How a payment link works
The merchant creates the link in a dashboard or through an API, with an amount, a currency, a description and often an expiry time. The provider hosts the page behind the link, collects the payment details, runs authentication and tells the merchant the result by notification or webhook.
A link can be single-use, tied to one invoice or order, or reusable, for a fixed-price product or a donation. Because the card details are typed on the provider's page, the merchant's own systems do not handle them.
Where payment links are used
- Invoices and quotes sent by email
- Orders taken by phone, chat or social media
- Deposits and balances for services such as travel or repairs
- A new attempt at a failed subscription payment
- Payment in person by QR code, where there is no terminal
Payment links, authentication and fraud
A payment made through a link is a card-not-present payment that the customer starts, and it goes through the same authentication, 3-D Secure for cards, as any other online checkout. Fraudsters imitate payment links in phishing messages. Providers therefore show the merchant's name on the page, and many let merchants send links from their own domain.
Where a payment link shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- CheckoutA hosted checkout for cards, wallets, bank payments and crypto, routed to the best provider.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- NotificationsEmail, SMS, push and in-app messages in your brand, through the providers you choose.