In this article, we will explore the critical role of regression testing in fintech app development. With millions of transactions on the line, the margin for error is razor-thin.
FiinTech industry has been on an extraordinary growth trajectory, with over 26,000 fintech startups globally. As per a recent study by Boston Consulting Group, the APAC fintech market is expected to reach a staggering $1.5 trillion by 2030.
1. FinTech Dependency on APIs and Microservices
According to a report by McKinsey, fintech companies are pushing for shorter development cycles, often adopting agile methodologies with shorter sprints. However, this rapid development pace comes at a cost – the increased risk of introducing bugs and glitches into production.
Financial services are deeply intertwined with APIs, whether for open banking in fintech or internal communication in banks. Failure is simply not an option.
Also, the growing adoption of the service-based architecture, not only provides agility but also sets up the system for failure if not tested well.
1.2 Data validation issues with FinTech
Maintaining accurate and consistent data is crucial for financial credibility. In the fintech sector, any data error can cause transaction errors, incur regulatory penalties, and diminish trust from customers.
Therefore, verifying data integrity is essential to confirm that data stays correct and trustworthy during its entire lifecycle. This involves ensuring that data isn't changed without authorization or in unforeseen manners during creation, access, modification, and removal.
For API testing, this implies checking that the data transmitted in requests is properly managed by the API and that the responses contain precise and expected data.
1.3 The Need For FinTech Regression Testing
Let’s understand this using a scenario:
This is where regression testing plays a crucial role. It verifies that new changes haven't introduced any bugs or disrupted existing functionality.
The fast-paced development of fintech apps often leads to the discovery of bugs after release. Regression testing helps by checking for new issues before updates reach end-users.
2. Tools To Perform FinTech Regression Testing
Regression testing is a critical aspect of software development in the FinTech industry, where accuracy, security, and reliability are of utmost importance. Following are some of the tools and approaches that can be used to perform regression testing in FinTech:
2.1. Test Automation Frameworks:
➡️Selenium:
It is widely used for web application testing. It supports multiple programming languages (Java, Python, C#, etc.) and browsers. You can create automated scripts to simulate user interactions with your FinTech web application, such as filling out forms, navigating pages, and verifying data.
➡️Appium:
It is a popular choice for mobile application testing in FinTech. It supports both iOS and Android platforms, making it suitable for testing mobile banking apps and investment platforms.
➡️JUnit/TestNG:
These testing frameworks for Java provide annotations for test case management, test parallelization, and reporting. They are valuable for unit and integration tests in FinTech projects.
2.2. CI/CD Tools:
➡️Jenkins:
Jenkins can automate the execution of regression tests whenever code changes are committed. It offers plugins for integrating with various test frameworks and can trigger builds and tests in response to code changes.
➡️ Travis CI:
Travis CI is a cloud-based CI/CD service that integrates with your version control system (e.g., GitHub). It can run automated tests in a clean environment for each code push.
2.3. Test Management Tools:
➡️ TestRail:
It provides a user-friendly interface to manage test cases, organize test suites, and track test execution progress. It's valuable for maintaining structured regression test suites in FinTech projects with numerous test cases.
2.4. API Testing Tools:
➡️ HyperTest:
It is a valuable no-code test automation tool tailored for testing APIs. It specializes in performing comprehensive regression testing for all your financial APIs. HyperTest achieves this by automatically generating end-to-end integration tests based on your fintech application's actual network traffic, which reflects real user activity.
We can automate our complete service regression testing with HyperTest. It saves a lot of developer time from testing and increases our confidence in making the change live. - Shashank Sah, Engineering Manager, Urban Company
Pros:
1. Zero maintenance: It removes the necessity of manually creating and managing test suites for your backend or APIs, a crucial advantage for fintech applications.
2. Thorough Regression testing: One of HyperTest's key strengths lies in its ability to detect and flag backward incompatible changes. This includes identifying data errors, contract failures, or critical issues like fatal crashes, such as response code errors.
➡️ Postman:
Postman simplifies API testing by providing a user-friendly interface to create and execute API requests. You can automate API regression tests and monitor the behavior of your financial APIs.
