diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Message.java b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Message.java
index af74fa2..b7116eb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Message.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Message.java
@@ -1,37 +1,34 @@
 package com.ofek.queue;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
-import java.util.UUID;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 public class Message implements Serializable {
-    private final String id;
-    private final String payload;
+    private final byte[] payload;
 
-    // Constructor for new messages (generates new ID)
-    public Message(String payload) {
-        this.id = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
-        this.payload = payload;
+    // Constructor for new messages
+    public Message(byte[] payload) {
+        this.payload = payload.clone();
     }
 
-    // Constructor for loading existing messages (preserves original ID)
-    public Message(String id, String payload) {
-        this.id = id;
-        this.payload = payload;
+    // Constructor for String payload
+    public Message(String payload) {
+        this.payload = payload.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
     }
 
-    public String getId() {
-        return id;
+    public byte[] getPayload() {
+        return payload.clone();
     }
 
-    public String getPayload() {
-        return payload;
+    // Get payload as String
+    public String getPayloadAsString() {
+        return new String(payload, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
     }
 
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         return "Message{" +
-                "id='" + id + '\'' +
-                ", payload='" + payload + '\'' +
+                ", payload='" + getPayloadAsString() + '\'' +
                 '}';
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueue.java b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueue.java
index e617210..475dbb7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueue.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.Base64;
 
 public class MessageQueue {
     private final BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<>();
@@ -159,7 +160,9 @@ private void saveBatchToFile(List<Message> messages) {
         try (BufferedWriter writer = Files.newBufferedWriter(
                 messagesFilePath, StandardOpenOption.CREATE, StandardOpenOption.APPEND)) {
             for (Message message : messages) {
-                writer.write(message.getId() + "|" + message.getPayload());
+                // Encode byte array as Base64 for safe text storage
+                String encodedPayload = Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(message.getPayload());
+                writer.write(encodedPayload);
                 writer.newLine();
             }
             writer.flush(); // Ensure data is written
@@ -182,14 +185,12 @@ private void loadMessagesFromFile() {
             String line;
             int loadedCount = 0;
             while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
-                String[] parts = line.split("\\|", 2);
-                if (parts.length == 2) {
-                    String id = parts[0];
-                    String payload = parts[1];
-                    Message message = new Message(id, payload);
-                    queue.offer(message);
-                    loadedCount++;
-                }
+                String encodedPayload = line;
+                // Decode Base64 back to byte array
+                byte[] payload = Base64.getDecoder().decode(encodedPayload);
+                Message message = new Message(payload);
+                queue.offer(message);
+                loadedCount++;
             }
             if (enableConsoleLogging) {
                 System.out.println("Loaded " + loadedCount + " messages from file");
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Producer.java b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Producer.java
index 8f5f93f..2abec5d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Producer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ofek/queue/Producer.java
@@ -12,4 +12,9 @@ public void produce(String payload) {
         messageQueue.enqueue(message);
     }
 
+    public void produce(byte[] payload) {
+        Message message = new Message(payload);
+        messageQueue.enqueue(message);
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ConsumerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ConsumerTest.java
index 725acea..628c02a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ConsumerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ConsumerTest.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void testConsumeSingleMessage() {
 
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals("Test message", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Test message", message.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ void testConsumeMultipleMessages() {
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             Message message = consumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void testConsumeAsProduced() {
 
         Message msg1 = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(msg1);
-        assertEquals("Message 1", msg1.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Message 1", msg1.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
 
         producer.produce("Message 2");
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ void testConsumeAsProduced() {
 
         Message msg2 = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(msg2);
-        assertEquals("Message 2", msg2.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Message 2", msg2.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
 
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ void testConsumeLargeMessage() {
 
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ void testConsumeEmptyPayload() {
 
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals("", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("", message.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
 
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ void testPartialConsumption() {
         for (int i = 0; i < consumeCount; i++) {
             Message message = consumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         assertEquals(totalMessages - consumeCount, messageQueue.size());
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ void testPartialConsumption() {
         for (int i = consumeCount; i < totalMessages; i++) {
             Message message = consumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
@@ -181,6 +181,6 @@ void testSpecialCharactersInConsumption() {
 
