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How to Test Payment Gateways in BFSI Apps

Did you know that according to Statista, the digital wallet transaction CAGR is estimated to be around 15% between the years 2023 and 2027? The number of online banking users globally was approximately 3.6 billion in 2024.

These staggering numbers make payment gateway testing non-negotiable in this highly evolving digital landscape. In this post, we’ll look at payment gateway testing, especially revolving around how to test payment gateways in BFSI apps. Let’s dig in.

What is a Payment Gateway?

A payment gateway refers to the technology that captures and transfers payment data to the acquiring bank from a customer, followed by providing the merchant with the transaction status. In other words, it’s digitally equivalent to a POS terminal by facilitating highly secure and real-time online transactions across different web and mobile platforms. 

A payment gateway offers support for different payment methods such as net banking, digital wallets, debit/credit cards, and other sensitive information while ensuring compliance with the help of data security standards such as PCI-DSS, enabling customers to conveniently and safely transact.

Types of Payment Gateways

types of payment gateways

If you’re looking forward to choosing the appropriate payment gateway, note that it depends on integration complexity, business scale, and unique business requirements. Here are some primary categories:

Platform-Based Gateways

It’s a pre-integrated gateway that doesn’t require much setup and is common in e-commerce SaaS platforms such as WooCommerce or Shopify.


Local Bank Integrations
They are mostly used in geographies with banks offering direct integrations as a cost-effective payment gateway. However, it might lack some international scalability and other modern features.


Non-Hosted or API Gateways
They are fully integrated and customizable through APIs and allow flawless checkout experiences. However, they need developers for maintaining and implementing security protocols.

 

Self-Hosted Payment Gateways

Customers can directly enter payment details on the merchant’s website as the data is forwarded to the payment gateway provider. It offers enhanced UX control, nevertheless, calls for stringent security measures.


Hosted Payment Gateways
Hosted payment gateways redirect customers to third-party payment services such as PayPal. They have limited UX control and customization. However, it’s easier to integrate and manage them.

Importance of Payment Gateway Testing

Payment gateway testing handles errors by ensuring graceful response from systems to API issues, timeouts, or failed transactions. It also validates accurate functioning of tokenization and encryption. 

Some other reasons why it’s important are early bug detection, ensuring gateway scalability without slowdowns or crashes during peak hours, cross device reliability, and cross browser compatibility.

Payment Gateway Testing Checklist

  • Validating chargeback and refund flows.
  • Verifying encryption protocols and security headers.
  • Testing redirection flows.
  • Inspecting error codes and API responses.
  • Confirming accurate currency display and order amount.
  • Assessing recovery behavior by simulating poor network conditions.
  • Checking UI/UX consistency across different screen sizes and devices.
  • Validating 3D secure authentication.
  • Testing failure scenarios including insufficient funds, expired CVV, invalid card number, etc.
  • Using valid payment credentials.
  • Verifying the flow of successful transactions.

How to Test Payment Gateway Functionality in BFSI Apps

how to test payment gateway functionality in bfsi apps

Payment gateway testing is a multi-layered process ensuring seamless UX, data security, and high transactional accuracy. Payment flows can often be complex spanning user behavior under different conditions, third-party integrations, backend APIs, and front-end UI which makes it critical to follow a structured approach. 

On that note, let’s take a detailed look at the step-by-step method on how to test payment gateway functionality in BFSI apps.

Setting Up The Sandbox Environment

Start the process of testing payment gateway functionality configuring on the sandbox environment your payment gateway provider offers. It’s an isolated setup that is responsible for simulating real world transactions that don’t involve any actual funds makes it ideal for both negative and functional testing.


Use Scenario-Based and Test Card Credentials

Plenty of gateways provide a wide array of payment scenarios and dummy card numbers including declined payments, CVV mismatches, expired card failures, and successful transactions. Such predefined data sets help in simulating error cases and actual customer behavior effectively.


Automating Critical User Flows

You can use tools such as Pcloudy, Appium, Selenium, etc. to automate scenarios like status updates, transaction confirmation, OTP validation, 3D secure validation, third-party payment processor redirects, entering payment details, add to cart, and checkouts. These automation tools or app testing platforms come in handy when they have a seamless integration with your CI/CD pipeline to easily simulate different testing scenarios on the go.


Performing Payment Gateway API Testing

This includes testing API response codes, authorizing tokens and headers, retrying logic, and so on. Validation of payload and latency structures is also a crucial part of performing payment gateway API testing.


Simulating Device and Network Conditions

Throttle Network speeds, leverage geolocation tools, or trigger app switches to conduct regional transaction testing, testing for wallet-based payments, or checking how an app works in 3G/4G or weak network conditions. That’s one of the best ways to replicate real world usage of the BFSI application under testing.


Validating Backend Sync and Transaction Records

This step involves cross-checking the correct updation of order statuses in the database and whether cancellation and refunds workflows are functional end-to-end. Testers should also ensure the accurate reflection of payment details in admin dashboards.


Conducting Compliance and Security Testing

In this step, the QA teams verify secure authentication flow handling such as biometric inputs and 3D secure along with detailed tokenization, working encryption mechanisms such as SSL or TLS and PCI-DSS compliance.

Payment Gateway Test Cases

payment gateway test cases

Payment gateway testing comes with different test case categories with specific risks capable of compromising or disrupting the overall transaction experience. Let’s check out some of the most common payment gateway test cases.

