Pay by Link

Overview

Pay by Link is a feature that allows you to create a payment link and share it with your customers without the need for a website, online store, or having to collect card numbers over the phone.

The link can be shared with your customers using their preferred contact method. When the customer clicks on the link, they are redirected to a payment page where they can enter their payment details and complete the transaction.

You can create a payment link using either the OnlinePay dashboard or the API. The link can be customised with the amount to be paid, the customer information, and other details. You can also set an expiry date for the link and track the status of the payment in the Commerce > Payment Tools > Pay by Link page.

Create a payment link

You can create a Pay by Link in the OnlinePay dashboard by following these steps:

1. In your OnlinePay dashboard, navigate to Commerce > Payment Tools > Pay by Link. This opens the Pay by Link page.

   

2. Click Create Payment Link at the top of the page.

3. Complete the Payment Settings to configure the payment link amount and organisation details.

Payment Settings

Complete the following information in the Payment Settings section to configure the payment link based on your organisation settings and payment options:

1. Cart information: Choose Amount to provide a link that includes an amount payable only. Alternatively, select Amount & product to include a product or service description, quantity, price per unit, and product code (optional).

   

   If you select Amount & product, complete the following fields:

   • Product Information: Provide the following information:
   • Product description: Enter a description of the product or service.
   • Quantity: Enter the quantity of the product or service.
   • Price per unit: Enter the price per unit of the product or service.
   • Product code: Enter a product code (optional).

2. Card and wallet payment methods are set to those already configured on your Payment Provider Contract by default. You can choose to disable any method you do not want to include in the payment link.

   • Card: Allows customers to pay using a credit or debit card.
     3D Secure authentication is enabled by default. You can disable 3D Secure authentication by unchecking the Enable 3D Secure checkbox.
     Disabling 3D Secure authentication may increase the risk of fraud and chargebacks.

   • Google Pay™: Allows customers to pay using Google Pay.
     The SCA Compliance type is set to Wallet by default. Wallet transactions enforce 3D Secure on transactions that are not a tokenised card. You can enforce 3D Secure on all transactions via Google Pay by selecting Force SCA.
     Alternatively, you can disable 3D Secure by selecting None. Disabling 3D Secure authentication may increase the risk of fraud and chargebacks.

   • Apple Pay: Allows customers to pay using Apple Pay. 3D Secure is not applicable for Apple Pay transactions.

     You can enable or disable payment methods by checking or unchecking the corresponding checkboxes. The payment methods you enable will be available to customers when they click the payment link.

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Merchants that have more than one Payment Provider Contract for OnlinePay will also see a drop-down Organisations list on the Payment Settings page.

Select the organisation from the list from which you want to issue the payment link.

Customer details

Provide the customer information required to complete the payment link.

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Customer details are mandatory for 3D Secure enabled payment links.

The customer details include the following fields:

• First Name: Enter the customer's first name.
• Last Name: Enter the customer's last name.
• Phone Number: (Optional) Enter the customer's phone number. This is provided to the payment provider for processing.
• Email Address: Enter the customer's email address. This is required to authenticate the customer for processing.
• Identifier: (Optional) Enter a unique identifier for the customer. This is optional and can be used to identify the customer in your system.

Billing address

Complete the billing address details for the customer. The billing address details include the following fields:

• Address Line 1: Enter the first line of the customer's address.
• Address Line 2: (Optional) Enter the second line of the customer's address.
• Postcode: Enter the customer's postcode.
• City: Enter the customer's city.
• Country: Select the customer's country from the drop-down list.
• State: Select the customer's state from the drop-down list. This field is required if the customer's country has states.

If the shipping address is different from the billing address, uncheck the The shipping address is the same as the billing address checkbox to provide the shipping address details.

Click Continue to link settings to proceed.

