News

VirtualATM trims time required for ATM transaction testing

June 30, 2016

Paragon Application Systems, a testing services provider for the financial services industry, has introduced VirtualATM, a simulator designed to replace physical ATM hardware in the test environment.

According to a press release, VirtualATM allows customers to conduct automated testing of the entire software stack from anywhere in the world, saving time, money and manpower.

VirtualATM simulates ATM hardware components, generating a range of error conditions that cannot be recreated easily at physical test machines.

During the testing process, VirtualATM can continually submit thousands of transactions types around the clock, covering a much wider range of transaction failure scenarios than can be accomplished manually.

"In recent years, the interconnectivity of payments systems, channels and institutions has significantly increased operational risk, and the sheer volume of payments indicates that the corresponding risk is higher than in previous years," Paragon CEO Jim Perry said in the release. "ATM systems have grown too complex and change far too quickly for any organization to jeopardize deployment without frequent, end-to-end testing. VirtualATM meets this need for a powerful, next generation, automated testing strategy that quickly, effectively and repeatedly tests an unprecedented number of scenarios."

VirtualATM supports the testing of all transactions and error conditions, including those for both magnetic stripe and EMV chip cards. The solution provides visibility into the XFS layer, facilitating testing of every endpoint.

According to the release, human testers can complete five straightforward tests per hour including validation and recording of results, while a single instance of VirtualATM can easily complete 60 tests in the same timeframe.