Compliance · Glossary
Also called: Visa Integrity Risk Program
VIRP (Visa Integrity Risk Program) is Visa's program governing high-integrity-risk merchant categories such as gambling, requiring acquirers to register merchants in those categories before processing. It replaced the Global Brand Protection Program in May 2023, and registration carries fees paid through the acquirer.
VIRPsits inside the broader system of U.S. payment processing economics that determine a merchant’s effective rate. Most operators encounter this term on their merchant statement without understanding what it controls, which is how the four hidden fees covered by our methodology slip past unnoticed.