Stripe Test Card Numbers​ For Testing Transactions

If you run a business online or sell online courses with Stripe payment, the most unwanted thing you ever want to encounter is a failed transaction.

Driving customers to the checkout page is challenging enough, but convincing them to try again after a failed attempt is even harder.

Before you launch your payment form for accepting real payments, it’s crucial to run a test transaction using Stripe’s dummy card numbers.

Not only for successful payment, you should test every possible scenario, such as a card declined, insufficient balance, card expired, etc.

So, in this guide, we’ll walk through everything about Stripe test card numbers, why they’re important, and how to set up and test your transactions.

What are Stripe test card numbers?

Think of Stripe test card numbers as fake credit cards that actually work, but only in your testing environment.

They’re basically dummy card numbers that are designed specifically for testing payment functionality without processing real money.

These aren’t just random numbers either. The beauty of Stripe testing credit card numbers lies in their ability to mimic real-world payment situations. They allow developers and business owners to simulate various payment scenarios in a safe testing environment.

Each test credit card number is designed to trigger specific responses. Want to see what happens when someone’s card gets declined? There’s a number for that. Curious about how your system handles expired cards? Yes, there’s one for that, too.

You can also conduct tests for successful payments, insufficient funds, and even specific error codes that might occur with actual customer payments.

When you’re building or maintaining an online store, subscription service, or course platform that accepts credit card payments, you should utilize these numbers and thoroughly test your payment flow.

But you can’t use this temporary credit card number for online purchases. These are only for testing purposes.

Why do you need to test Stripe transactions?

Let me tell you a story. A friend of mine launched his online course last year without properly testing his payment system. Everything looked great until the first customer tried to buy.

The payment failed, but instead of a nice error message, she got some cryptic technical jargon that scared her away. He lost that sale and probably a few more before he figured out what was wrong.

That’s exactly why testing with Stripe test credit card numbers isn’t optional; it’s survival.

Online customers are very impatient. If your Stripe checkout doesn’t work perfectly the first time, they’re gone. And good luck getting them back.

I’ve seen statistics showing that 45% of people won’t retry a failed payment on the same site. And that’s brutal!

But it gets worse. Real customers don’t all use perfect credit cards. Some have expired cards they forgot to update. Others hit their credit limit right when they’re trying to buy from you. Some banks are super strict about online purchases and decline them for security reasons.

If you don’t test these scenarios with temporary credit card numbers beforehand, you’re basically crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. That’s not a business strategy; that’s gambling.

Stripe test card numbers allow you to test scenarios, including 3D or 2D payments.

Testing also helps you catch those weird edge cases that only happen in the real world. Like what happens when someone enters their ZIP code wrong? Or when their bank requires extra authentication?

These things matter, and the Stripe test transaction lets you figure them out safely.

List of Stripe credit card test numbers​

Alright, here’s where things get practical. Stripe gives us a bunch of different card numbers for testing, and each one does something specific. To run a Stripe test transaction, you need to have a Stripe dummy card or a testing card for Stripe.

I’m going to break these down by region because payment processing works differently around the world. 

Quick heads up: you can use any valid future date for expiration and any CVC code (3 digits for most cards, 4 for Amex). For example, just use 12/28 as the expiry date and 123 as the CVC code to keep things simple.

Here’s a complete categorized list of Stripe testing credit card numbers organized by regions and card types:

Stripe test card numbers (Americas):

Country	Number	Brand
United States (US)	4242 4242 4242 4242	Visa
Argentina (AR)	4000 0003 2000 0021	Visa
Brazil (BR)	4000 0007 6000 0002	Visa
Canada (CA)	4000 0012 4000 0000	Visa
Ecuador (EC)	4000 0021 8000 0000	Visa
Mexico (MX)	4000 0048 4000 8001	Visa
Panama (PA)	4000 0059 1000 0000	Visa

Stripe test card numbers (Europe and Middle East)

