Payment Links: What They Are and How To Use Them

Payment links are a simple way to accept payments however you do business, whether that’s in person, on social media, or through email and text communication with customers.

What is a payment link?

A payment link — also referred to as a checkout link — is a clickable link or scannable code that allows a customer to complete a purchase. Payment links are offered in the form of digital links, buy buttons, or QR codes, and are used across websites, social media platforms, apps, messaging tools, and in person.

When a customer uses a payment link, they’re typically taken to the merchant’s online checkout page to complete their transaction. Payment links can be used for both a single transaction, such as a customer invoice, and for multiple transactions, such as a buy button on a social media platform.

What are the benefits of using payment links?

Payment links facilitate simple online payments and don’t require additional infrastructure, a website, or any code to set up and use. Any merchant can easily create a payment link that takes customers to a straightforward checkout page to complete a transaction.

Payment links are used to:

Take payments anywhere you sell products or services: Whether you send clients a payment link via text message or direct customers to your online checkout page from multiple social media platforms, payment links allow you to get paid however you do business.

Customize a purchase: Payment links come in different forms, so choose the ones that work best for the platforms you sell on. Direct payment links work well for customer interactions and conversational commerce, while buy buttons and QR codes work well for online, social, or in-person selling.

Offer customers multiple ways to pay: Once customers have accessed your payment link, you can accept credit or debit card payments, or digital payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, or Afterpay.

Keep payments simple: Customers don’t need an account or a special app to use a merchant’s payment link. They can access your payment link from any device for direct payment.

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