TC15 Dispute

A TC15 dispute is a Visa record used to identify dispute activity on transactions. The name refers to the transaction code Visa associates with dispute records, and its function is to make dispute activity visible and countable within the payment system — including within applicable Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program calculations. Where a TC40 report captures fraud, a TC15 record captures dispute activity.

That distinction is the key to using the term correctly. TC15 and TC40 are often mentioned together because both feed monitoring, but they measure different things. A TC40 fraud report is created when an issuer reports a transaction as fraudulent; a TC15 dispute record identifies that a transaction has entered dispute activity. A single transaction can produce a TC40, a TC15, both, or neither, depending on what happens. Treating the two as interchangeable blurs the picture that monitoring programs are built to measure.

For a merchant, TC15 records matter because dispute activity carries weight in Visa's monitoring. Dispute counts contribute to the VAMP Ratio alongside fraud reports, and elevated dispute activity can move a merchant toward thresholds that trigger remediation, reserves, or restricted terms. Seeing dispute activity in TC15 terms — the terms the network uses — gives a merchant a more accurate read on its standing than a processor's chargeback count alone.

The productive response is to keep dispute records connected to the cases behind them and to reduce dispute activity at its source. Resolving eligible disputes early through pre-dispute programs, tightening the practices that lead to disputes, and reconciling TC15 records against TC40 reports and settled transactions all help a merchant manage the number that monitoring actually counts. Because how TC15 records factor into calculations is defined by current Visa program rules and exclusions, merchants should interpret their dispute data against the rules in force.

TC15 dispute records are part of how Visa measures a merchant's dispute activity, and that activity feeds monitoring calculations such as the VAMP Ratio. Understanding TC15 helps merchants see their dispute exposure in the terms the network actually uses rather than only through a processor dashboard.

Because dispute activity carries weight in monitoring, reducing it early — by resolving eligible cases before they escalate — protects both the merchant's standing and the account itself. TC15 is the record that makes that activity countable.

Visa uses TC15 records to identify dispute activity across transactions, and that data can factor into program calculations, including within the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. Merchants and acquirers use TC15 visibility to understand dispute volume relative to fraud reports and settled transactions.

In practice, merchants reconcile TC15 records with their own dispute cases and with TC40 fraud reports so the two are not conflated. Keeping dispute records connected to the cases behind them lets a merchant both count the activity and act on it.

A TC15 dispute record is not interchangeable with a TC40 fraud report. TC15 identifies dispute activity, while TC40 identifies fraud reported by an issuer, and a transaction may generate one, the other, or both. TC15 is a record used in identifying and measuring disputes; how it factors into monitoring calculations is governed by current Visa program rules and exclusions, which can change. It is also distinct from the VAMP Ratio itself, which combines dispute records with fraud reports over settled card-not-present volume.