NMI test mode: What you need to know

Are you about to set up your website to accept payments using NMI? Then you’ve already made a great call for your high-risk business. That said, it’s always important to make sure that everything is running smoothly, and testing new software or plugins is a crucial step when adding a new element to your online store. This is why we’re covering the NMI test mode here – to give you some guidance that will help you test your gateway thoroughly before you go live and start accepting credit card payments online.

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At Blue Payment Agency, we make payment gateways easy. We dedicate ourselves to helping high-risk businesses like yours grow and prosper. Whether you have a smaller e-commerce website or run a larger corporation – we’re here to help. This is why we’ll give you some up-front details here that will help you test your NMI payment gateway.

Please note: If you’re planning on testing your NMI gateway on an already live site that currently accepts payments online, setting your NMI account into test mode will cause real transactions to stop processing while in test mode. Please remember to switch your account off of test mode after you test the NMI payment gateway. 

Now let’s jump into some practical steps and how you can test your NMI gateway account.

How to set your NMI gateway to test mode

There are four simple steps to follow to put your active account into test mode.

  1. Log into your gateway account, click “Options,” and then “Settings.”
  2. Once you’re in settings, look for “Test Mode” under the “Transaction Options” section.
  3. Click on the blue “Enable Test Mode” button.
  4. Save your setting updates.

It’s that simple to turn on the test mode feature for NMI. However, we want to stress this again, any transactions made when the gateway is in test mode will not process at the bank, and you won’t be paid on those transactions.

This is why it’s just as essential to turn off test mode so that you can process legitimate payments again through your gateway once you’re satisfied.

How to turn off test mode in your NMI account

To turn off test mode or toggle your NMI account from test mode to live, you follow the same steps as above.

  • Click “Options”
  • Select “Settings”
  • Go to the “Transaction Options” to find “Test Mode”
  • Click the button to turn Test Mode off
  • Remember to save your changes.

Now that you know how to toggle test mode on and off for your NMI account, we’ll give you some details on how you can test different cards and perform various types of tests.

Information for testing your NMI gateway

One of the great features of NMI that many high-risk businesses love is their multi-merchant account capabilities through one gateway login. In terms of testing your NMI account, you can perform test transactions for any connected merchant account. Keep in mind that if an account is in test mode, valid credit cards will appear as approved. However, no charges will be processed.

To perform credit card test transactions, you can use the following test card information:

  • Visa: 4111111111111111
  • MasterCard: 5431111111111111
  • Discover: 6011601160116611
  • American Express: 341111111111111
  • Diner’s Club: 30205252489926
  • JCB: 3541963594572595
  • Maestro: 6799990100000000019
  • Credit Card Expiration: 10/25
  • Account (ACH): 123123123
  • Routing (ACH): 123123123

You can also trigger and test error messages, AVS matches, and more by using the following information:

  • Triggering errors in test mode to cause a declined message: pass an amount less than 1.00.
  • Trigger a fatal error message: pass an invalid card number.
  • Simulate an AVS match: pass 888 in the address field, 77777 for the ZIP code.
  • Simulate a CVV match: pass 999 in the CVV field.

Deleting old test transactions

To delete old test transactions, you need to verify that the account is in test mode. Once you’ve confirmed that, proceed following these steps:

  • Log into your gateway account
  • Click on options
  • Click on settings
  • Click on Test Mode

Once in Test Mode, you’ll see the option to “flush transactions.” Then proceed to select the type of record you wish to flush (“Transactions,” “Subscriptions,” “Vault Records,” or “Invoices”). It’s also important that you select the “Date Range” (so that you only flush transactions made while performing your tests) and click Flush Test Transactions. Once all the test transactions are flushed out, they will no longer show up in the reports or be reflected in the graphs.

Remember to toggle your account back to “active” once you’re done testing and cleaning up. 

Can you move NMI transactions that were processed in test mode to active mode?

No. Any transaction that was done while your account is in test mode cannot be moved to active mode. You’ll need these transactions to be made again once your account is back in active mode.

Get expert assistance any time

Testing and verifying payment gateways and merchant account integrations can be tricky. If you don’t feel comfortable getting under the hood, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’re more than happy to help and give you the expert high-risk credit card processing advice you need.

We can help you set up a new NMI gateway only account or set you up with both a merchant account and NMI too. All you need to do is to contact us below or give us a call at 844-253-9769.