Test issuer vs your own issuer

When you try Google passes in test mode before connecting your own issuer, Passmint can use a shared test issuer. There's one Google behavior that surprises people, and it's worth understanding so a "failed" test doesn't send you down the wrong path.

The shared test issuer is limited by Google

Google treats a test issuer as a sandbox. Passes from a test issuer will only save for Google accounts that have been added as testers for that issuer in the Google Pay & Wallet Console. Anyone else who taps the save link gets an error from Google, not from Passmint.

So if you share a test-mode Google pass with a colleague and they can't save it, the pass is fine. Their Google account simply isn't on the tester list for the issuer the pass was created under.

What this means in practice

• You can usually save test passes because your account is set up for testing.
• Colleagues need to be added as testers for the relevant issuer before they can save a test-mode Google pass.
• The public can't save test-mode Google passes at all. That's the whole point of a sandbox.

The fix is your own issuer

Once you connect your own Google issuer and switch to live mode, this restriction disappears. Live passes issued under your own issuer save for anyone, no tester list required. The shared test issuer exists only so you can rehearse the flow beforehand.