How to Perform Functional and UI Testing for Payment Solutions

Payment systems have become an elemental piece of a variety of websites and applications. E-commerce is the primary thing that comes to mind, but it is not just one. Just think about the services and applications you utilize regularly. Food delivery,  e-learning platforms, streaming services, taxi apps – the majority of them have in-built payment functionality.

Whether we are discussing a fully working payment system or a payment gateway, it needs testing before the product goes live. In this article, we chose to cover the basics – the importance and particularities of functional testing. It would be important for stakeholders who want to understand more about quality assurance for their product and beginner QA specialists. 

Why Is Functional Testing Essential?

Functional testing intends to verify that the actual behavior of the implemented features meets the requirements and specifications defined in the project documentation. 

In other words, QA specialists review the functionality to ensure that a buyer can pay for a product or service, and a provider can get this money in full quantity. That’s the basic requirement of perfectly functioning payment gateways.

It is also important to check that the payment form accepts only active cards, makes the transaction only if the costs are enough, etc. Without explaining these and related things, there is no sense in allowing a purchasing feature on a website.

In payment systems testing, when a QA team is to review a payment solution as a full-fledged part of the software, not only an integrated part, the scope of tasks raises. 

Each type of payment solution will need a different strategy. A common thing is a requirement for flawless functionality. Without the features functioning perfectly, a payment solution as such is of no use. If the core features operate, but there are critical defects, it will result in difficulties for clients. The variety of consequences can also vary– from a minor reduction in customer satisfaction to large financial implications. Put it another way, there is a direct relationship between the quality of a payment system and the business performance of the provider and/or service employing it.

Payment Domain Testing Terminology and Arrangements

The term ‘payment systems testing’ can indicate testing a niche product or payment as a portion of some other service. The point is, testing of a payment solution can take place on either side. To be more precise, a provider of a payment solution (PayPal, a payment aggregator, etc.) should assure that the functionality they allow works and can integrate with other platforms. Meanwhile, we require to consider this integration when testing a particular e-commerce platform or another website.

The software testing process begins with planning and preparation. The team requires to create a Test Strategy, write test cases or checklists, and set up the tech stack.

As a rule, a software testing company prefers specialists with appropriate backgrounds and domain expertise to act with payment solutions. Thus, the team will be accustomed to the terminology and the needed setup. We’ll list the core terms and requirements below for those learning the basics or requiring to refresh their memory.

Basic payment domain terminology

• Merchant  – an account that enables businesses to receive and process payments via credit and debit cards. 
• Issuing bank – a financial institution that gives credit and debit cards and makes good on charges given by a cardholder.
• Acquiring bank  – a financial institution that allows transactions from cardholders. 
• Transaction  – the completed method of buying and selling something from an e-commerce platform, service provider, etc. 
• Authorization  – a transaction that defines whether a cardholder has sufficient funds to perform the purchase. 
• Capture  – a method of securing the payment after it has been approved. The money doesn’t leave a user’s account immediately but is kept to complete the transaction so that it isn’t spent elsewhere. 

Types of payment software

• Payment processor  – a service that delivers transaction data between a merchant, an issuing bank, and a receiving bank (e.g. POS terminal)
• Payment gateway  – a tool that transfers payments among banks (e.g. different forms of online payments). A hosted payment gateway redirects a user to another website for payment. A shared payment gateway is a section of the main website.
• Full payment platform – an end-to-end platform that allows multiple integrations with various gateways and processors in one point.

Functional Test Cases in Payment Domain Testing

The next question is ‘What specifically to check?’ We have noted some of the main cases QA specialists apply through payment systems testing.

1. Each of the allowed payment methods is available.
2. The flow for each method works perfectly. Users can finish transactions.
3. The opportunities for all currency and language variations, if any, work perfectly
4. A system catches the entered payment details accurately.
5. A system continues with payment simply after a user inserts data in all mandatory fields.
6. A user can finish a transaction only if all the parameters (card number, expiry date, and CVV number) are accurate. It is important to test various combinations of invalid details.
7. An attempted transaction employing a blocked card or a card with inadequate funds is rejected.
8. The system calculates and discharges the fees accurately(for example, if service charges are appended before the payment).
9. A system needs contact details (email and/or phone number) to give a payment confirmation.
10. A user and a merchant receive notifications about the concluded transaction via email.
11. The time between checkout and exhibiting a confirmation page is appropriate.
12. It is not possible to submit payment data after a session timeout.
13. If a transaction is unsuccessful, unfinished, etc., a system displays a correct error message.
14. If a transaction fails, a user can return to the prior page and simply navigate through the website.
15. Examine the behavior of a payment in progress after disconnecting and reconnecting to the web.
16. Ensure that a double payment doesn’t occur at any stage of the checkout process.

The Importance of UI Testing in Payment Domain

The audience assumed to use payment systems is huge. Therefore, it is necessary to work on empathic design – human-centered and based on the broad knowledge of the realities of the future users. It is one of the reasons why payment functionality on the majority of websites seems similar. 

Building such a design is a job for a different team. QA engineers are the ones to review the result and check those graphical elements look and work as thought. Below, you can see some of the fundamental things to examine during UI testing: 

• The page outline is visually consistent and without broken elements.
• All payment choices are listed, visually coherent, and clickable.
• Input fields enable entering data in a specified format (e.g. numbers only for card details).
• All buttons are clickable and deliver the intended actions.

Also Read: Why Should You Move To Functional Automation Testing?

To Sum Up

Functional testing in the payment domain is necessary. Without a careful inspection of such a complex solution, a company is expected to end up with a product that undermines their business performance and influences brand image. Functional testing always works hand in hand with UI testing. 

In this article, we explained the significance of these testing types and the peculiarities of the QA process in general. Many features of testing will vary depending on the kind of payment software and its characteristics. 

At TestUnity, we strive for the highest quality in every project, and our professional QA specialists are ready to ensure it. Contact us if you’re looking for a dedicated team to enhance your product’s quality.

TestUnity

Testunity is a SaaS-based technology platform driven by a vast community of testers & QAs spread around the world, powered by technology & testing experts to create the dedicated testing hub. Which is capable of providing almost all kind of testing services for almost all the platforms exists in software word.