Rehearse your ISO 8583 switch — before you book the UAT slot.
SwitchLab is the always-on ISO 8583 test host. Point your switch at a sandbox, run a conformance battery — 61 rail-neutral cases, or the LankaPay CEFTS v2.1 pack — script the response codes, and watch every DE decode in real time. The flight simulator, not the exam.
No bank host required · free tier · self-serve
The certification tax
Getting certified means weeks of waiting on an unavailable test host, wrestling a jPOS setup or a clunky desktop simulator, and hand-diffing hex to find the one wrong DE — then losing the slot and rebooking when a case fails.
SwitchLab is the rehearsal room: an always-on, scriptable test host where you break everything cheaply — at 2am, as many times as you want — so you break nothing in front of the scheme. We don’t certify you and we’re not affiliated with any switch operator; we make certain you’re ready.
What SwitchLab does
Conformance packs
A 61-case rail-neutral ISO 8583 battery — response-code taxonomy, reversals, duplicates, mandatory and format enforcement — plus the LankaPay CEFTS v2.1 pack. One click sets up a reference host and the suite.
Issuer & acquirer modes
Respond to inbound 0100/0200/0400, or fire outbound test transactions.
Custom specs
Upload a JSON packager — fixed/LLVAR/LLLVAR, ASCII/BCD/EBCDIC/binary. Validated on save.
Scenario rules
Response codes, timeouts, delays, reversals, partial approvals — first match wins.
Live logs & diffs
Every message streamed in real time; parsed field tree beside the raw hex.
Multi-tenant sandboxes
Dedicated TCP port per sandbox, source-IP allowlists, API keys, audit log.
Three steps to a live host
- 01
Pick a pack or a spec
Start from the rail-neutral ISO 8583 battery, the LankaPay CEFTS v2.1 pack, or upload your own packager.
- 02
Start a sandbox
It binds a dedicated TCP port in seconds — point your switch at it.
- 03
Rehearse & assert
Run the battery, watch the live log, and export the readiness report.
Pricing
Every signup starts on the free tier — one sandbox, no card. Upgrade when you need more sandboxes or volume.
Questions engineers ask first
- What is an ISO 8583 simulator?
- An ISO 8583 simulator stands in for the other side of a payment link. SwitchLab binds a TCP port and speaks ISO 8583 back to your switch — as an issuer host answering your 0100/0200/0400 requests, or as an acquirer firing test transactions at you — so you can develop and test without a real bank host.
- What does a conformance battery actually test?
- The rail-neutral ISO 8583 pack fires 61 cases at your switch and scores the genuine responses: the network-management lifecycle, the authorization and financial set, 17 DE39 response codes plus a late reply, reversals including repeat idempotency, duplicate-transmission detection, mandatory-field, format and value-domain enforcement, MAC and PIN presence, and settlement reconciliation.
- Can I test LankaPay CEFTS v2.1 without a bank test host?
- Yes. SwitchLab ships the CEFTS v2.1 message spec and a 54-case conformance pack covering network management, key exchange, EFT credit and debit, reversals and settlement. You run it on demand, as many times as you like, and export a readiness report.
- Does a passing SwitchLab run certify my switch?
- No. SwitchLab is an independent developer testing tool, not a certification authority, and is not affiliated with any scheme or switch operator. Every pack states where its cases came from and what it does not verify. Official certification is granted solely by the relevant operator — a passing run means you are rehearsed and ready for that session.
- Can I use my own ISO 8583 spec instead?
- Yes. Upload a JSON packager describing your fields — fixed, LLVAR or LLLVAR, in ASCII, BCD, EBCDIC or binary. It is validated on save and drives the builder, the parser and the live field tree.
- How much does it cost to start?
- The free tier is $0 and needs no card: one sandbox, 10,000 messages a month, live logs and the message builder. Paid tiers add sandboxes, volume, test suites and team controls.