It’s Not About the Clicks: Understanding the Other 90% of ePayments Testing Activity

When organizations think about how to improve their testing, all too often they focus on the "clicks"—or how to programmatically accomplish what is perceived as the push-button process of ePayments testing. However, for those for whom testing is a primary responsibility, it is apparent that testing payments systems involves a wide range of activities - and that the time and effort required to conduct the tests likely represents only 10% of the entire testing process . This article examines the tasks associated with electronic payments system testing and helps you understand the tasks that actually make up the bulk of ePayments testing activities.

If you asked your coworkers "What is ePayments testing?", they would typically respond with generalizations about using a test plan, setting up test terminals or ATMs, gathering test cards, setting up test data (such as test accounts), setting up your host test environment, and so forth. Perhaps they would focus on QA, regression, or stress testing requirements. In fact, ePayments testing activity begins long before the first test card is inserted into the first test terminal. Actually, if one considers all the preparation and research that occurs before the first test is executed, and the reporting and analysis that comes after test execution is completed, it quickly becomes apparent that test execution is a small percentage—perhaps 10% - of the activity required for successful ePayments testing.

If the goal of payment systems testing is more reliable systems, faster adaptation to change (such as network mandates, regulatory changes, new payment instruments, etc.), and faster time to market, then the activity that takes place before and after testing is just as critical to reaching that goal as test execution—perhaps even more critical! This article will explore an ePayments testing timeline that includes the following activities: discovery, research, preparation, test execution, reporting, and analysis. Here we will focus on the 90% of testing activities that are often undervalued in ePayments testing.

The Initial Phases of ePayments Testing: Discovery, Research, and Preparation

What activities are crucial in the planning stages of ePayments testing? What happens before the test execution starts?

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