Payments Training Hub
Scheme certification PAYMENT OPERATIONS STARTED LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works ACTIVE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window QUEUED 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set QUEUED 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED Certification is the scheme's proof that the product works, and it is earned by passing a test pack, not by asserting it. Step 1 of 6 Scheme certification STARTED Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works ACTIVE Certification window booking firm books a window QUEUED Test data requirements must state the test data set QUEUED Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED Certification is the scheme's proof that the product works, and it is earned by passing a test pack, not by asserting it.
Certification window booking PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works DONE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window ACTIVE 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set QUEUED 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The firm books a window, runs the test pack against the scheme's test environment, and submits the results. Step 2 of 6 Certification window booking IN PROGRESS Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works DONE Certification window booking firm books a window ACTIVE Test data requirements must state the test data set QUEUED Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The firm books a window, runs the test pack against the scheme's test environment, and submits the results.
Test data requirements PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works DONE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window DONE 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set ACTIVE 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The requirements must state the test data set, and the test data must be kept separate from production data, because a test payment that reaches production is a real payment. Step 3 of 6 Test data requirements IN PROGRESS Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works DONE Certification window booking firm books a window DONE Test data requirements must state the test data set ACTIVE Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have QUEUED Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The requirements must state the test data set, and the test data must be kept separate from production data, because a test payment that reaches production is a real payment.
Common certification failures PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works DONE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window DONE 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set DONE 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have ACTIVE 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED Each of these is a defect that should have been caught in internal testing. Step 4 of 6 Common certification failures IN PROGRESS Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works DONE Certification window booking firm books a window DONE Test data requirements must state the test data set DONE Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have ACTIVE Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find QUEUED BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED Each of these is a defect that should have been caught in internal testing.
Certification evidence retention PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works DONE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window DONE 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set DONE 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have DONE 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find ACTIVE 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The evidence must be stored in a place the team can find, with the test pack version, the date, and the name of the person who ran the tests. Step 5 of 6 Certification evidence retention IN PROGRESS Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works DONE Certification window booking firm books a window DONE Test data requirements must state the test data set DONE Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have DONE Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find ACTIVE BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. QUEUED The evidence must be stored in a place the team can find, with the test pack version, the date, and the name of the person who ran the tests.
BA practice: test pack requirements PAYMENT OPERATIONS COMPLETE LIVE 01 Scheme certification - scheme's proof that the product works DONE 02 Certification window booking - firm books a window DONE 03 Test data requirements - must state the test data set DONE 04 Common certification failures - Each of these is a defect that should have DONE 05 Certification evidence retention - must be stored in a place the team can find DONE 06 BA practice - Last reviewed 7 November 2026. ACTIVE Last reviewed 7 November 2026. Step 6 of 6 BA practice: test pack requirements COMPLETE Scheme certification scheme's proof that the product works DONE Certification window booking firm books a window DONE Test data requirements must state the test data set DONE Common certification failures Each of these is a defect that should have DONE Certification evidence retention must be stored in a place the team can find DONE BA practice Last reviewed 7 November 2026. ACTIVE Last reviewed 7 November 2026.

Key points of this lesson, in order.

0:00 / 3:53 Step 1 of 6

Scheme certification and test packs: proving the product works

Scheme onboarding, market expansion, build versus buy, Lesson 2 of 7, Narration 3:53, D13 Payments product and business

AuthorisationSettlementpacs.008

What you will learn

Your objective. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain scheme certification and test packs: proving the product works and apply it to a real banking scenario.

Why it matters. For a business analyst, the test pack is a requirements document.

Chapter objective: Joining a scheme, entering a new market, and deciding whether to build or buy

Key learning points

  • Scheme certification
  • Certification window booking
  • Test data requirements
  • Common certification failures
  • Certification evidence retention
  • BA practice: test pack requirements

Key terms

Authorisation: Approval by the issuer for a card transaction to proceed, confirming the card is valid and funds or credit are available.

Settlement: The final movement of funds between banks to discharge obligations created by cleared payments. Settlement is usually made in central bank money or through correspondent accounts.

pacs.008: An ISO 20022 message for a financial institution to financial institution customer credit transfer. It replaces MT103 in cross border payments and carries structured debtor, creditor, charges and...

ISO 20022 XML explorer showing Scheme certification and test packs: proving the product works.

Practise this lesson

Exercise

Handle the exception described in this lesson the way the lesson prescribes.

Use the exception type, the reason code and the recovery path in this lesson.

  1. What to do. State what happened, what the correct action is, what must not be done, and what the post-incident review should capture.

Correct result. The correct action is the one the lesson prescribes for this exception type, with the right reason code and the right message. The payment must not be resent without checking whether it already settled, because that creates a duplicate.

Why. An exception handled wrongly is worse than the exception itself. A duplicate payment is a loss, and an unlearned exception will happen again.

Check your understanding

Practice question

Which of the following best describes scheme certification and test packs: proving the product works?

Takeaway and next step

What to remember

For a business analyst, the test pack is a requirements document.

Follow a payment through every stage, from instruction to beneficiary credit, and note where it can stop.

Open the Payment Lifecycle Simulator →

Builds on "Joining a payment scheme: membership, adherence and the application".

