You need to test the payment gateway integration carefully before going live to ensure successful and smooth transaction processing.
Ideally, an integration is tested in the following phases:
First, use an Authorize.Net developer test account to submit test transactions through your integration. In this environment, test transactions are posted to https://test.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll. Although this is a staging environment, its behavior mimics the live payment gateway. Transactions submitted to the test environment using a developer test account are not submitted to financial institutions for authorization and are not permanently stored in the Merchant Interface, although they will appear in the Unsettled Transactions for the test account immediately after you submit them.
In order to use this environment, you must have an Authorize.Net developer test account with an associated API Login ID and Transaction Key. Test transactions to this environment are accepted with these credentials only. If you do not have a developer test account, you can sign up for one at http://developer.authorize.net/testaccount.
Note: You do not need to use Test Mode when testing with a developer test account. For more information about Test Mode, see the Merchant Integration Guide at http://www.authorize.net/support/merchant.
Once the integration is successfully tested in the developer test environment, the merchant's Authorize.Net Payment Gateway API Login ID and Transaction Key may be plugged into the integration for testing against the live environment. (Developer test account credentials will not be accepted by the live payment gateway.) In this phase, testing can be done in one of two ways:
By including the x_test_request field with a value of "TRUE" in the HTML Form POST to https://secure.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll. See the sample below.
Sample 1. Submitting the test request field
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="x_test_request" VALUE="TRUE">
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By placing the merchant's payment gateway account in Test Mode in the Merchant Interface. New payment gateway accounts are placed in Test Mode by default. For more information about Test Mode, see the Merchant Integration Guide at http://www.authorize.net/support/merchant. When processing test transactions in Test Mode, the payment gateway will return a transaction ID of "0." This means you cannot test follow-on transactions, for example, credits, voids, etc., while in Test Mode. To test follow-on transactions, you can either submit x_test_request=TRUE as indicated above, or process a test transaction with any valid credit card number in live mode, as explained below.
Note: Transactions posted against live merchant accounts using either of the above testing methods are not submitted to financial institutions for authorization and are not stored in the Merchant Interface.
If testing in the live environment is successful, you are ready to submit live transactions and verify that they are being submitted successfully. Either remove the x_test_request field from the HTML Form Post or set it to "FALSE;" or if you are using Test Mode, turn it off in the Merchant Interface. To receive a true response, you must submit a transaction using a real credit card number. You can use any valid credit card number to submit a test transaction. You will be able to void successful transactions immediately to prevent live test transactions from being processed. This can be done quickly on the Unsettled Transactions page of the Merchant Interface. It is recommended that when testing using a live credit card, you use a nominal value, such as $0.01. That way, if you forget to void the transaction, the impact will be minimal. For Visa credit cards, it is recommended you use a zero dollar account verification ($0.00) if the processor accepts it.
Note: VISA verification transactions are being switched from $0.01 to $0.00 for all processors. For Visa transactions using $0.00, the Bill To address (x_address) and zip code (x_zip) fields are required.