Description

The payment could not be processed because the payment gateway account is in test mode and cannot process live transactions. This error occurs when a production transaction is attempted through a test account, the account activation is incomplete, or the gateway has enforced test-only restrictions.

Recommended Customer Message

We were unable to process your payment at this time. Please try again later or use a different payment method.

Root Cause

• Account in test mode: Your connected payment gateway account is set to test mode and cannot process live transactions.
• Live transaction on test account: A production transaction was initiated using a test-only merchant account.
• Incomplete account activation: The payment gateway account setup is not fully completed to support live payments.
• Gateway restrictions: The payment gateway has enforced restrictions preventing live transactions through test accounts.

Troubleshooting and Solutions

• Verify that the payment gateway account is fully activated and capable of processing live transactions.
• Switch to a production-ready merchant account before attempting live transactions.
• Contact the payment gateway support team if the payment gateway account should be live but remains restricted.
• Clearly separate test and production environments to avoid transaction processing errors.
• Retry the transaction only after confirming that the merchant account is properly configured for live operations.