What is the Visa 0.5% non-compliant level for small stores?

A conditional exposure, not a standalone merchant tier: Braintree's VAMP documentation states that if the acquirer portfolio is flagged, a merchant with a 0.50% VAMP ratio and at least 5 events can be notified of inclusion, with $4 or $8 per-event assessments depending on the acquirer tier. Visa's fact sheet presents 0.5% as an acquirer-level Above Standard ratio.

Does meeting the MATCH 1% and $5,000 criterion put a merchant on the MATCH list?

No. MATCH is a terminated-merchant list: meeting the code 04 criterion (chargebacks over 1% of sales transactions in a month totalling USD 5,000 or more, no minimum count) alone does not list a merchant. A listing follows an acquirer terminating the account for that reason, and stays five years.

Does winning a dispute lower my chargeback ratio?

No. Disputes count in the month they arrive, and monitoring programs do not consider outcomes — Shopify's NDRP-inclusive rate explicitly includes disputes the merchant wins. Winning recovers the money; only stopping a dispute from posting lowers the rate.

When does Shopify enrol a store in its dispute resolution program?

Shopify Help Center says merchants with an NDRP-inclusive chargeback rate of 1.5% or higher over the last 90 days can be automatically enrolled, with a 10% payout reserve; exit requires the rate below 1.00% for 30 consecutive days.

Small-Store First-Limit Checker for Merchants

Chargeback Ratio Limits for Small Business: Which Limit Catches Your Store First?

This one is for sellers and merchants, not cardholders. If your store takes a few hundred or a few thousand orders a month, the headline network thresholds will never touch you — Visa VAMP Excessive needs 1,500 events, Mastercard ECM needs 100 chargebacks. The limits that catch a small store first sit far lower: a conditional Visa exposure at 0.5% with just 5 reports, a terminated-merchant criterion at 1% plus $5,000, and your processor's own rule. Enter one month's figures and this checker names the first limit that bites, in order.

Standalone, not a duplicate: the live Chargeback Ratio Calculator covers the headline lines (VAMP 1.5% / 1,500, ECM 1.5% / 100+, HECM) — it does not cover the 0.5% conditional exposure, the Shopify NDRP rule, or the MATCH criterion. This tool covers those three, and shows the headline lines only as the comparison at the end of the order.

How the order works

The five limits, in first-bite order

The checker ranks limits by how easily a small store reaches them — lowest count gate first — not by how famous the program is. The headline programs sit last on purpose: they are the ones you will probably never reach.

Order	Limit	Line	What it means
1	Visa VAMP non-compliant exposure	0.5% + 5 events	CONDITIONAL: bites only if your acquirer portfolio is flagged (Above Standard 0.5% / Excessive 0.7%). Published per-event assessments of $4 / $8 are acquirer-passed-through figures, not a bill — your merchant agreement governs.
2	Mastercard MATCH code 04 criterion	Over 1% + $5,000, no minimum count	ELIGIBILITY ONLY: meeting it does not list you. A MATCH listing follows an acquirer terminating your account for that reason, and stays five years.
3	Shopify NDRP enrolment	1.5% over 90 days	Shopify Payments only: automatic enrolment, eligible disputes refunded automatically with no evidence window, 10% payout reserve. Exit: rate below 1.00% for 30 consecutive days. Merchants below an unpublished minimum order volume are excluded.
4	Mastercard ECM	1.5% + 100 chargebacks	First network monitoring tier. Mastercard counts first-presentment chargebacks against the previous month's transactions.
5	Visa VAMP merchant Excessive	1.5% + 1,500 events	Headline Visa tier (standard regions, since Apr 1, 2026). Ratio counts fraud reports + disputes over settled card-not-present transactions.

Two counting rules that change your number

First, disputes count in the month they arrive, not the month of the sale — a dispute filed this month on an old order counts this month. That is why disputes in a month can exceed that month's orders, and why the checker warns rather than rejects in that case. Second, outcomes do not remove disputes from the rate: winning a dispute recovers the money but leaves the ratio entry in place, and refunding after a dispute posts does not remove it either. The only moves that lower the ratio stop an event from posting in the first place — a refund before a dispute is filed, or a pre-dispute alert resolution.

What this checker cannot tell you

It cannot see your acquirer's portfolio status (which decides whether the 0.5% exposure is live for you), your processor's unpublished minimum order volume (which decides whether Shopify's exclusion protects you), or your acquirer's own counts (which are the binding ones). Treat every result as a screen that tells you which conversation to have with your processor — not as a network determination.

Want the full small-store thresholds story?

The 0.5% trap, worked examples, and what to do at each limit — written for sellers and merchants.

Read the small-store thresholds guide

Only want the headline ratio?

The ratio calculator covers VAMP Excessive and ECM/HECM with count gates included.

Open the Chargeback Ratio Calculator

Sources (checked October 31, 2026): Braintree VAMP documentation (PayPal developer docs) — conditional 0.5% + 5 merchant exposure when the acquirer BID is flagged, $4 / $8 per-event assessments, acquirer tiers 0.5% / 0.7%, merchant Excessive 1.5% / 1,500; Stripe monitoring documentation as summarised by Chargeflow's VAMP guide — 0.5% Non-Compliant level, outcomes and refunds not considered; Shopify Help Center, "Network dispute resolution programs" — NDRP 1.5% over 90 days, 10% reserve, exit below 1.00% for 30 days, minimum order volume exclusion, wins included in the rate; Shopify Help Center monitoring page as quoted by Paperblog (Oct 20, 2026) — MATCH code 04 over 1% + $5,000, corroborated by Actionman Capital's processor-documentation summary and PayCompass's MATCH guide (five-year listing); Chargebacks911 ECM guide and this site's ratio calculator and ECM checker — ECM 1.5% / 100; Checkout.com VAMP tables — VAMP Excessive 1.5% / 1,500 standard regions. Network rulebooks are not public — figures are as published by processors and program guides, and your merchant agreement may set stricter limits.

General information only — not financial or legal advice. Thresholds vary by network, processor, region and merchant agreement; programs generally require the ratio and the count together, and the 0.5% exposure additionally requires a flagged acquirer. Verify your position with your acquirer.

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