The Gift Card Simulator was created to help merchants perform unattended (self-service) testing for Gift Cards via Payeezy Gateway. It consists of two parts;
- A user interface (UI) which allows merchants to create and manage test gift cards
- A processor which handles the processing of simulated gift card transactions
The UI also allows merchants to configure certain cards to always return a particular Gift Solutions Response Code (previously known as ValueLink Response Code), thereby allowing them to test error handling in their application.
The Simulator does not pass the transactions downstream to Gift Solutions (ValueLink) and no actual transaction processing occurs. The Simulator sends back responses based upon the transaction message received from the merchant, it creates simulated transaction records in the database and correctly manages the simulated card's current balance.
The Simulator can be used with the following Payeezy Gateway products:
- Hosted Checkout Page (HCO)
- Web Services API
- Real Time Payment Manager
- Reporting/Searches
- Tagged Void and Refund of Gift Card Purchases
- Gift Card Simulator itself (Demo environment only)
- Transaction Management
- Reporting
Although the Simulator cannot be used from the POS tab, the simulated transactions will appear in both Transaction Search and Reports and you may continue to perform refunds, completions & voids from within the RPM against gift card transactions which have been simulated.
Simulator Reset
It's important to realize that the Simulator is only designed for testing your handling of gift card transactions. As such, the Simulator is completely reset on the 1st and 15th of every month. This reset will delete all simulated cards, any transactions against those simulated cards and all payment requests which were paid with a simulated card. In the case of split tenders, if one part of the tender was paid with a simulated card, all transactions associated with the tender will also be deleted.
Transactions involving gift cards which are not simulated, i.e: there is no entry in your simulated gift cards list for that card number, will not be deleted on reset, unless of course they were used as part of a split tender transaction which involved a different, simulated gift card.
As all pre-configured cards are to be deleted, it may be preferable to start your gift card testing on either the 1st or 15th of the month to maximize your time before the next reset. The UI for creating new simulated cards contains a warning to remind you about the Simulator reset.
Supported Gift Card Types
The Simulator supports both Physical and Virtual gift cards. From a transaction perspective, they are functionally identical, although the creation procedure of the simulated cards is slightly different in that you can create a Physical simulated card with a particular card number (refer to the end of this article for a list of card numbers that can be used for this type of testing), whereas the process of creating a Virtual simulated card generates a new card number automatically.
Accessing the Simulator UI
The Simulator UI can be accessed through the Administration menu, or the Task List on the home page (you will only be presented with the Gift Card Simulator option if you are logged in as the administrator).
Once you have accessed the Simulator UI you will be presented with a screen similar to the one shown below, it displays a list of simulated cards (if any) which are currently available to your account, along with links that enable you to create new Physical and Virtual cards.
This data can be sorted by the clicking on the column names, most of which are self-explanatory. The two which require some clarification are:
- 'Current Balance' - the current balance of the particular card. This is updated as transactions are processed with the card via the HCO or API.
- 'Virtual Card?' - indicates whether this is a Virtual or Physical card.
Creating a Simulated Physical Gift Card
Clicking on the 'Create Physical Gift Card' link will present the following form:
- Reload will open a form allowing you to specify the amount you would like to add to the card balance
- Cashout will cash-out the card, i.e: the card's balance will be reduced to zero
- Deactivate will return the card to its pre-activation state, i.e: balance is zero and Activation is required before it can be used again
- Reload will open a form allowing you to specify the amount you would like to add to the card balance
- Cashout will cash-out the card, i.e: the card's balance will be reduced to zero
- Deactivate will deactivate the card.
Editing Gift Cards
Here are some points to be aware of when editing a gift card:
- Once a Physical card has been activated, you cannot change the Card Number, Security Code Type or the Security Code itself. The same rule applies to a Virtual Card, but since creating a Virtual Card involves performing an activation request, you'll never be editing a non-activated Virtual card.
- You may choose a Simulated ValueLink Response for the card only if there has not been a successful transaction using that card since its activation.
