Payment services testing

We use payment systems almost every day: purchasing stuff online or paying for delivery services in applications or on mail websites. Such payments have become an integral part of our everyday life: shopping at your favorite store, pizza delivery, donating to your favorite RPG game. Any problems that arise during payment cause only negative emotions. Today, payment systems are the most convenient and the easiest prospective means for monetary payments on the Internet. It is not difficult to understand what payment systems are, because we have prepared for you an article about the operation and testing of online payments.

What is this payment system?

Payment system is a payment organization, a set of rules and procedures of the technical infrastructure that ensures the transfer of value from one entity to another. Its main function is to transfer funds, however, since we are talking about virtual payment services, virtual money substitutes are used. Electronic payment systems in the modern world include debit and credit cards, electronic money transfers, and Internet banking.

Online payment can be made on the websites of Internet acquiring services, payment gateways and electronic money operators, as well as aggregators. Let's take a look at how payment processes happen on the other side of our normal routine.

What is the Internet acquiring?

Let's start with online acquiring, which is relevant when ordering goods or paying for services abroad. Internet acquiring is a service that allows you to accept bank cards of international and national payment systems for paying for goods and services on the Internet directly on the company's Internet site.

In addition to the actual person who pays for the online purchase, the participants in this process are:

• acquiring bank – a legal entity that accepts transactions from merchants and sends them to the corresponding payment system;
• the issuing bank is the bank that issued the payer's card;
• the payment system is licensed cards such as Visa and Mastercard;
• service provider is an online service that integrates the online seller's website with the acquirer.

In practice, the buyer goes to a secure page to pay for the order, enters his card details and pays for the order.

To receive Internet acquiring services, an entrepreneur can connect to an intermediary service that provides such a service (LiqRau, Fondy, Wayforpay, etc.) or enter into a contract directly with the acquiring bank.

What is a payment gateway?

Payment Gateway is an e-commerce software service that authorizes credit card payments for online purchases. Payment gateways protect credit card data by encrypting sensitive information such as credit card numbers, account holder details, etc. This information is securely transferred from buyer to seller and vice versa.

Modern payment gateways also securely confirm payments using debit cards, electronic bank transfers, bank cards, loyalty points, etc.

Payment aggregator is an e-commerce system that combines all possible payment methods into one to facilitate online payments. For example, a payment aggregator company establishes agreements with individual payment systems and operators and simplifies the process of making purchases on the Internet. After all, independently setting up the functionality of even a minimal set of payment services is a difficult and time-consuming task.

Examples of payment services

Payment services have become an integral part of our lives, because an ordinary going to the store or a trip can now be paid with the help of such services. As of 2022, with their help we can receive transfers from abroad and payments from customers, pay taxes, pay in stores, donate to charity and even invest in cryptocurrency.

Electronic payment systems are analogues of banks. Only they do not work with cash, but with electronic funds. All operations take place exclusively on the Internet, in the format of online payments.

The list of current payment systems in Ukraine as of 2021:

• Transferwise
• Easypay
• Google Pay
• Apple Pay
• power

In April 2022, the PayPal payment system officially started working in Ukraine.

Why test payment systems?

Payment systems are tested to provide a high-quality product to the end user, as well as to develop the business policy of the project.

For example, when a customer pays in a store with cash or a card, the POS terminal confirms or rejects the payment. A similar process occurs during online transactions.

The client expects that the payment of electronic payment will take place without any problems and errors. The client presses the "Pay" button and after a few seconds a message appears that the payment was successful or, conversely, was rejected.

The seller needs to verify that the entire payment process (online store transaction, authorization, etc.) is working properly. Errors occurring in any of the constituent components lead to the impossibility of performing the main function of the seller's work and, as a result, to user dissatisfaction.

Testing provides an opportunity to get used to the operator's operational flow and helps determine whether the selected option is suitable for the application and business.

Types of testing required for payment services testing

Types of testing used to check payment systems vary depending on the specifics of the project and the business product itself. However, we have highlighted the most common types of testing that are used:

• functional testing;
• integration testing;
• load testing;
• security testing.

Functional testing is used to test new payment gateways to ensure that the application is working correctly – processing orders, providing calculations, calculating and adding the tax amount.

Integration testing is critical in the process of integrating a product with payment gateways. It is checked whether the work between the product and the payment system is properly established, that is, the entire flow of transactions:

• creating an order;
• verification of receipt of funds to the seller's account;
• transaction cancellation and order return check.

Performance testing checks for errors during multiple transactions on a product's app or website. Payment systems must perform all functions without delays.

Security testing remains more relevant than ever, because the user of the site or application discloses his payment card data (card number and CVV number) and personal data. The security of which should always be one of the priorities for the product owner.

Testing of payment systems: basic checks

Before starting the testing of payment systems, there is a certain amount of preparation that must be done in order to ensure a high-quality testing process. These preparations are:

• preparation and setup of the test environment. First of all, it is necessary to check whether the payment system provides a sandbox – a testing environment where you can create test transfers and conduct testing;
• gathering all credit card numbers to be used for testing.

Functionality checks will always vary depending on the features of the payment system, as well as the region for which it is designed. During testing, it is recommended to perform the following general checks:

• the possibility of choosing payment systems, if several options are provided;
• validation of card number, card validity period, CVV and cardholder name fields with valid data;
• validation of card number, card validity period, CVV and cardholder name fields with invalid data;
• information message when using a blocked card or a card whose validation period has expired;
• notification and behavior of the payment system after a successful transaction (a letter confirming payment is sent to the mail);
• notifications and behavior of the payment system after an unsuccessful transaction;
• notification after waiting time;
• presence of error notifications;
• the presence of a notification in case of incorrect completion of the payment process in the payment system;
• no repeat transaction;
• transaction channel (the product order page must be protected – displayed via https);
• availability of a secret code (One-Time Password OTP);
• transactions with the entry of an invalid one-time password;
• the number of attempts to enter a one-time password;
• error notifications;
• the currency of the payment operator, namely its correspondence with the seller and the currency of his country, in the case of international payments;
• possibility of payment refund;
• the amount upon cancellation of the transaction;
• return to the application from the payment page;
• speed of the payment system;
• operation of the payment system during loading;
• safety against SQL injection attacks.

In this article we have looked through the types of testing used for payment services, as well as a detailed list of recommended checks. In the near future, the use of payment systems will remain relevant due to the constant development of business and retail trade in online stores on the world market. That is why the testing of such payment systems to ensure high product quality will remain relevant.