Transcript and full text

Show transcript

Certification is the scheme's proof that the product works, and it is earned by passing a test pack, not by asserting it. A test pack is a set of test cases published by the scheme, each with an input, an expected output, and a pass criterion. For SEPA the test pack includes sending a pacs.008 and receiving a pacs.002, handling a reject with the correct reason code, processing a return with a pacs.004, and responding to a recall with a camt.029. For a card scheme the test pack includes authorisation, clearing, settlement, chargebacks and reversals. The firm must pass every mandatory test case. The certification window is a scheduled period during which the scheme runs the tests. The firm books a window, runs the test pack against the scheme's test environment, and submits the results. If a test fails, the firm fixes the defect and books another window. The windows are limited, and the scheme may have a queue, so a failed attempt can delay go-live by weeks. The project plan must therefore allow for at least one failed attempt, and the team must not treat the first window as a formality. Test data is a discipline of its own. The scheme's test environment needs test IBANs, test BICs, test card numbers, and test customer names that will trigger specific behaviours. A test IBAN that triggers a reject, a test card that triggers a decline, and a test name that triggers a sanctions hit must all be available, and the team must know which test data triggers which behaviour. The requirements must state the test data set, and the test data must be kept separate from production data, because a test payment that reaches production is a real payment. Common certification failures are predictable, and a good team prepares for them. The most common is the reason code: the firm returns a payment with AC04 when the scheme expects AM04, or rejects with FF01 when the scheme expects AG01. The second is the timing: the firm sends the pacs.002 status report after the scheme's deadline, or the pacs.004 return after the cut-off. The third is the field format: a name longer than 70 characters, a remittance reference longer than 140 characters, or an address that is not structured. Each of these is a defect that should have been caught in internal testing. Regression testing after certification is a continuing obligation. When the scheme publishes a new rulebook, the firm must re-run the test pack against the new rules, and must prove the changes work before the new rulebook takes effect. The EPC publishes a new SEPA rulebook every year, effective in November, and the firm must be certified against it before the effective date. The requirements must therefore include the annual re-certification, and the project plan must reserve time for it every year. Certification evidence must be retained. The scheme may ask for the test results, the defect log, and the sign-off, months after the certification. The evidence must be stored in a place the team can find, with the test pack version, the date, and the name of the person who ran the tests. A firm that cannot produce its certification evidence will be asked to re-certify, which costs time and money. The acceptance criteria must include a test where the evidence is retrieved and shown to be complete. For a business analyst, the test pack is a requirements document. Each test case maps to a requirement, each requirement maps to a test case, and the traceability matrix proves the coverage. The acceptance criteria must include a test where the traceability matrix is checked and every requirement has at least one test case. Last reviewed 7 November 2026. Further reading: the EPC SEPA certification process; the Visa and Mastercard certification guides; the SWIFT certification and testing guides; the Bank of England guidance on payment system testing.

Certification is the scheme's proof that the product works, and it is earned by passing a test pack, not by asserting it. A test pack is a set of test cases published by the scheme, each with an input, an expected output, and a pass criterion. For SEPA the test pack includes sending a pacs.008 and receiving a pacs.002, handling a reject with the correct reason code, processing a return with a pacs.004, and responding to a recall with a camt.029. For a card scheme the test pack includes authorisation, clearing, settlement, chargebacks and reversals. The firm must pass every mandatory test case.

The certification window is a scheduled period during which the scheme runs the tests. The firm books a window, runs the test pack against the scheme's test environment, and submits the results. If a test fails, the firm fixes the defect and books another window. The windows are limited, and the scheme may have a queue, so a failed attempt can delay go-live by weeks. The project plan must therefore allow for at least one failed attempt, and the team must not treat the first window as a formality.

Test data is a discipline of its own. The scheme's test environment needs test IBANs, test BICs, test card numbers, and test customer names that will trigger specific behaviours. A test IBAN that triggers a reject, a test card that triggers a decline, and a test name that triggers a sanctions hit must all be available, and the team must know which test data triggers which behaviour. The requirements must state the test data set, and the test data must be kept separate from production data, because a test payment that reaches production is a real payment.

Common certification failures are predictable, and a good team prepares for them. The most common is the reason code: the firm returns a payment with AC04 when the scheme expects AM04, or rejects with FF01 when the scheme expects AG01. The second is the timing: the firm sends the pacs.002 status report after the scheme's deadline, or the pacs.004 return after the cut-off. The third is the field format: a name longer than 70 characters, a remittance reference longer than 140 characters, or an address that is not structured. Each of these is a defect that should have been caught in internal testing.

Regression testing after certification is a continuing obligation. When the scheme publishes a new rulebook, the firm must re-run the test pack against the new rules, and must prove the changes work before the new rulebook takes effect. The EPC publishes a new SEPA rulebook every year, effective in November, and the firm must be certified against it before the effective date. The requirements must therefore include the annual re-certification, and the project plan must reserve time for it every year.

Certification evidence must be retained. The scheme may ask for the test results, the defect log, and the sign-off, months after the certification. The evidence must be stored in a place the team can find, with the test pack version, the date, and the name of the person who ran the tests. A firm that cannot produce its certification evidence will be asked to re-certify, which costs time and money. The acceptance criteria must include a test where the evidence is retrieved and shown to be complete.

For a business analyst, the test pack is a requirements document. Each test case maps to a requirement, each requirement maps to a test case, and the traceability matrix proves the coverage. The acceptance criteria must include a test where the traceability matrix is checked and every requirement has at least one test case. Last reviewed 7 November 2026. Further reading: the EPC SEPA certification process; the Visa and Mastercard certification guides; the SWIFT certification and testing guides; the Bank of England guidance on payment system testing.

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