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1. What is Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP)​

VIRP is designed to help acquirers, their registered agents, and their merchants maintain appropriate controls and oversight processes to prevent illegal transactions from entering the Visa payment system.

  • Illegal or miscoded online gambling

  • Illegal adult content

  • Illegal pharmaceuticals sales

  • Illegal supplements / nutraceuticals sales

  • Illegal sale of counterfeit goods

  • Illegal copyright and intellectual property infringing sales

2. High Integrity Risk Merchants​

  • Visa identifies merchants whose business types are prone to illegal transactions without proper controls as high-risk merchants.

  • The risk level is divided into three tiers, each requiring corresponding due diligence.

2.1 High Integrity Risk Merchants — Tier 1​

The following card-absent business types are classified as High Integrity Risk Merchant – Tier 1:

  • Adult Content — MCC 5967

  • Dating and Escort Services — MCC 7273

  • Gambling — MCC 7995

  • Pharmacies — MCC 5122, 5912

2.2 High Integrity Risk Merchants — Tier 2​

The following business types are classified as High Integrity Risk Merchant – Tier 2:

  • Crypto Merchants: exchanges, wallet providers or on-ramp providers (card absent) – MCC 6051, 6012, with transactions required to use Special Condition Code 7

  • Cyberlockers and similar remote digital file-sharing services (card absent) — MCC 4816

  • Games of Skill (card absent) — MCC 5816

2.3 High Integrity Risk Merchants — Tier 3​

The following business types are classified as High Integrity Risk Merchant – Tier 3:

  • High Integrity Risk Financial Trading Platforms (card absent) – MCC 6211

  • Outbound Telemarketing (card absent) — MCC 5966

  • Subscription "Negative Option" Merchants (card absent) - MCC 5968

  • Tobacco Sales (cross-border card absent) — MCC 5993

3. High Integrity Risk Merchant Penalties​

  • Acquirers must apply for and be granted High Integrity Risk Acquirer Registration prior to soliciting, contracting with, or processing for any Merchant classified as High Integrity Risk.

  • Both the acquiring bank and the merchant must complete registration before processing high-risk Visa transactions. Non-compliance by either party will incur monthly penalties.

  • Merchant VIRP violation fees are charged separately, with child pornography violations carrying the highest penalties.

4. How Merchants Should Address VIRP​

  • Merchants that opt out of Visa high-risk registration must not list products in Visa high-risk industries.

  • If a merchant sells products in a Visa high-risk industry, both the merchant and the acquiring bank must complete high-risk registration with Visa and pay the applicable registration fees and annual fees.

  • Merchants listing products in Visa high-risk industries must strictly adhere to Visa VIRP rules when processing transactions. Non-compliance will result in substantial penalties, including: unregistered acquiring bank penalties, unregistered merchant penalties, and VIRP violation penalties.