Country	Number	Brand
United Arab Emirates (AE)	4000 0078 4000 0001	Visa
United Arab Emirates (AE)	5200 0078 4000 0022	Mastercard
Austria (AT)	4000 0004 0000 0008	Visa
Belgium (BE)	4000 0005 6000 0004	Visa
Denmark (DK)	4000 0020 8000 0001	Visa
Finland (FI)	4000 0024 6000 0001	Visa
France (FR)	4000 0025 0000 0003	Visa
Ireland (IE)	4000 0037 2000 0005	Visa
Italy (IT)	4000 0038 0000 0008	Visa
Luxembourg (LU)	4000 0044 2000 0006	Visa
Norway (NO)	4000 0057 8000 0007	Visa
Sweden (SE)	4000 0075 2000 0008	Visa
United Kingdom (GB)	4000 0082 6000 0000	Visa
United Kingdom (GB)	5555 5582 6555 4449	Mastercard

Stripe credit card test numbers​ for Asia Pacific

Country	Number	Brand
Australia (AU)	4000 0003 6000 0006	Visa
China (CN)	4000 0015 6000 0002	Visa
Hong Kong (HK)	4000 0034 4000 0004	Visa
India (IN)	4000 0035 6000 0008	Visa
Japan (JP)	4000 0039 2000 0003	Visa
Malaysia (MY)	4000 0045 8000 0002	Visa
Singapore (SG)	4000 0070 2000 0003	Visa
Thailand (TH)	4000 0076 4000 0003	Visa (credit)
Thailand (TH)	4000 0576 4000 0008	Visa (debit)

Commonly used Stripe test cards

As we mentioned earlier, Stripe dummy credit card​ numbers work differently for every scenario. Successful payment, declined payment, wrong CVC number, or expiry date; each got a specific number or fake card number for testing purposes.

Here are the most commonly used Stripe testing credit card numbers for different purposes:

Scenario	Card Number
Successful Payment	4242 4242 4242 4242
Requires 3D Secure Authentication	4000 0025 0000 3155
Card Declined	4000 0000 0000 0002
Insufficient Funds	4000 0000 0000 9995
Expired Card	4000 0000 0000 0069
Incorrect CVC	4000 0000 0000 0127

How to use Stripe test card numbers

Now, let’s break down how you can test these Stripe dummy transactions. To do this, first of all, you’ll need a WordPress payment plugin that supports Stripe payment for accepting online payments.

We’ll take Paymattic for this. It’s one of the best WordPress plugins to accept payments and donations globally. Another major reason for choosing Paymattic is, it provides a total of 14 payment gateways, and Stripe is completely free.

So, first go to your WordPress dashboard and install Paymattic. Here is the process:

• Go to your WordPress admin dashboard
• Click on Plugins → Add New
• Search for Paymattic and install the plugin
• Click on the Activate button

After installing Paymattic, it’s time to configure Stripe so that you can test those dummy card numbers.

To configure Stripe, you need the API credentials first. To get the APIs, log in to your Stripe dashboard. From the top left corner, click on your profile > Switch to sandbox > Test mode.

You can find the API keys here. Copy the Publishable key and Secret key.

Now connect your Stripe account to the Paymattic dashboard.

• Navigate to Paymattic > Payment Gateways.
• You can find all the available payment gateways here.
• Choose Stripe and make sure the test mode is on.
• Paste the Public Key and Secret Key here.
• Hit Save Settings.

Now, to perform a test transaction with Stripe test card numbers, create a payment form with Paymattic.

Don’t need to be fancy; just create a basic payment form with a simple “Buy Now” button and a fixed price.

After creating your form, click on “Save” and hit the “EYE” button to preview your form.

Fill out the form and proceed to payment. Here, Paymattic provides a direct checkout option so you won’t be redirected to the Stripe dashboard for testing credit card numbers. Try every scenario and test transactions using these Stripe test card numbers.

Try these fake credit card test numbers for other regions as well, and make sure everything is working perfectly.

If everything goes well, that means you’re ready to go with your payment form.

The whole testing process might take an hour or two, but it’ll save you weeks of headaches later.

Conclusion

Every payment that fails on your live site is money walking out the door. And the worst part? Most of these failures are completely preventable if you just take the time to test properly.

Your customers aren’t beta testers. They’re not going to stick around while you figure out why your payment form is broken. They’ll find someone else who has their act together and buy from them instead.

The good news is that testing doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to test everything on day one. Start with the basics: successful payments and basic declines. Then gradually test complex stuff like international transactions and authentication requirements.

These Stripe credit card test numbers are free tools that can save your business thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Use them. Your future self (and your customers) will thank you.