Key Components of an Ideal Regression Report
We'll demonstrate using HyperTest as our tool to show how easy it is to perform Regression testing in minutes when it's integrated with your version management tools like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
To get started, quickly follow through these steps of installing and configuring the setup of HyperTest.
Once you’ve completed regression testing of your app, the tool needs to provide an extensive regression report of your test runs. It should clearly state about the any changes in the new and the stable version of your app, pinpointing the path of API that’s causing it.
HyperTest Generated Regression Report:
Let’s have a look at a comprehensive regression report generated by HyperTest and understand what all components an ideal report should have:
1. Whenever you run any test on your APIs inside HyperTest dashboard, a regression report is generated for that particular test case.For any help regarding the setup and configuration of HyperTest, refer here.
2. The regression report mainly consists of 3 main parts:
Changes Detected
Affected APIs
Incidents
👉 Changes Detected
HyperTest excels at identifying errors with a user-centric approach, ensuring the most efficient consumption of the Build report.
This comprehensive list can encompass a wide range of items, including API changes and various difference types.
Its intelligent error selection enhances the report's clarity, helping users quickly grasp critical information and make informed decisions.
This capability makes HyperTest a valuable tool for developers and testers seeking precise insights into their software changes.
👉 Affected APIs
This represents the API pathway where a discrepancy is observed.
👉 Incidents
Incidents are the actual differences in responses that HyperTest detects during its analysis. These differences represent real instances where the candidate version (under test) behaves differently from what's expected or previously observed (primary/stable branch).
Types of Regression Errors caught and reported by HyperTest:
CONTENT_TYPE_CHANGED: Change in the content type of response.
STATUS_CODE_CHANGED: Change in the status code of the response.
HEADER_REMOVED: 'Header Removed',
HEADER_ADDED: Addition of header in the response.
HEADER_MODIFIED: Modification of header in the response.
KEY_REMOVED: Removal of a key-value pair in the response.
KEY_ADDED: Addition of a key-value pair in the response.
VALUE_MODIFIED: Modification of the value of a key in the response.
ARRAY_ORDER_CHANGED: Change in the order of elements in the array in a response.
ARRAY_ORDER_CHANGED_KEY_REMOVED: Removal of an element in an array in the response.
ARRAY_ORDER_CHANGED_KEY_ADDED: Addition of element in an array in the response.
ARRAY_ORDER_CHANGED_VALUE_MODIFIED: Modification of an element in an array in the response.💡 API affected and Incidents are not two different methods to categorize changes i.e. there can be a many-to-many relationship between the members of the 2 categories. This is done primarily to make faster inferences.
👉 Regressions Report Inside GitHub
You can seamlessly integrate HyperTest with various CI/CD tools such as GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and more. This integration enables you to access the regression report directly within your chosen tool, streamlining your testing process.
Here's the comprehensive Git diff for all your APIs. It captures both intended updates and potential regressions. You can review these changes in the HyperTest dashboard to determine if they are issues or intentional updates.
What do you like best about HyperTest? Regression will take less time, API’s comparison between 2 environments, Single regression and regression reports are perfect, and we got to know the proper error. -Poorvi Rai, Sr QA Engineer, Airmeet
Conclusion
In the world of fintech, meticulous monitoring is imperative to maintain reliability and deliver an impeccable user experience. Unlike other types of applications, fintech software testing is held to exceptionally high standards owing to its involvement in financial transactions.
The margin for error is exceedingly narrow, as even minor software glitches or bugs are intolerable. In this industry, a single oversight can lead to multimillion-dollar losses for a company. Furthermore, any software flaw poses a significant risk to users' personal information, underscoring the critical need for a rigorous software testing strategy.
Within the fintech sector, regression testing assumes a pivotal role. This significance arises from the ever-evolving nature of financial systems, the substantial risks inherent in financial transactions, and the stringent regulatory requirements that govern the industry. Regression testing serves as a crucial safeguard, ensuring that new updates, features, or modifications do not inadvertently introduce defects or disrupt existing functionalities.
To keep your fintech app safe and reliable, schedule a demo with HyperTest today.
