Most high-risk merchants meet TC40 data the hard way. An acquirer flags a rising fraud rate, or a monitoring notice lands, and the numbers do not match the chargebacks they have actually fought. That gap is TC40 data: a fraud signal that moves before a single dispute is filed, and counts against you whether or not the dispute ever arrives. If you are still working out how to spot fraud before it becomes a chargeback, this is the data layer sitting underneath that fight.
A TC40 is a fraud report, not a chargeback
When a cardholder tells their bank a Visa transaction was not authorized, the issuer generates a TC40 data claim and sends it to Visa’s Risk Identification Service (RIS). It is a report, not a reversal. No money moves, and the TC40 does not stop or replace the chargeback. The same transaction can produce a TC40 today and a fraud chargeback weeks later, or a TC40 and no chargeback at all if the cardholder never pursues it.
That timing is the point. The TC40 is released within days of the fraud report, long before a dispute works its way through the system.
| TC40 / SAFE report | Chargeback | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fraud notification to the network | Reversal of funds |
| Money moves? | No | Yes |
| Timing | Within days of the fraud claim | Weeks later, if at all |
| Who acts on it | Acquirer, risk teams, alert feeds | Your disputes team |
| Counts toward | VAMP / EFM fraud ratio | VAMP / EFM dispute ratio |
Mastercard’s version is SAFE, now the FLD
Mastercard runs the same play through SAFE, the System to Avoid Fraud Effectively. Since 2020 it has technically been folded into the Fraud and Loss Database (FLD), though the industry still says “SAFE alerts.” The mechanics are identical: issuers report fraud, the network aggregates it, and your acquirer reads your risk profile through that lens.
A TC40 costs you nothing today and everything later. It is the number your acquirer watches, not the one you dispute.
How the reports feed VAMP and EFM
Here is why they matter more than most merchants realise. TC40 and SAFE data are the raw fraud inputs for the networks’ monitoring programs. Under Visa’s VAMP, the ratio that decides your standing is fraud plus disputes divided by card-not-present transactions, and the fraud half of that equation is measured through TC40 reports. So your VAMP ratio can climb on TC40 volume alone, before a wave of chargebacks ever lands.
Mastercard’s Excessive Fraud Merchant (EFM) program, part of its Acquirer Chargeback Monitoring Program, works the same way: cross its fraud thresholds and monthly violation fines start stacking. In both schemes, SAFE and TC40 counts can put you in a program before your dispute ratio ever looks alarming.
Use the alerts, but know their limits
Because TC40 and SAFE fire early, they are useful. Acquirers and alert providers (the Verifi and Ethoca networks) resell this fraud data so you can refund a flagged order before it becomes a chargeback, protecting both your dispute ratio and your fraud ratio. The same early signal strengthens your defence against friendly fraud, which now drives most disputes. Acted on quickly, an alert is a chance to cut a loss short.
Warning
TC40 data is noisy. It lags, duplicates, and includes transactions you may have already refunded, so it is a directional risk signal, not a clean ledger. Treat it as an early-warning feed to investigate, not a bill to pay line by line.
The Bottom Line
If you only track chargebacks, you are watching the wrong number. Your acquirer and the card networks are already reading your TC40 and SAFE data, and under 2026’s tighter VAMP and EFM thresholds, that fraud reporting can end an account long before disputes would. Ask your acquirer or alert provider what your fraud reporting looks like now, while you can still act on it.
- Verifi (a Visa company), “What is TC40 data?,” verifi.com.
- Merchant Risk Council, “Stricter VAMP Ratio Thresholds Are Now in Effect. Here’s How to Stay Compliant,” merchantriskcouncil.org, 2026.
- Chargeback Gurus, “FAQ: Fraud Monitoring with TC40 and SAFE,” chargebackgurus.com.