Link Settings

1. In the Link Settings section, complete the following fields as required:

   • Link Expiry: Set an expiry date for the payment link, up to a maximum of 30 days.
   • Preselected language: Choose the language for the payment page. English is the default language.
   • Checkout theme: Select a theme for the payment page from the drop-down list. If you have created custom themes, they will be available in this list. The default theme is applied if no theme is selected.

2. Click Create Payment Link to generate the payment link.

When the link is created, you can click Copy Link to copy the link to your clipboard. You can then share the link with your customers using their preferred contact method, such as email, SMS, or messaging apps.

Click Return to payment links to return to the Pay by Link page.

Tracking payment status

You can track the status of the payment link in the Pay by Link page. The status of the payment link is updated in real-time as the customer interacts with the link.

Access the Pay by Link page by navigating to Commerce > Pay by Link in your OnlinePay dashboard. The dashboard displays a list of all payment links you have created, along with the following information:

• The date and time the link was created.
• The amount to be paid.
• The email address of the recipient.
• The Merchant Reference you entered when creating the link. If no reference was entered, this field shows DefaultMerch.
• The status of the payment link, which can be one of the following:
  • Paid: The payment has been successfully completed.
  • Not paid: The payment has not been completed.
  • Expired: The payment has not been processed and the link has expired. The customer can no longer use the link to make a payment until the link is re-enabled or a new link is created.
  • Failed: The cardholder has reached the maximum of three failed submission attempts and the link has been disabled. The customer can no longer use the link to make a payment until a new link is created. The link cannot be re-enabled.

Viewing payment details

To view the details of a payment link, the customer details, and perform further actions, click the transaction in the list on the Pay by Link page.

The details panel includes the following tabs:

• Payment Link: View the history of the payment link, including 3D Secure status, unsuccessful payment attempts, and transaction ID. You can also re-enable the link if it has expired.

  • If the payment link is active and not paid, you can copy the link and view the details of the payment.
  • If the payment link is paid, you can view the history of the payment link, including 3D Secure status, unsuccessful payment attempts, and transaction details.
  • If the payment link has expired, you can re-enable the link and view the details of the payment.
  • If the payment link has failed, you can view the history of the payment link, including 3D Secure status, unsuccessful payment attempts

• Customer: View the customer details and the billing and shipping addresses.

• Actions: Refresh the payment link if it has expired.

Cancelling a payment link

If you no longer want to accept payment using a payment link, you can cancel the link. To cancel a payment link, follow these steps:

1. In the Pay by Link page, click the transaction you want to cancel.
2. Click the Actions tab.
3. Under Disable link, click Disable link.
   Customer will no longer be able to pay the amount once the link is disabled.
   The payment link details panel closes and the payment link in the Pay by Link list refreshes to change the status from Not paid to Expired.

Re-enable a payment link

If a payment link has expired, you can re-enable the link to generate a new link with the same details. To re-enable a payment link, follow these steps:

1. In the Pay by Link page, click the transaction you want to re-enable.
2. Click the Actions tab.
3. Under Enable link, set the Link Expiry time up to a maximum of 30 days.
4. Click Re-enable link. The payment link details panel closes and the payment link in the list refreshes to change the status from Expired to Not paid.
5. Open the payment link details again to copy the new link and share it with your customer.

Extend a payment link

To extend a payment link, you must first disable the link. The link can then be re-enabled with a new expiry time up to a maximum of 30 days.

1. Click the payment link that you want to extend from the list on the Pay by Link page in the OnlinePay dashboard.
2. Click the Actions tab.
3. Click Disable link.
4. Follow the Re-enable a payment link procedure above.

Refunding a payment

If you need to refund a payment made using a payment link, you can do so from the Transactions page in the OnlinePay dashboard.

1. Open the Pay by Link transaction details.
2. In the Payment Link tab, click View Transaction Details to open the transaction in the Orders/Transactions page.
3. Switch the view to Orders.
4. Click the Pay by Link transaction to open the details panel.
5. Click the Actions tab, then select the Refund action.
6. Complete the amount and Reason to refund(optional), then click Refund.

For more information, see Processing a refund.