It’s easy to see why more consumers are switching to digital payment methods: it’s more convenient, easier to track and reduces contact. To keep up with consumer expectations, eCommerce websites must ensure their payment channels are secure and seamless. Any issue with online payments directly impacts revenue, website traffic and customer loyalty.
In short, payment channels that regularly undergo payment gateway testing are ready for market, ready for the consumer and ready to combat any cybercriminal attempts. But how can QA testers keep track of every test case scenario for payment gateway channels?
It’s possible for your QA team to fully verify the security of sensitive data during every online transaction as well as the usability, performance and functionality of your online payment channels. All it takes is a strong QA strategy that includes a well-defined payment gateway testing checklist and a talented team of skilled QA engineers.
In this guide, you can expect to learn:
- What questions to ask when testing your payment gateway
- How to test a payment gateway on a web application
- Things to know before performing payment gateway tests
- Recommended testing tools for payment gateway channels
Payment Gateway Testing Questions to Consider
It’s up to your QA team to validate critical features and functionalities of online payment systems, including user authentication, data verification and acknowledgment. Before running each test case scenario for payment gateway, your QA testers must first understand the parameters of the payment gateway as well as its ability to meet market requirements.
As your team establishes your testing payment gateway checklist, confirm your understanding of these essential questions:
- Does the whole transaction cycle perform via secure “https” protocol?
- What anti-fraud measures are established for the payment gateway?
- How does the system handle any failed payments?
- Are passwords and all secured details encrypted?
Prerequisites for Payment Gateway Testing
There’s more to payment gateway testing than simply knowing which steps to take during the QA process. Having the right information and understanding of eCommerce testing can significantly streamline QA testing and increase the accuracy of your test results. Before your team begins testing the payment gateway, confirm that the following resources and data are structured within your testing framework.
- A Payment Processor Sandbox: This option allows your testers to test your payment processor without needing to pay the submitted payment. A separate testing environment validates the behavior of your payment gateway without impacting real sales in your live web environment.
- Test Data: Collect dummy credit card numbers for all commonly used vendors including Master, Visa, American Express and Discover as well as debit cards and payment wallets such as Google Pay and Amazon Pay.
- Knowledge of Payment Gateway Terminology: Your QA engineers should be well-versed in both the eCommerce transaction process and its jargon, including merchant, acquiring bank, issuing bank, transaction, authorization and capture.
Types of Payment Gateway Testing
Because there are various types of testing to be performed, it can be difficult to pinpoint every test case scenario for payment gateways. But, if your team can identify every requirement for your online payment channel, you can then devise a strong QA testing strategy that stays aligned with fulfilling expectations for these deliverables.
Not sure how to test payment gateway channels? We recommend approaching testing payment gateway checklist by including these QA tests:
- Functional Testing: Testing the functionality of payment gateways starts by focusing on the main functionalities of your payment process. Create test cases that concentrate on the validation for all fields, UI, calculations for tax rates and discounts, and navigation throughout the checkout process.
- Integration Testing: Plan to validate the integration of your websites with the payment gateway. Every test case scenario for payment gateway integration testing should focus on the verification of each phase of transaction, from “Add to Cart” to “Payment Complete”.
- Performance Testing: When making an online purchase, no one likes receiving a timeout message. The performance of your website is crucial for keeping your consumers engaged throughout the payment process, especially during peak traffic situations. During QA testing, your team should plan to generate multiple concurrent requests to the payment gateway and then verify the response of your web application.
- Security Testing: Transactions are always susceptible to cyberattacks, so make sure your team verifies the security of your entire transaction flow. Perform tests that validate all instances of encryption for sensitive data, access only for authenticated users and proper security breach warnings throughout the application.
The Best Payment Gateway Testing Tools
It’s true that QA teams can run tests on payment gateways without testing tools. That being said, a payment gateway testing process without a testing tool means longer testing cycles, lower test case accuracy and more mistakes in testing.
The best way to test your payment gateway is by choosing the right tool designed for testing online payment channels. We recommend considering these testing tools during your evaluation process.
- t3 V7: Iliad Solutions offers a sophisticated simulation-based testing platform where testers access a dummy environment for testing a payment gateway. QA teams can enjoy its reporting capabilities and its built-in test runner designed for executing various kinds of functional and non-functional testing. t3 V7 is ideal for QA teams wanting to heavily test the most commonly used payment methods for customers.
- TestYantra: Not only this tool is the largest eCommerce security provider, but it also applies Java concepts for enhanced security. Testers can test the performance of payment gateways through the Jmeter load simulator designed to ensure the validation of high traffic transactions per second.
Need more guidance in payment gateway testing? Choose to partner with a quality services provider like QASource. Our team of testing experts is skilled in the eCommerce domain and can help your team create a comprehensive payment gateway testing checklist for your QA strategy. Get in touch with a QASource expert today.
