There's no sandbox/test-card mode for Stripe on Wise today — testing a real payment means running an actual small charge against a test student account, not a fake test-card flow. Budget for that if you want to confirm your payment setup end-to-end before launch.

Good news: exploring the platform before launch — including starting live test sessions — never triggers billing on its own. Your institute is only billed from your official go-live date, so testing freely beforehand is safe.