Introduction
You can’t automate everything — and in FinTech, you shouldn’t. Payment flows, KYC, and reporting features carry high risk and complexity, while some admin pages or UI tweaks offer low automation value.
That’s why choosing what to automate (and what to leave manual) is critical to building a smart, maintainable test suite.
In this article, we’ll walk through a practical framework to prioritize test cases for automation in a FinTech environment, based on risk, frequency, effort, and impact.
🎯 Why Prioritization Matters
- Avoid wasting time automating unstable or low-value tests
- Ensure coverage of the riskiest, most business-critical workflows
- Build a focused, fast suite that can run in CI/CD
- Align test coverage with real financial risk, not just features
✅ Test Case Prioritization Framework
Use this matrix to score and prioritize each candidate:
| Criteria | Questions to Ask | Score (1–5) |
|---|---|---|
| Business Risk | If this breaks, what’s the financial or reputational damage? | |
| Test Frequency | How often is this flow executed by users or backend jobs? | |
| Automation Feasibility | Can this realistically be automated (technical complexity, setup required)? | |
| Data Stability | Are the inputs/outputs stable, or do they change often? | |
| Test Runtime Impact | Can this be automated without slowing down CI/CD too much? | |
| ROI | Will automation save time compared to frequent manual runs? |
Total Score = sum of all 6
👉 Anything 15+ = automate immediately
👉 Scores 10–14 = consider automating in next sprint
👉 Scores <10 = keep manual or revisit later
🧠 FinTech-Specific Examples
| Test Case | Business Risk | Frequency | Feasibility | Score | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submit a payment in USD | 5 | 5 | 5 | 25 | ✅ Automate |
| Refund a payment | 4 | 3 | 4 | 21 | ✅ Automate |
| KYC status flow (upload → approved → verify) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 22 | ✅ Automate |
| Update user profile photo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ❌ Keep manual |
| Generate monthly tax export | 4 | 2 | 4 | 18 | ⚠️ Sprint candidate |
| Load test payment endpoint under 1,000 RPS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 | ⚠️ Nightly run only |
🧩 Use Tags to Prioritize Automation Execution in CI
| Tag | Purpose |
|---|---|
@critical | Must-pass tests for every build |
@core-flow | High business value |
@next-up | Ready for automation next sprint |
@manual-only | Too unstable or low priority |
Use these to:
- Trigger fast lanes in CI
- Track coverage by tag in dashboards
- Communicate automation status to dev/product
🔁 When to Reevaluate Test Case Priority
Revisit test case priority:
- After a major product or API redesign
- When a previously unstable feature stabilizes
- After a regression slips through manually tested areas
- Quarterly, as part of your automation health review
🔧 Tooling to Support Prioritization
| Tool | Use Case |
|---|---|
| TestRail | Add custom fields for risk, frequency, effort |
| Airtable | Build a scorecard and filter by automation value |
| Xray for Jira | Track automation coverage and backlog in sprints |
| Notion Tables | Lightweight priority tracker for smaller teams |
| Google Sheets | Simple prioritization matrix and scoring formula |
Final Thoughts
FinTech QA doesn’t require automating everything. It requires automating the right things first — the flows that touch money, compliance, or core user trust.
Use a simple scoring system. Communicate priorities clearly. Focus your resources where failure hurts the most.
✅ Test Case Automation Prioritization Template (Google Sheets Format)
| Test Case | Module / Feature | Business Risk (1–5) | Execution Frequency (1–5) | Automation Feasibility (1–5) | Data Stability (1–5) | Time Savings ROI (1–5) | Total Score | Action | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submit USD payment | Payments | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 30 | ✅ Automate Now | QA_Oleh | Critical happy path |
| Refund a payment | Payments | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 26 | ✅ Automate Now | QA_Maryna | Regression coverage priority |
| Upload KYC docs | Onboarding/KYC | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 23 | ✅ Automate Soon | QA_Andrii | Add doc format variations |
| Change user theme settings | UI | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | ❌ Keep Manual | QA_Nataliia | Cosmetic, low-risk |
| Generate tax report (monthly) | Reporting | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 22 | ⚠️ Sprint Candidate | QA_Taras | Consider scheduled automation |
| Download invoice PDF | Invoicing | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 19 | ⚠️ Backlog Item | QA_Svitlana | UI test depends on PDF load time |
🧠 Scoring Guide (1–5 scale for each criterion):
- Business Risk: How badly would failure affect finances, users, or compliance?
- Execution Frequency: How often is this used in real workflows or regressions?
- Automation Feasibility: Is this realistic to automate without hacks or major effort?
- Data Stability: Does test data remain consistent, or is it prone to drift?
- Time Savings ROI: Will automation save time across releases or sprints?
How to Use:
- Tally the Total Score automatically with a formula: makefileКопіюватиРедагувати
=SUM(C2:G2) - Filter or sort by:
- High score = Automate first
- Low score = Keep manual or review later
- Mid score = Add to next sprint/backlog