# Testing with processors

> Most payment processors give you two completely separate environments: a test (sandbox) account for trying things out, and a live account for taking real money.

Most payment processors give you two completely separate environments: a **test
(sandbox) account** for trying things out, and a **live account** for taking real
money. They have separate logins, separate credentials, and separate data.

## Use the right cards in the right place

- In a **test** environment, only ever use the processor's **test cards**. Test
  cards are fake numbers that simulate approvals, declines, and other outcomes
  without any money moving.
- In a **live** environment, only ever use **real** cards for genuine transactions.

**Never mix the two.** Don't put a real card into a test environment, and don't use
test cards in live.

Putting real cardholder data through a non-production environment is a breach of
the [PCI DSS](https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/) rules that govern how card
data must be handled — test environments are not built to protect real card
numbers. And test cards in a live environment simply won't work, and may be flagged
as fraud.

## Test and live don't promote

A test account is not a draft of your live account. There is **no promotion of a
test account — its configuration or its data — into live**. The two are entirely
independent. When you're ready to go live, you connect the **live** account
separately and set it up in its own right.

## Where to find each processor's test cards

Every processor has its own test cards. Each one is listed on that processor's page
under **[Processors](/payment-providers/)** — look for the **Test cards** link in the
*At a glance* section, which takes you straight to that processor's official test
card details.

Where a processor doesn't publish test cards openly, request them from the gateway
directly.