule published
Day 12	Review your refund process	Refunds go out fast
Day 15	Check open disputes against due dates	No missed windows
Day 22	Review risky order rules	Rules written down
Day 30	Recalculate for the new month	Trend recorded

A 30 day loop like this turns a vague worry into a number you track.

What is different about Visa VAMP in Canada?

Topic	What applies in Canada	What to do
Thresholds	Reported with the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, no separate Canada figure	Use the reported 1.5% and 1,500 events
Fee per dispute	C$15 or US$15 by payout currency	Cost each case in your payout currency
Response window	7 to 21 days, no extensions	Plan for the shortest
Card company decision	Up to 75 days after you submit, and final	Do not expect a quick answer
Complaints	Shopify Payments (Canada) acknowledges within 5 business days, decides in writing within 45 days	Raise a complaint with your processor first
Debit cards	Visa Debit disputes count like other Visa disputes in a Canadian store	See our Visa Debit guide

Interac. The programs in this guide are card network programs. We found no source that applies VAMP or ECM to Interac payments, so we state none.

Time limits. According to Chargeback.io, cardholders generally have 120 days from the transaction to file a Mastercard chargeback, with some reason codes extending to 540 days. Your Shopify window is separate and much shorter, usually 7 to 21 days from the notice.

Consumer law. Consumer protection law differs by province. We found no source that sets a Canadian rule on how a merchant must handle these network programs, so this guide states none.

Where to complain. Shopify Payments (Canada) acknowledges a complaint within 5 business days and gives a final written decision within 45 days. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada supervises the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada but does not decide individual disputes.

What are the 10 mistakes to avoid with Visa VAMP in Canada?

1. Panicking at 1.5% with 38 events. The reported merchant level needs 1,500 events too.
2. Ignoring the ratio because you are small. Processors can set lower triggers.
3. Using the Mastercard formula for Visa. The two use different bases.
4. Assuming a win removes the count. The reported rule says it does not.
5. Refunding late. An event already counted stays counted.
6. Not logging reasons. You cannot fix a cause you have not named.
7. Treating a vendor article as Visa policy. Confirm with your processor, and read the Excessive Chargeback Merchant limits as reported figures.
8. Missing due dates. Shopify submits on the due date even if you add nothing.
9. Attaching links. Links are not allowed in evidence. Save pages as PDF.
10. Skipping the monthly calculation. A ten minute sum prevents surprises, and a record of repeat customers helps if Compelling Evidence 3.0 ever applies to your case.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visa VAMP?

VAMP is the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. According to industry articles it replaced VDMP and VFMP on 1 April 2025 and tracks fraud reports and disputes against card-not-present transactions, measured through the acquirer. Merchants feel it through their processor, not through a Visa dashboard of their own.

How is the VAMP ratio calculated?

Counted fraud reports plus counted disputes, divided by settled card-not-present transactions for the calendar month, times 100. A transaction with both a fraud report and a dispute counts twice. Industry articles report this formula and Shopify does not publish it, so confirm the details with your processor.

What is the Excessive threshold for a Canadian merchant?

Industry sources report a 1.5% ratio, together with at least 1,500 counted events in a month, for Canada and three other regions. No separate Canada figure was found. Processors may set lower triggers of their own, and your processor can tell you the one that applies to your account. Ask in writing.

What is Mastercard ECM?

ECM is the Excessive Chargeback Merchant program from Mastercard. The reported conditions are at least 100 chargebacks in a calendar month and a ratio of 1.5% or higher, calculated as this month's chargebacks over last month's sales. The high tier starts at 300 chargebacks and a 3% ratio, and a merchant exits only after three compliant months.

Does winning a dispute remove it from the VAMP count?

According to the Chargeflow article, no. Winning a dispute or refunding does not remove an event that has been counted. Qualifying Compelling Evidence 3.0 cases and some pre-dispute resolutions may be excluded, subject to data timing, so ask your processor what applies.

Can a small Shopify store be fined under these programs?

At the network thresholds, it is unlikely, because both a ratio and a high event count are required. Shopify's pages do not say whether fees are passed on or what ratio triggers account review, so ask Shopify Payments support in writing if you are worried.

Should I still fight disputes?

Yes. Winning returns the amount and the C$15 fee, shows the pattern, and gives you evidence for prevention. It will not change your ratio, so prevention and quick refunds where you owe money are what move the number. Treat each answer as a way to recover money and learn.

Can I refund to avoid a chargeback?

Shopify says you can refund while a case is an inquiry, that a full refund on an inquiry blocks a chargeback, and that you cannot refund once a chargeback has begun. A partial refund does not block it. Speed matters, because counted events stay counted.

Do Interac payments count toward VAMP or ECM?

We found no source that applies these card network programs to Interac, so we state no rule. The programs described here concern Visa and Mastercard card payments only. If you accept other payment methods, check each provider's rules before you assume anything.

How does ChargeFix help with VAMP and ECM?

ChargeFix does not measure your ratio or contact the networks. It reads your Shopify Payments dispute records, flags missing evidence and drafts the letter from verified facts. In Manual mode, the default, you check each draft and file it yourself.

Start free trial with ChargeFix

You now have the VAMP formula, the reported thresholds, the Mastercard check and a monthly review sheet. What most stores lack is the time to answer every dispute well while the ratio work waits. ChargeFix reads your Shopify order data, shows what is missing, writes the letter from verified facts and leaves the filing to you in Manual mode, with Auto mode there for the cases your own rules cover.

The free plan includes 2 filings every month, and every paid plan starts with a 14 day free trial. There is no cut of what you win, and no contract.

Ready to keep your Visa VAMP numbers in Canada low and answer every dispute with the records you already have? Start free trial

Sources

• Chargeflow, "VAMP: Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program", industry article, not Visa policy
• Chargeback.io, "Mastercard Chargeback Guide: Time Limits and Thresholds", industry article, not Mastercard policy
• Shopify Help Center, "Responding to chargebacks and inquiries"
• Shopify Help Center, "Resolving a chargeback or inquiry"
• Shopify Payments (Canada), "Code of Conduct complaint handling"
• ChargeFix, "chargefix.pro"