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/IntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/IntegrationTest.java
index 8a019a3..6c09049 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/IntegrationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/IntegrationTest.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void testCompleteWorkflow() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
         for (int i = 0; i < consumeCount; i++) {
             Message message = batchConsumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Workflow message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Workflow message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         assertEquals(messageCount - consumeCount, batchQueue.size());
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ void testCompleteWorkflow() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             Message message = recoveredConsumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Workflow message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Workflow message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         recoveredQueue.shutdown();
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ void testSystemRestartSimulation() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
         for (int i = 0; i < consumedInPhase1; i++) {
             Message message = initialConsumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Restart test message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Restart test message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         // Simulate system shutdown
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ void testSystemRestartSimulation() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             Message message = restartedConsumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Restart test message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Restart test message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         assertEquals(0, restartedQueue.size());
@@ -261,19 +261,19 @@ void testMixedMessageSizes() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
 
         // Consume and verify
         Message msg1 = mixedConsumer.poll();
-        assertEquals("Short", msg1.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Short", msg1.getPayloadAsString());
 
         Message msg2 = mixedConsumer.poll();
-        assertEquals("Medium length message with some content", msg2.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Medium length message with some content", msg2.getPayloadAsString());
 
         Message msg3 = mixedConsumer.poll();
-        assertEquals(longMessage.toString(), msg3.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(longMessage.toString(), msg3.getPayloadAsString());
 
         Message msg4 = mixedConsumer.poll();
-        assertEquals("", msg4.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("", msg4.getPayloadAsString());
 
         Message msg5 = mixedConsumer.poll();
-        assertEquals("Final message", msg5.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Final message", msg5.getPayloadAsString());
 
         assertEquals(0, mixedQueue.size());
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueueTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueueTest.java
index 543e759..febd0dc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueueTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageQueueTest.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Random;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
@@ -63,9 +64,9 @@ void testBasicEnqueueDequeue() {
         assertNotNull(second);
         assertNotNull(third);
 
-        assertEquals("First message", first.getPayload());
-        assertEquals("Second message", second.getPayload());
-        assertEquals("Third message", third.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("First message", first.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertEquals("Second message", second.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertEquals("Third message", third.getPayloadAsString());
 
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ void testRandomNumberOfMessages() throws InterruptedException {
             Message message = consumer.poll();
             if (message != null) {
                 dequeuedCount++;
-                assertTrue(message.getPayload().startsWith("Random message"));
+                assertTrue(message.getPayloadAsString().startsWith("Random message"));
             }
         }
 
@@ -131,9 +132,8 @@ void testBatchSizePersistence() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
 
         // Verify file format
         for (int i = 0; i < batchSize; i++) {
-            String line = lines.get(i);
-            assertTrue(line.contains("Batch message " + i));
-            assertTrue(line.contains("|")); // ID|payload format
+            String decodedMessage = new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(lines.get(i)));
+            assertTrue(decodedMessage.contains("Batch message " + i));
         }
 
         batchQueue.shutdown();
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ void testLessThanBatchSize() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
 
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             String line = lines.get(i);
-            assertTrue(line.contains("Small batch message " + i));
+            String decodedMessage = new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(line));
+            assertTrue(decodedMessage.contains("Small batch message " + i));
         }
     }
 
@@ -195,7 +196,8 @@ void testGreaterThanBatchSize() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
 
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             String line = lines.get(i);
-            assertTrue(line.contains("Large batch message " + i));
+            String decodedMessage = new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(line));
+            assertTrue(decodedMessage.contains("Large batch message " + i));
         }
     }
 
@@ -249,7 +251,7 @@ void testMessageRecovery() throws InterruptedException, IOException {
         for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
             Message message = recoveredConsumer.poll();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Recovery message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Recovery message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
 
         recoveredQueue.shutdown();
@@ -327,35 +329,10 @@ void testLargeMessages() throws InterruptedException {
 
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayloadAsString());
         assertEquals(0, messageQueue.size());
     }
 
