What a CVV localization test checks

A CVV localization test confirms that the card security code field behaves correctly in every locale and market your checkout serves. It covers the field label, hint text, input mask, accepted digit count, mobile keyboard, error strings, and layout direction. The test runs on sandbox card numbers only. It never needs live cardholder data, and it should never touch a production card.

cvv test locale

Prerequisites

• A staging checkout wired to a sandbox payment gateway.
• Sandbox test cards for at least one brand with a 3-digit code and one with a 4-digit code.
• The full list of locales your storefront ships.
• Access to the string catalog and the payment SDK configuration.

Procedure

1. List every locale your checkout supports along with the card brands you accept in each market.
2. Open the payment form in the first locale and confirm the security code label is translated and matches the brand shown on the card, for example CVV, CVC, or CID.
3. Inspect the input mask and confirm it allows 3 digits for standard brands and 4 digits for American Express.
4. Type letters and symbols into the field and verify the form blocks them before any network request is sent.
5. Load the form on a phone and confirm a numeric keypad appears, not the full text keyboard.
6. Trigger a validation error in each locale and read the message to a native speaker; it must name the field and describe the fix.
7. Switch to a right-to-left locale and confirm field order, caret position, and error placement follow the reading direction.
8. Search the browser storage, console logs, and analytics payloads and confirm the entered code appears in none of them.
9. Submit a failing authorization and confirm the code field clears instead of retaining the digits.
10. Repeat steps 2 through 9 for each remaining locale and record pass or fail per item.

Common failures

• Translated field label paired with an untranslated error string.
• Mask hardcoded to 3 digits, which rejects 4-digit codes.
• Missing autocomplete token, so password managers and browsers refuse to fill the field.
• The code value forwarded to the analytics layer as a form field name.

Pass criteria

A locale passes when the label, mask, keyboard, and error text are correct, the field renders properly in both text directions, and the entered code is discarded the moment authorization finishes. Any locale that logs, stores, or echoes the code fails regardless of how the interface looks.

cvv localization testing