Six Benefits of UL’s Brand Test Tool, Are You Taking Advantage of Them All?

When you need to test payment devices, having the right tool is vital. All payment schemes mandate proper testing before connecting your systems to their network. UL Brand Test Tool (BTT) provides an extensive variety of features and benefits to cover your needs both today and as the Payments Ecosystem evolves.

The UL Brand Test Tool offers a streamlined certification process by helping you execute test cases quickly. It also provides user guidance and allows greater control during the testing process. Our SmartConnect Hardware allows your team a wider range of options for portability and convenience regardless of payment device size and location. UL BTT gives you access to one of the widest ranges of payment networks, ensuring coverage for the networks you're on today as well as those in the future.  

We are consistently improving the Brand Test Tool by adding support for testing new technology such as tap on phone and mobile payments, including acceptance for Google Pay. The BTT also supports automated testing environments removing the requirement for attended testing sessions. We built the tool for end-to-end testing, encompassing both card simulation and host simulation. Check out the detailed information on each of these benefits to ensure you are maximizing your Brand Test Tool. 

UL BTT benefit #1 - Speed: Streamline the testing and certification process 

UL Brand Test Tool can perform payment cards simulation without the need to use physical cards for contact, contactless and magstripe interfaces. Our tool automatically downloads the simulated card to its contact/contactless/magstripe probe, without the need to manually program a physical plastic test card. 

Beyond this key advantage, when a user runs a test case in the Brand Test Tool, the EMV transaction and positive/negative instances within each test case, are displayed in real time, allowing the test operator to watch and control the test case progress, avoiding the need of reading and extracting the transaction logs from the physical card after the test case has been executed in order to see the test results. This BTT real-time testing feature streamlines the certification process and saves a considerable amount of testing time while provides on-screen real-time user guidance support during all steps in the test process. 

UL BTT benefit #2 - Convenience: Test any time anywhere 

One of the hardware options supplied with the Brand Test Tool is the UL SmartConnect hardware device. This is a compact, wireless and portable device that can be used for contact and contactless card simulation and card spying. This innovative device lets the user to easily set up a cable-free test environment and perform testing of a payment acceptance device using a wireless connection. The SmartConnect uses Bluetooth technology and requires no physical cables when performing tests on the card acceptance device, which can be very convenient when testing outdoor or large payment devices such as those integrated in fuel dispensers or vending machines. 

UL BTT benefit #3 - Coverage: No need to buy another tool when it’s time to expand 

From a test coverage point of view, besides main international payment brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, UnionPay International or JCB, the UL Brand Test Tool supports certification against a wide variety of domestic and international payment networks; modules such as: 

Not all competitive tools allow the breadth of testing for the networks listed above. Make sure any tool you are considering includes the payment networks you need today as well as the potential for expansion to new networks in the future. Save on costs over the life of your payment device testing by purchasing a future-proof tool for your business. 

UL BTT benefit #4 – Future proof: Expanding your testing as the ecosystem evolves 

In the Mobile Payments domain, the Brand Test Tool offers a generic and optional Mobile Payments Module, which allows you to evaluate whether the payment acceptance system under test is ready to accept mobile payment wallets. It tests how the payment device under test behaves when Mobile CVM is required or whether the device correctly processes mobile transactions using payment applications from major brands such as American Express, Discover, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa. 

Additionally, the Brand Test Tool includes a dedicated Google Pay Module to test the acceptance of Google Pay mobile wallet, helping merchants and acquirers prevent any interoperability problems with Google Pay devices during payment operations in-store. The BTT Google Pay Module includes emulation of card profiles from all four major payment schemes; Visa, Mastercard (including PayPal), American Express and Discover. Besides, BTT Google Pay test cases cover credit and debit transactions and also payment acceptance in transit systems so acquirers, system integrators and public transit operators can validate that their transit terminals can also support Google Pay mobile transactions. 

UL BTT benefit #5 – Automation: Free up your team for more important tasks 

One of the benefits that we see customers using more commonly today is BTT with test automation. UL Brand Test Tool supplies an optional feature called the Integrated Test Automation Module. This module allows users to create a fully automated payment device test environment in combination with other proprietary automation tools, e.g. automation robots, programming test environments, etc. UL Brand Test Tool’s Integrated Test Automation module is linked to the user test automation environment using a TCP/IP connection. Then, by simulating ‘physical’ interactions with the payment device under test such as PIN entry or card swipes, with, for example, the use of an automation robot, users will be able to run full brand test campaigns without the involvement of a test operator. 

UL BTT benefit #6 – End-to-end: Test for card simulation as well as host simulation 

UL Brand Test Tool also supports a Host Simulator Module which allows the user to setup and configure specific test scenarios that simulate the payment card at one end and the authorization host at the other. When the Host Simulator is enabled, the BTT logs the host communication as part of the test cases results. The Brand Test Tool offers several Host Simulator protocols such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Network and Diners Clubs International, among others. 

Contact UL Solutions to maximize your Brand Test Tool testing environment 

Not all benefits listed above may be required for your testing process but UL Solutions will be here every step of the way to support your needs with the Brand Test Tool. UL Solutions has been supporting customers for over 125 years and the BTT continues that tradition in today’s modern payment environments. Our Brand Test Tool is the most complete test tool for acquirers, processors, terminal vendors, and merchants that want to validate their payment devices before connecting to the major payment networks.; don't go to market without one.