-    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should maintain message uniqueness with UUID")
-    void testMessageIdUniqueness() {
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-
-        Message first = consumer.poll();
-        Message second = consumer.poll();
-        Message third = consumer.poll();
-
-        assertNotNull(first);
-        assertNotNull(second);
-        assertNotNull(third);
-
-        // All should have same payload but different IDs
-        assertEquals("Same payload", first.getPayload());
-        assertEquals("Same payload", second.getPayload());
-        assertEquals("Same payload", third.getPayload());
-
-        assertNotEquals(first.getId(), second.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(second.getId(), third.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(first.getId(), third.getId());
-    }
-
     @Test
     @DisplayName("Should handle queue operations during shutdown")
     void testOperationsDuringShutdown() throws InterruptedException {
@@ -369,14 +346,15 @@ void testOperationsDuringShutdown() throws InterruptedException {
         // Operations should still work until the queue is fully shut down
         Message message = consumer.poll();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals("Before shutdown", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Before shutdown", message.getPayloadAsString());
 
         // check if message saved to file
         assertTrue(Files.exists(testFile));
         try {
             List<String> lines = Files.readAllLines(testFile);
             assertEquals(1, lines.size());
-            assertTrue(lines.get(0).contains("Before shutdown"));
+            String decodedMessage = new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(lines.get(0)));
+            assertTrue(decodedMessage.contains("Before shutdown"));
         } catch (IOException e) {
             fail("Failed to read from file after shutdown: " + e.getMessage());
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageTest.java
index d783838..47741b3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/MessageTest.java
@@ -3,51 +3,18 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 @DisplayName("Message Tests")
 public class MessageTest {
 
-    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should create message with auto-generated ID")
-    void testMessageCreationWithAutoId() {
-        String payload = "Test payload";
-        Message message = new Message(payload);
-
-        assertNotNull(message.getId());
-        assertFalse(message.getId().isEmpty());
-        assertEquals(payload, message.getPayload());
-    }
-
-    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should create message with specified ID")
-    void testMessageCreationWithSpecificId() {
-        String id = "custom-id-123";
-        String payload = "Test payload";
-        Message message = new Message(id, payload);
-
-        assertEquals(id, message.getId());
-        assertEquals(payload, message.getPayload());
-    }
-
-    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should generate unique IDs for different messages")
-    void testUniqueIdGeneration() {
-        Message message1 = new Message("Same payload");
-        Message message2 = new Message("Same payload");
-        Message message3 = new Message("Same payload");
-
-        assertNotEquals(message1.getId(), message2.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(message2.getId(), message3.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(message1.getId(), message3.getId());
-    }
-
     @Test
     @DisplayName("Should handle empty payload")
     void testEmptyPayload() {
         Message message = new Message("");
 
-        assertNotNull(message.getId());
-        assertEquals("", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("", message.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertArrayEquals("".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), message.getPayload());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -60,19 +27,17 @@ void testLongPayload() {
 
         Message message = new Message(longPayload.toString());
 
-        assertNotNull(message.getId());
-        assertEquals(longPayload.toString(), message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(longPayload.toString(), message.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertArrayEquals(longPayload.toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), message.getPayload());
     }
 
     @Test
     @DisplayName("Should have proper toString representation")
     void testToString() {
-        Message message = new Message("test-id", "test payload");
+        Message message = new Message("test payload");
         String toString = message.toString();
 
-        assertTrue(toString.contains("test-id"));
         assertTrue(toString.contains("test payload"));
-        assertTrue(toString.contains("Message{"));
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -81,7 +46,8 @@ void testSpecialCharacters() {
         String specialPayload = "Special chars: !@#$%^&*()_+[]{}|;:,.<>?`~";
         Message message = new Message(specialPayload);
 
-        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertArrayEquals(specialPayload.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), message.getPayload());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -90,15 +56,98 @@ void testNewlinesAndTabs() {
         String payload = "Line 1\nLine 2\tTabbed content\r\nWindows line ending";
         Message message = new Message(payload);
 
-        assertEquals(payload, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(payload, message.getPayloadAsString());
+        assertArrayEquals(payload.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), message.getPayload());
     }
 
