Visa and Mastercard Updated Policies Postponed
Last Updated on March 8, 2021 by Corepay
Several weeks ago, Visa and Mastercard had made several changes to their dispute and fraud monitoring programs and how merchants would be identified and placed in the program. The changes were going to go into effect on April 1.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the April 1st deadline has now been pushed out for a few industries, depending on their merchant category codes (MCC).
These are some of the changes we have received from our industry partners.
Visa Dispute Monitoring and Fraud Monitoring Programs are Suspended
First, both the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program and the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program will be suspended through July 31, 2020 for merchants in the Travel & Entertainment (T&E) MCCs. Visa will not be sending program identifications to acquiring banks for T&E merchants.
Next, the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program will be suspended for disputes from T&E merchants through July 31.
Another July 31 date: Fee liabilities for the Visa Issuer Monitor Program will also be waived. All identifications will be treated as Early Warnings.
Also, this one helps any non-T&E merchants that have been affected by the pandemic: Risk teams are “empowered to suspend and/or waive program fees” as long as the merchant can show that they have been directly affected.
Mastercard’s Excessive Fraud Merchant and Excessive Chargeback Programs
In the Excessive Fraud Merchant (EFM) Program Mastercard will continue to identify ecommerce merchants with excessive fraud through September. They recommend that acquiring banks work with their merchants to reduce fraud.
Mastercard will also suspend assessments related to the EFM program. They will start assessments in November of this year for any violations that occur in October.
Next, in the Excessive Chargeback Program (ECP), Mastercard will suspend program identification for airlines, cruise lines, railways, and travel agents through July. Additionally, they will monitor all categories to see if other MCCs should be included in this list of suspensions.
If a merchant has been placed into the ECP and has been directly affected by COVID-19, the acquiring banks can request an extension for compliance, but they must explain how and why the merchant has been impacted by the pandemic. If am extension is given, ECP assessments will not be applied during the extension period.
If you would like to know more about how these extensions affect you, or how to get yourself out of the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program or Fraud Monitoring Program, or the Excessive Fraud Merchant program, Corepay can help. For more information, please visit our website or call us at (866) 987-1969.
Photo credit: Esmoth (Pixabay.com, Creative Commons 0)
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