Card Restrictions
The following restrictions are in place for all cards:
- A card cannot be activated with more than $500
- A card cannot be reloaded with more than $500
- A card cannot have a balance greater than $500. A reload which would result in a balance greater than $500 will be declined.
- A maximum of $2000 of transactions per day are permitted against a given card. Transactions beyond this limit will be declined. For the purposes of calculating the daily total, a day is deemed to start at 0000 EST.
Sample Activation Receipt
ValueLink Response Codes
ValueLink Code |
Meaning. |
00 |
Completed OK. |
01 |
Insufficient funds. |
02 |
Account closed. The account was closed, probably because the account balance was $0.00. |
03 |
Unknown account. The account could not be located in the account table. |
04 |
Inactive account. The account has not been activated by an approved location. |
05 |
Expired card. The card’s expiration date has been exceeded. |
06 |
Invalid transaction code. This card or terminal is not permitted to perform this transaction, or the transaction code is invalid. |
07 |
Invalid merchant. The merchant is not in the merchant database or the merchant is not permitted to use this particular card. |
08 |
Already active. The card is already active and does not need to be reactivated |
09 |
System error. There is a problem with the host processing system. Call your help desk or operations support. |
10 |
Lost or stolen card. The transaction could not be completed because the account was previously reported as lost or stolen. |
11 |
Not lost or stolen. The replacement transaction could not be completed because the account was not previously marked as lost/stolen. |
12 |
Invalid transaction format. There is a transaction format problem. |
13 |
Intentionally Blank |
14 |
Intentionally Blank |
15 |
Bad mag stripe. The mag stripe could not be parsed for account information. |
16 |
Incorrect location. There was a problem with the merchant location. |
17 |
Max balance exceeded. The transaction, if completed, would cause the account balance to be exceeded by the max_ balance as specified in the promotion. Some merchants set the max_ balance to a value twice the max transaction amount. |
18 |
Invalid amount. There was a problem with the amount field in the transaction format – more or less than min/max amounts specified in the promotion for that transaction. |
19 |
Invalid clerk. The clerk field was either missing, when required, or the content did not match the requirements. |
20 |
Invalid password. The user password was invalid. |
21 |
Invalid new password. The new password does not meet the minimum security criteria. |
22 |
Exceeded account reloads. The clerk/user/location was only permitted to reload some number of accounts. That number was exceeded. (See your Business Manager in order to extend this limit.) |
23 |
Password retry exceeded. The user account has been frozen because the user attempted access and was denied. Seek management assistance. |
24 |
Incorrect transaction version or format number for POS transactions. |
25 |
Request not permitted by this account. |
26 |
Request not permitted by this merchant location. |
27 |
Bad mag stripe. The mag stripe could not be parsed for account information. |
28 |
Incorrect location. There was a problem with the merchant location. |
29 |
Bad replay date. |
30 |
Bad checksum. The checksum provided is incorrect. |
31 |
Balance not available (denial). Due to an internal First Data Closed Loop Gift Card (CLGC) issue, information from this account could not be retrieved. |
32 |
Account locked. |
33 |
No previous transaction. The void or reversal transaction could not be matched to a previous (original) transaction. In the case of a pre-auth redemption, the corresponding locking transaction could not be identified. |
34 |
Already reversed. |
35 |
Generic denial. An error was produced which has no other corresponding response code for the provided version/format. |
36 |
Bad authorization code. The authorization code test failed. |
37 |
Too many transactions requested. See SVdot Transaction Manual Appendix B for Transaction History limits by detail record format. |
38 |
No transactions available/no more transactions available. There are no transactions for this account or there are no transactions as determined by the specified first transaction number. |
39 |
Transaction history not available. The history could not be provided. |
40 |
New password required. |
41 |
