Financial SaaS platforms operate under heavy regulatory scrutiny — managing payments, personal data, audit logs, and secure access. To stay compliant, your QA team must go beyond functional tests and validate that your software enforces privacy, access control, and data security standards across all environments and features.
In this article, we break down a list of common compliance test cases that every FinTech or financial SaaS team should include in their QA coverage.
✅ Core Compliance Test Areas
Data Privacy (GDPR, CCPA)
Payment Security (PCI-DSS)
Operational Controls (SOC 2)
Audit Logging
Role-Based Access
Secure File Exports and Reports
Consent and User Data Requests
🔐 Data Privacy (GDPR / CCPA) Test Cases
Test Case
Automated?
Ensure PII is masked in all exports and dashboards
✅
Delete account → verify complete removal of all personal data
✅
User requests export → downloadable file available in readable format
✅
Consent checkbox is unchecked by default and required for data tracking
✅
No sensitive data appears in client-side logs or error messages
✅
💳 PCI-DSS / Payment Security Test Cases
Test Case
Automated?
Payment card fields have autocomplete="off" and input masking
✅
Card data is never stored after transaction/tokenization
✅
All card input is tokenized before hitting the backend
✅
TLS 1.2+ is enforced across all payment endpoints
❌
Validate logs contain no cardholder data
❌
🛡 SOC 2 Test Cases (Security, Availability, Integrity)
Test Case
Automated?
All login attempts are logged with timestamp, IP, and user ID
✅
Actions like create, update, delete trigger audit logs
✅
Access to audit logs is restricted based on role
✅
Environments are clearly separated (staging vs production)
❌
Failed logins and password resets are rate-limited and logged
✅
👤 Role-Based Access Test Cases
Test Case
Automated?
Regular users cannot access admin or finance features via UI or API
✅
Role escalation attempts via payload manipulation are rejected
✅
UI elements and actions adjust based on user role
✅
Deleted or deactivated users lose access immediately
✅
📤 Export & Reporting Security Test Cases
Test Case
Automated?
Reports do not contain unmasked PII unless user is authorized
✅
Exported reports are encrypted or access-limited
✅
Users cannot download other users’ reports via predictable URL
✅
File downloads are logged with user info and timestamp
✅
📄 Consent, Notices, and Legal Requests Test Cases
Test Case
Automated?
Consent is requested before tracking, and stored in user record
✅
Privacy policy and legal terms are accessible and up-to-date
✅
Users can view/edit/delete consent history
✅
Data subject access request (DSAR) returns complete data set per user
❌
🧠 Pro Tips for Financial SaaS QA Teams
Tag tests by regulation: @gdpr, @pci, @soc2, @compliance
Work with legal/compliance teams to translate audit controls into test cases
Validate staging and pre-prod behave the same as production for access and logging
Schedule periodic manual security reviews of logs, roles, and exports
Maintain a compliance test run log for auditors
Final Thoughts
Compliance is a continuous process — not a sprint before an audit. By proactively testing for GDPR, PCI-DSS, and SOC 2 concerns in your QA cycle, your financial SaaS product stays secure, auditable, and trustworthy for every stakeholder.
✅ Compliance Test Dashboard Structure
Test Case
Category
Regulation
Status
Automated?
Last Run
Test Owner
Priority
Notes / Audit Log Link
Delete user → all PII removed across DB + logs
Data Privacy
GDPR
✅ Passed
✅ Yes
Apr 29
QA_Maryna
High
Covered via Cypress in staging
Card data is tokenized before reaching backend
Payment Security
PCI-DSS
✅ Passed
✅ Yes
Apr 29
QA_Oleh
High
Using Stripe test keys
View admin dashboard as regular user
Access Control
SOC 2
✅ Passed
✅ Yes
Apr 28
QA_Taras
High
Validated with API role scope
Failed login attempt triggers alert and log
Operational
SOC 2
⛔ Failed
✅ Yes
Apr 27
QA_Nataliia
High
Missing rate-limit log in pre-prod
Cookie consent required before analytics loads
Data Privacy
GDPR
✅ Passed
✅ Yes
Apr 28
QA_Vlad
Medium
Cypress test + visual check
Exported report hides full name + email for non-admins
Data Export
GDPR / SOC 2
🟡 Partial
✅ Yes
Apr 25
QA_Andrii
Medium
Masking works, but log lacks viewer metadata
No card data stored in logs or exports
Payment Security
PCI-DSS
✅ Passed
❌ Manual
Apr 24
QA_Marina
High
Spot check each quarter
Role escalation attempt via JWT blocked
Access Control
SOC 2
✅ Passed
✅ Yes
Apr 26
QA_Taras
High
Simulated token tamper
🧩 Dashboard Features You Can Enable
Filters: By regulation, status (passed/failed/partial), test owner, priority
Views:
🔍 Audit-Ready: only high-priority tests + last pass date
🧪 CI-Tracked: only automated tests (sync with test runner)
🗂 Regulation View: separate tables for GDPR, PCI, SOC 2