Payment Interruption or Session Timeout

The objective of this test case is to ensure the handling of time out, app switching, or dropped connections during payment by the application. You should validate the following:

  • Mocking the transaction as failed or pending.
  • Clearly informing the user and not leaving them in limbo.
  • Not recording any partial transactions.
  • Fallback or retry logic options should be available.

Failed Transactions Because of Invalid Card Details

The objective here is to verify how a system behaves upon entering incorrect payment information. Here’s what you should be validating:

  • Showing appropriate error message such as CVV, mismatch or invalid card number.
  • Not deducting any amount.
  • Not redirecting the user to the success page.
  • Offering the retry option without leaking any data.

Successful Transaction By Entering Valid Credentials

The objective with this test case is to ensure that the flow of payment works as per expectations upon entering valid wallet or card details. Here’s what the QA team should validate:

  • Confirming that the transaction has been processed and confirmed.
  • Correct updating of payment status in the system.
  • Triggering confirmation emails or notifications.
  • Accurately reflecting data on the invoice and order summary.

Why Opt for Real Device Payment Gateway Automation Testing

benefits of real device payment gateway testing

Payment gateways must have strict privacy and security standards with no room for even the tiniest hiccups. One failed redirect or OTP verification lag and cart abandonment is just lurking around the corner! That’s why you shouldn’t solely rely on simulators or emulators for payment gateway testing. 

Here are some ways in which real device testing for payment gateways helps in replicating accurate user experience to ensure responsive, secure, and seamless payment flow.

Validation of Compliance and Security

Real device testing facilitates security and compliance checks for a variety of mobile security features such as sandbox environments, secure data input, and biometric validation.


Geolocation Testing

Based on currency settings or regional restrictions, transactions can behave differently. By testing on real devices, you can simulate strictly location-based behavior and validate any global transactions, simultaneously, avoiding unpleasant surprises.


End-To-End Automation
You can test third-party payment app interactions, biometric confirmations, OTPs, etc. by using real devices to automate payment flow. As a result, the live user journey representation is more precise.

 

Simulating Network Conditions
Real devices undergo testing under fluctuating network conditions such as Wi-Fi drops, 3G, 4G, to ensure uninterrupted critical steps like payment confirmation and OTP delivery despite connectivity problems.

 

Device-Specific Behavior
Because of variations in custom browsers, OS versions, and hardware, payment gateways might often exhibit unpredictable behavior. Real device testing helps uncover problems that might be overlooked in virtual environments or when using simulators or emulators.

Payment Gateway Testing Best Practices

Payment gateway testing in BFSI apps requires balancing user trust, compliance, and functionality. Here are some best practices for forming a test strategy that covers all crucial aspects.

Tracking Vendor Updates

Payment gateway APIs often update for new compliance requirements. Set up alerts or monitor change logs to ensure your app doesn’t break due to unnoticed changes.

 

Having Regularity In Security Audits
Vulnerabilities, especially in authentication workflows, and APIs that are exposed to go beyond just functional testing. You can even integrate SAST/DAST tools in your testing cycle.


Test Payment Flows In Various Environments
Validate the gateway behavior across staging and production mirrored environments. Ensure that tokens and credentials don’t leak.

 

Cover Cross-Border and Multi-Currency Flows
Test international transactions, currency conversions, and region-specific payment flows to ensure smooth operation for a global user base.


Testing for Stress During Peak Load Conditions
It’s ideal to mimic high concurrency events such as cutoff times for mutual funds or EMI due dates, since thousands of users could be initiating multiple payments and short bursts. BFSI platforms often cater to predictable load spikes, and this best practice would ensure that payment systems don’t buckle under extreme pressure.

 

Using Data-Driven Test Scenarios
Use data covering high-value transactions, risk factors such as frequent failed attempts or unverified users, multiple payment methods, etc. Your test coverage should reflect how fraud detection systems behave differently for various profiles.

Conclusion

It’s non-negotiable to ensure the seamless performance of your payment gateway across different conditions, especially when even the most minute glitches could cost millions of customers to a business. It’s crucial to test checkout flows on real devices under real-world conditions with the help of features like Network simulation that mimic flaky or slow conditions, geolocation testing to validate region-wide transactions, and so on.

Pcloudy, with its high industry-specific credibility, makes it possible through seamless integration and support with a wide range of popular test frameworks such as Selenium and Appium, which accelerates payment flow testing and makes it more innovative and scalable.

FAQs on Payment Gateway Testing

Can you fully automate payment gateway testing?

We can automate payment gateway testing by automating transaction states, API validation, and checkout flow. However, steps such as 3D security or OTP entry could use some human oversight.

How can you ensure payment security while testing?

It’s always recommended to prevent logging, protect sensitive data, enable HTTPS, and use sandbox credentials while conducting payment gateway testing for BFSI apps.

Why is real device testing crucial for mobile payment flows?

Real device testing can be crucial for mobile payment flows, surfacing issues such as native wallet, integration, app switching, and biometric authentication on actual hardware.

Veethee Dixit

Veethee is a seasoned content strategist and technical writer with deep expertise in SaaS and AI-driven testing platforms. She crafts SEO-optimized content that simplifies complex testing concepts into clear, actionable insights. Her work has been featured in leading software testing newsletters and cited by top technology publications.

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