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Test Mode

Verify your integration end to end before you go live.

Test Mode lets you run through the entire Checkout Modern flow — order creation, redirect, payment, callbacks and status updates — without moving any real money.

Test Mode is rolling out

Test Mode is newly available and still being refined. The behaviour below is stable, but small details may change — check back before relying on edge cases.

How It Works​

Test Mode is a per-project setting. You switch a project into Test Mode from your Paysera account; while it is on, every payment created for that project is a test payment. Switching back to Live restores the project exactly as it was.

You don't need to change your integration. Whether you use the API directly or one of our plugins, the test flag is applied automatically from the project's state — your existing code and configuration work unmodified. When a project is in Test Mode, the checkout simply offers the test payment options described below instead of live ones.

While a project is in Test Mode:

  • No real money is moved. Test payments are excluded from settlements, payouts and reporting.
  • Splits are not distributed. A test payment never produces a payout, so split legs and their distribution.* events only occur in live — see Split Payments.
  • The payer sees a notice on the payment form: "This is a test payment. No real money will be deducted."
  • Callbacks and status updates behave exactly as in live, so you can validate your webhook handling — test payments are additionally marked with an is_test flag so you can tell them apart.
  • Emails are clearly marked. Any payer or merchant email generated by a test payment carries a [TEST] prefix in the subject and a notice in the body.
tip

Point your integration at your normal (test-mode) project and run real order flows against it. Because the flag comes from the project, nothing in your request needs to change.

Testing Non-Card Payments​

For bank and other non-card methods, Test Mode offers a simulated payment method. On the simulator page you choose the outcome yourself — success or failure — and the corresponding status events and callbacks are fired, just as a real method would. This lets you exercise both your success and failure handling without a real bank.

Testing Card Payments​

Card payments in Test Mode are processed in a genuine test card environment — so you enter card details on the normal payment form and get a real authorisation response.

warning

Real cards will not work in Test Mode, and the test cards below will not work in live.

Test Card Numbers​

Use any of these with expiry 03/2030 and CVC 737:

BrandCard number
Visa4111 1111 1111 1111
Visa4988 4388 4388 4305
Visa4166 6766 6766 6746
Visa4646 4646 4646 4644
Mastercard5555 5555 5555 4444
Mastercard5555 3412 4444 1115
Mastercard5555 4444 3333 1111
Mastercard2223 0000 4841 0010
note

Any future expiry date and any 3-digit CVC are accepted; we recommend the values above for consistency.

Choosing the Payment Outcome​

The card number does not determine whether a payment succeeds or fails — on their own, all the cards above are approved. To simulate a declined or failed payment, keep the same card details and enter one of the keywords below as the cardholder name:

Cardholder nameOutcome
(any normal name)Payment approved
DECLINEDPayment refused
CARD_EXPIREDRefused — expired card
INVALID_AMOUNTRefused — invalid amount
BLOCK_CARDRefused — blocked card
CVC_DECLINEDRefused — CVC declined
ISSUER_UNAVAILABLERefused — issuer unavailable
FRAUDRefused — suspected fraud

Example — simulate a declined card payment:

Card 4111 1111 1111 1111, expiry 03/2030, CVC 737, cardholder name DECLINED → the payer sees a refused payment, and your integration receives the corresponding failure status and callback.

note

The keyword must be entered exactly as shown (uppercase). Any other name is treated as a normal, approved payment.

Turning Test Mode Off​

Switch the project back to Live in your Paysera account. Live payments resume immediately, the test payment options disappear, and test data stays out of your settlements and reports.