Payment testing – people v automation

With financial institutions agreeing budgets for 2024, IT teams are spending many hours contemplating the best, most cost-effective option for payment testing. So what’s being considered?

Payment testing options

The easiest option in many ways is throwing people at the issue. Getting a team of contractors in to assist is a short-term fix. If money becomes tight they can be offloaded at any point.

This said an expanded team of testers and programmers have limited capabilities regarding the volume of testing; inconsistencies can creep in with people-led testing, and any expertise walks out of the door when the contract finishes.

The more people involved the more complicated and expensive payment testing can become. So what is the alternative?

Automated testing – the smart move

Banks are increasingly using highly automated payment testing systems for a number of important reasons. Here is a list to start the conversation:

• Automated payment testing guarantees that transactions and payment procedures are accurately and thoroughly tested avoiding human error.
• Automation is more efficient and can accelerate the testing process when compared to manual testing.
• Money can be saved. Automated testing can be scheduled to run day or night with minimal oversight and without the expense of paying testers for working out of hours.
• Banks favouring automated testing can identify and resolve issues and vulnerabilities quicker before their impact is felt.
• Financial institutions need to adhere to strict regulations and standards regarding payment processes. An audit trail of test results is needed. Automated payment testing comes into its own, streamlining the process and saving time.
• Automated testing has the ability to handle an increasing number of transactions and payment methods in a scalable manner. If a bank decides to expand their services or add new payment options, automation can easily adjust to accommodate these changes.
• Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) – automated payment testing can be integrated into a CI/CD pipeline, allowing continuous testing and validation of payment processes as new features or updates are rolled out.

And so the list goes on.

Action needed

Having dependable payment systems is crucial for a good customer experience and fundamental to any bank’s future success. Implementing a highly automated testing programme helps guarantee payments are executed without issue.

Despite the attraction of using a short-term people-led option, the future is an automated solution allowing banks to test compliantly with precision, speed, cost-effectiveness, risk reduction, and expandability, creating enhanced customer satisfaction.

Effective payment testing remains key to the future health of all banks and financial institutions  – partnering with a progressive, specialist provider will provide peace of mind in a rapidly changing, technologically driven, financial services environment.

 

Anthony Walton – CEO, Iliad Solutions