Why it's a ratio
Your chargeback ratio is disputes divided by transactions. Twenty disputes on 2,000 orders is 1%; the same twenty on 500 orders is 4%. So the number you can "afford" depends on your volume. The chargeback ratio calculator works it out for your month.
The card network lines
- Visa (VAMP): fraud reports (TC40) plus disputes (TC15), divided by settled card-not-present transactions in the same month. The merchant Excessive level is 1.5% with at least 1,500 counts in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific since 1 April 2026.
- Mastercard (ECM): chargebacks this month divided by Mastercard transactions last month. The Excessive Chargeback Merchant level is 1.5% with at least 100 chargebacks, and the High Excessive level is 3% with at least 300.
- Both the ratio and the minimum must be met for a network to identify a merchant, but acquirers can apply stricter limits: Visa's acquirer portfolio thresholds start at 0.5%.
On Shopify and Stripe
Shopify's and Stripe's help pages describe the same card network monitoring programs. Won disputes still count, because programs count disputes when they arrive. The thresholds by region and the fines are on chargeback ratio monitoring.
See it on your own orders.
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Sources
- Visa: Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program fact sheet (2025) (checked October 5, 2026)
- Stripe Docs: Dispute and fraud card monitoring programs (checked October 5, 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: Card network monitoring programs (checked October 5, 2026)
Last reviewed by Verdikx Research.