B2 UAT EBT Card
A test card for transaction UAT of special-purpose payments such as EBT, or Electronic Benefit Transfer. It covers acceptance conditions that the standard international scheme sets do not.
The testing problems this solves
The B2 UAT EBT Card is used for UAT by region and scheme, for regression and for issuance verification — acceptance testing before going live. Systematic testing removes the gaps, reliance on individuals and lack of reproducibility that tend to appear at this stage.
Card-by-card detail
The scheme, AID, interface, transaction conditions and intended use are given for each card, so that an engineer can judge which scenarios can be reproduced before buying.
| No. | Scheme / AID | IF | Transaction conditions | Intended use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | EBT | Contact / contactless | Typical scenarios | Transaction UAT |
Region, scheme and interface
Filter by region (USA, Europe, UK, Canada), by scheme and by contact, contactless or dual interface. Replacement sets are also available.
Points to confirm before use and before ordering
In practice, the following points tend to cause problems when working with physical test cards, so we check them in advance.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Host support for the test BIN | A card may read at the terminal and still fail online authorisation if the processor has not registered the test BIN. Interac BINs, 8-digit BINs, Mastercard BIN 2, US Common Debit, DCC foreign BINs, Fleet BINs and processor-specific BINs need particular attention |
| Test CA public key | If the scheme's test CA public key is not loaded in the terminal, transactions fail in SDA, DDA and CDA. Check the CA Public Key Index, how keys are loaded, key expiry, and separation from production keys |
| Blocking of the offline PIN | On some cards, repeating an incorrect offline PIN really does decrement the PIN try counter and can block the card permanently. We recommend recording the correct PIN, the number of attempts and whether the card can be reused in a card register |
| Card expiry | Public information mixes long-dated cards with outdated entries. We obtain a per-card expiry list at the time of shipment |
| Whether the profile is fixed | The standard B2 cards have fixed profiles. If you need to change arbitrary tags, the PAN, AIP, AFL, CVM List or IAD, consider a custom test card or ICCSimDev, ICCSimTMat programmable cards |
| Delivered bill of materials | Store listings and product transition information are not always in step, so part numbers, current availability and the breakdown of cards included are confirmed at quotation |
Relationship to certification levels
The fixed B2 card sets are useful for clearing obstacles before moving to formal certification. They are not certification tools.
| Category | Position |
|---|---|
| EMV Level 1 | This is not RF, electrical or protocol certification equipment |
| EMV Level 2 | It is not a formal tool for kernel certification |
| EMV Level 3 | It supports UAT, pre-testing and regression testing |
| Acquirer certification | Used where the acquirer specifies and approves it |
| Training | Suitable |
Passing a test with a B2 card is not the same as passing scheme or acquirer certification. If the results are to be used for formal certification, confirm which of the payment scheme, acquirer, processor, gateway, certification laboratory or terminal vendor needs to approve them.
How the four main vendors and product families differ
Barnes, ICC Solutions, B2 and PaytestLab are not competitors; they verify different things.
| Product | What is primarily verified | Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Barnes CPT/CAT | EMV data, certificates, cryptography and personalisation inside the issued card | Pre-issuance card verification (PVT) |
| ICC Solutions TMat | Level 2 and Level 3 test cases for POS and ATM | Scheme certification and card simulation |
| ICCSimDev | Custom card scripts | Error cards, custom APDUs and negative testing |
| ICC Merchant Cards | Quick checks in store | Training and confidence testing |
| B2 UAT Cards | Terminal and host integration specific to a region or processor | US Debit, Interac, DCC and 8-digit BINs |
| B2 Touchless | Acceptance of real smartphones and wallets | Field testing with Apple Pay and similar |
| B2 Magstripe Simulator | Magnetic stripe handling | Fleet, Gift, Loyalty, DCC |
| PaytestLab | Automation of POS and ECR testing | Robots, probes and central management |
B2 fills the gap between the certification tools and UAT in the live market. How its role differs from Barnes (card issuance) and ICC Solutions (terminals) is set out in the operations layer.
Choosing the right B2 test card set
Choose a B2 card product by which interface's transactions you need to verify.
| Product | If you are considering |
|---|---|
| EMV test card set | You want transaction UAT by region and scheme using physical cards, mainly contact |
| Touchless Dual IF Collection | You want transaction UAT for contactless and dual interface |
| ★ UAT EBT card (this page) | You need transaction UAT for special cases such as EBT |
| Magnetic stripe simulator | You want to simulate magnetic track behaviour, or verify it with the SmartStripe probe |
| USA Debit Test Card Set | You want to verify US Common Debit AID selection and routing |
| 8-Digit BIN Test Card Set | You want to confirm 8-digit BIN support across terminal, host and routing |
Where it is used
- Setting up operational verification for a new development
- Regression after a configuration change or update
- Coverage checks ahead of certification
Relationship to certification
What this product performs is acceptance testing, that is UAT. Passing here does not mean passing scheme or acquirer certification.