     @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should handle pipe character in payload (potential file format conflict)")
-    void testPipeCharacterInPayload() {
-        String payload = "This|has|pipe|characters";
-        Message message = new Message(payload);
+    @DisplayName("Should handle byte array constructor")
+    void testByteArrayConstructor() {
+        byte[] originalBytes = "Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        Message message = new Message(originalBytes);
+
+        assertArrayEquals(originalBytes, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Hello World", message.getPayloadAsString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle empty byte array")
+    void testEmptyByteArray() {
+        byte[] emptyBytes = new byte[0];
+        Message message = new Message(emptyBytes);
+
+        assertArrayEquals(emptyBytes, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("", message.getPayloadAsString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle large byte array")
+    void testLargeByteArray() {
+        byte[] largeBytes = new byte[50000];
+        for (int i = 0; i < largeBytes.length; i++) {
+            largeBytes[i] = (byte) (i % 256);
+        }
+
+        Message message = new Message(largeBytes);
+
+        assertArrayEquals(largeBytes, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(50000, message.getPayload().length);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle UTF-8 encoded bytes correctly")
+    void testUtf8EncodedBytes() {
+        String unicodeText = "Hello 世界 🌍 مرحبا";
+        byte[] utf8Bytes = unicodeText.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+        Message message = new Message(utf8Bytes);
+
+        assertArrayEquals(utf8Bytes, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(unicodeText, message.getPayloadAsString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle control characters in byte array")
+    void testControlCharactersInByteArray() {
+        byte[] controlChars = {
+                0, // NULL
+                9, // TAB
+                10, // LF (newline)
+                13, // CR (carriage return)
+                27, // ESC
+                127 // DEL
+        };
+
+        Message message = new Message(controlChars);
+
+        assertArrayEquals(controlChars, message.getPayload());
+        // Should not crash when converting to string
+        String result = message.getPayloadAsString();
+        assertNotNull(result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should preserve message immutability")
+    void testMessageImmutability() {
+        byte[] originalBytes = "test".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        Message message = new Message(originalBytes);
+
+        // Modify the original array
+        originalBytes[0] = (byte) 'X';
+
+        // Message should not be affected
+        assertNotEquals(originalBytes, message.getPayload());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle byte array vs string constructor equivalence")
+    void testByteArrayStringEquivalence() {
+        String testString = "Test message with special chars: àáâãäå";
+
+        Message messageFromString = new Message(testString);
+        Message messageFromBytes = new Message(testString.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
 
-        assertEquals(payload, message.getPayload());
+        assertArrayEquals(messageFromString.getPayload(), messageFromBytes.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(messageFromString.getPayloadAsString(), messageFromBytes.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ProducerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ProducerTest.java
index 2bbdc9c..7f8bf1e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ProducerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ofek/queue/ProducerTest.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void testProduceSingleMessage() {
 
         Message message = messageQueue.dequeue();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals("Test message", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("Test message", message.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ void testProduceMultipleMessages() {
         for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i++) {
             Message message = messageQueue.dequeue();
             assertNotNull(message);
-            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayload());
+            assertEquals("Message " + i, message.getPayloadAsString());
         }
     }
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ void testProduceEmptyPayload() {
 
         Message message = messageQueue.dequeue();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals("", message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals("", message.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -88,27 +88,7 @@ void testProduceLargePayload() {
 
         Message message = messageQueue.dequeue();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayload());
-    }
-
-    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should generate unique message IDs")
-    void testUniqueMessageIds() {
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-        producer.produce("Same payload");
-
-        Message msg1 = messageQueue.dequeue();
-        Message msg2 = messageQueue.dequeue();
-        Message msg3 = messageQueue.dequeue();
-
-        assertNotNull(msg1);
-        assertNotNull(msg2);
-        assertNotNull(msg3);
-
-        assertNotEquals(msg1.getId(), msg2.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(msg2.getId(), msg3.getId());
-        assertNotEquals(msg1.getId(), msg3.getId());
+        assertEquals(largePayload.toString(), message.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -121,6 +101,6 @@ void testSpecialCharactersInPayload() {
 
         Message message = messageQueue.dequeue();
         assertNotNull(message);
-        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayload());
+        assertEquals(specialPayload, message.getPayloadAsString());
     }
 }