Invalid status change. The status change requested (e.g. lost/stolen, freeze active card) cannot be performed. |
42 |
Void of activation after account activity. |
43 |
No phone service. Attempted a calling card transaction on an account which is not configured for calling card activity. |
44 |
Internet access disabled. This account may no longer use transactions in which an EAN is required. |
45 |
Invalid EAN or SCV. The EAN/SCV is not correct for the provided account number. |
46 |
Invalid merchant key. The merchant key block provided is invalid. (e.g. The working key provided in an Assign Merchant Working Key transaction). |
47 |
Promotions for Internet Virtual and Physical cards do not match. When enabling a physical card to a virtual card, both must be from the same promotion. Cards for bulk activation request must be from the same promotion. |
48 |
Invalid transaction source. The provided source (field EA) is not valid for this transaction. |
49 |
Account already linked. (e.g. Response when enabling a physical card, when the two provided accounts have already been linked together.) |
50 |
Account not in inactive state. (e.g. Response when enabling a physical card, when the physical card in not in an inactive state.) |
51 |
First Data Voice Services returns this response on Internet transactions where the interface input parameter is not valid. |
52 |
First Data Voice Services returns this response on Internet transactions where they did not receive a response from CLGC. |
53 |
First Data Voice Services returns this response on Internet transactions where the client certificate is invalid. |
54 |
Merchant not configured as International although the account requires it. (e.g. The account allows currency conversion but the merchant is not configured for International.) |
55 |
Invalid currency. The provided currency is invalid. |
56 |
Request not International. Merchant configured to require currency information for each financial transaction, however none was sent. |
57 |
Currency conversion error. Internal CLGC system error. |
58 |
Invalid Expiration Date. Expiration date provided is not valid. |
59 |
The terminal transaction number did not match (on a void or reversal). |
60 |
First Data Voice Services added a layer of validation that checks the data they receive from CLGC to make sure it is HTML friendly (i.e. no binary data). First Data Voice Services will return this response on Internet transactions if the check fails (the data is not HTML friendly). |
61 |
Intentionally Blank |
62 |
Intentionally Blank |
63 |
Intentionally Blank |
64 |
Intentionally Blank |
65 |
Intentionally Blank |
66 |
Intentionally Blank |
67 |
Target Embossed Card entered and Transaction Count entered are mismatched. |
68 |
No Account Link. |
69 |
Invalid Time zone. |
70 |
Account On Hold. |
71 |
Fraud Count Exceeded. |
72 |
Promo Location Restricted. |
73 |
Invalid BIN. |
74 |
Product Code(s) Restricted. |
75 |
Bad Post Date. The Post Date is not a valid date. |
76 |
Void Lock Status Error. |
77 |
Reloadable Already Active. |
78 |
Account is Purged. The Account record was purged from the database. |
79 |
Transaction is declined as the Duplicate transaction. |
80 |
Bulk Activation Error In Range. |
81 |
Bulk Activation Not Attempted Because Error In Range. |
82 |
Bulk Activation Package Amount Not Matched. |
83 |
Location 0 invalid for third party aggregators. |
84 |
Account Row Locked Response Code. |
85 |
Timeout received, but not processed. |
86 |
Incorrect PVC. |
87 |
Provisioning limit exceeded, currently 10. |
88 |
De-provisioning limit reached, current count is 0. |
89 |
The EAN TYPE is not mentioned in manufacture_fa table. |
90 |
Field SCV is required in the transaction. |
91 |
Promo Code is not compatible for consortium code. |
92 |
Product Restricted Declined. |
Test Cards - Physical
8 digit EAN
Account 7777080386114982 EAN 64510217
Account 7777080386122930 EAN 49704075
Account 7777080386137777 EAN 72156715
Account 7777080386141907 EAN 58047275
Account 7777080386154307 EAN 41597683
Account 7777080386168771 EAN 77936849
4 digit EAN
Account 7777080387113495 EAN 5358
Account 7777080387123949 EAN 9356
Account 7777080387137795 EAN 2385
Account 7777080387147726 EAN 1403
Account 7777080387156384 EAN 5446
No EAN
Account 7777080383164347
Account 7777080383174622
Account 7777080383182302
Account 7777080383192302
Account 7777080383203281
8 digit SCV
Account 7777080382912412 SCV 63402713
Account 7777080382928511 SCV 92980890
Account 7777080382932434 SCV 74358683
Account 7777080382944696 SCV 02903691
Account 7777080382954696 SCV 41908739