Payment link
Also known as: Pay-by-link, Payment URL
A payment link is a URL a merchant sends to a customer, by message or email, that opens a hosted page where the customer pays. It lets a business take card payments with no terminal or website checkout.
Last reviewed
Example
A plumber finishes a job and texts the customer a link for €180. The customer opens it, pays by card, and the plumber sees the payment on their phone.
A payment link is a checkout you can send in a text message.
The merchant creates a payment request for a given amount, gets a URL, and shares it. The customer opens the page, enters the card or picks a wallet, and authenticates if the bank asks. The provider hosts the page, so the merchant never handles the card number.
It is useful where there is no counter and no website. A plumber's invoice, a deposit for a wedding photographer, a tutor's monthly fee. It also works when the customer is far away.
Whatever the interface, the payment is card-not-present. The card and cardholder are not physically present at the merchant. In the Visa rules that places it in the card-absent environment. Under PSD2, the payer initiating an electronic payment generally has to complete strong customer authentication (Article 97), so expect a prompt from the customer's bank.
What it is not. Underneath, it is an ordinary card-not-present payment. Providers differ on how long a link stays valid and on whether it can be reused. Check before you send one.
The first risk is a link that can be paid more than once. A fixed amount is fine. A link anyone can reuse is an invoice you have lost control of.
The second is expiry. An old link, paid late, has to be authorised, captured and reconciled like any other.
A link is not a shortcut around the rules. It is a door into the same room.