Chargeback Ratio Alert
The free version of TrustLens watches your chargeback ratio in the background and warns you once a card-network monitoring line has been crossed. There is no ratio dial or gauge in the free version: nothing is shown while every network is below its line, and a red Chargeback ratio over network threshold alert appears as soon as one is crossed in the current calendar month. This page explains where the alert appears, how the ratio behind it is computed, and what to do when you see it.
What the Alert Shows #
When any card network’s ratio for the current calendar month is at or above its line, TrustLens shows the problem in three places:
- Dashboard alert band — a red band at the top of the TrustLens Dashboard titled “Chargeback ratio over network threshold”, naming the programs you are over (for example “Over the line for: Visa VAMP. Review open disputes and respond immediately.”) with an Open Monitor button
- Header status chip — on TrustLens admin pages the status chip reads “Chargeback over line” (“Over Visa VAMP threshold. Respond to open disputes.”). A Card-Testing Panic Freeze or targeted attack takes precedence in the chip while it is active.
- Notifications bell — a “Chargeback ratio over line” entry that links to the Chargeback Monitor
The alert names the program but not the ratio itself. The Open Monitor button leads to the Chargeback Monitor page, which is Pro; on the free version it shows an overview of the Pro monitor. The per-brand ratios, the trend chart, and the open-disputes worklist are covered in Chargeback Monitor.
The free version sends no email about the ratio. Daily ratio emails are a Pro feature (see Ratio Email Alerts).
How the Ratio Is Computed #
The ratio is worked out separately for each card brand, for the current calendar month in your store’s timezone (it resets on the 1st):
brand_ratio = disputes recorded this month on that brand's orders / that brand's card orders placed this month
Where:
- Card orders: orders TrustLens has marked as card payments with a known brand (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, or Other), in Processing, Completed, or Refunded status. The brand is captured when a Stripe or WooPayments payment completes (Historical Sync fills it in for older Stripe and WooPayments orders), or set on the order when you record a manual dispute with a card brand.
- Disputes: every dispute TrustLens recorded during the month — from Stripe, WooPayments, or manual entry — whatever its outcome. Pending, won, and lost disputes all count. A dispute is counted in the month TrustLens recorded it, not the month of the original order.
- Disputes on orders without a recorded card brand are not counted in any ratio. They still count against the customer’s trust score.
The figures are cached for 15 minutes to keep the dashboard fast. Recording a new dispute clears the cache, so the next page load uses fresh numbers.
When the Alert Appears #
| State | What you see | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Below every line | Nothing | Every brand’s ratio is under its network line (or the brand has no card orders this month) |
| Over a line | Red alert band, header chip, bell entry | At least one brand’s ratio is at or above its network line |
The free alert only fires once a line is crossed. An earlier “approaching” warning — by default when a brand reaches 70% of its line — is part of the Pro Chargeback Monitor and Pro daily emails.
The Network Lines #
Each brand’s ratio is compared with its own network’s line:
| Network | Program | Line TrustLens uses |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) | 1.5% |
| Mastercard | ECP (Excessive Chargeback Program) | 1.5% |
| Amex | Excessive Disputes | 1.0% |
| Discover | Excessive Disputes | 1.0% |
Visa replaced its older VDMP and VFMP programs with VAMP in 2025. VAMP’s merchant line is 1.5% in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America (from 1 April 2026) and 2.2% in CEMEA. Developers can change any line with the trustlens/chargeback_thresholds filter. See Card Network Thresholds for the program details.
What the Alert Doesn’t Show #
Important caveats:
- The ratio value. The alert tells you which line was crossed, not by how much. Pro’s Chargeback Monitor shows each brand’s ratio and progress toward its line.
- Early warning. The alert appears only once a line is crossed. Pro adds the approaching state and a daily email before you cross.
- Trailing windows and trend. The alert uses the calendar month only. Pro adds a trailing-30-day ratio and a 12-month trend chart.
- Volume minimums. Card networks only enrol merchants above a monthly minimum number of cases (for Visa VAMP, 1,500 fraud reports and disputes in most regions). TrustLens applies no minimum, so a small store can see the alert after one or two disputes. Treat it as a signal that something is wrong, not as proof that you are in a program.
- Visa fraud reports. Visa’s VAMP ratio also counts fraud reports (TC40) that issuers send to your processor. Those never reach WooCommerce, so Visa’s own figure can be higher than the one TrustLens checks.
Configuration #
The free alert has no settings: it appears whenever a line is crossed and disappears when every brand is back under its line or a new month starts.
| Setting | Where | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Network lines | trustlens/chargeback_thresholds filter (code) |
Change a network’s line, for example to 2.2% for a CEMEA store |
| Ratio alert threshold | Chargeback Monitor page (Pro) | Percentage of each line at which Pro shows “approaching” and sends its email (default 70%). It does not change when the free alert appears. |
What to Do When the Alert Appears #
The alert means at least one brand’s ratio for this month is at or over its network line. If the network’s minimum counts also apply to your store, you may already be in a monitoring program, or close to it.
- Review this month’s disputes: each disputed order shows a “Chargeback / dispute filed” notice on its order screen, and dispute events appear in each customer’s Recent activity. On Pro, the Chargeback Monitor lists open disputes by response deadline.
- Identify which customers are producing disputes and check their trust scores and signals — were there warning signs?
- Tighten checkout enforcement: turn on Enable Blocking in Settings → General and block customers with dispute histories. On Pro, set Auto-block after lost disputes on the Chargeback Monitor page (it is off by default).
- Pro: use the Dispute Evidence Report for every active dispute to maximize your win rate.
- Audit recent dispute reasons — shipping problems, product issues, friendly fraud, or card testing — and fix the upstream causes: slow shipping, unclear product descriptions, an unclear refund policy.
- Contact your processor proactively — be upfront about the situation; they’d rather see you trying than be surprised.
Bringing a ratio down takes time. The denominator (card orders) grows through the month, so the ratio drops as new clean orders come in even if you can’t undo past disputes.
End-of-Month Reset #
The ratio is calculated for the calendar month, so on the 1st it starts again from zero and the alert disappears until a line is crossed in the new month. On Pro, the 12-month trend chart keeps the history.
A reset on the dashboard is not a reset with the card networks or your processor: the historical pattern still matters to them. Don’t read the reset as “problem solved.”
Updated on October 18, 2026
