What are payment links? How they work and how to use them (UK guide)

Key takeaways

• Payment links help businesses get paid fast, providing an easy and flexible option for their customers at home and abroad.

• Business owners tell us payment links have helped them win contracts they were at risk of losing, speed up their accounts receivable processes, and generally reduce friction for their business and their customers.

• Airwallex’s payment links offer an affordable option with an international edge – you can choose from 160+ payment methods to help customers pay like you’re local, wherever you are.

Payment links are a great addition for both B2B and B2C businesses, as they solve some common payment challenges like speed, flexibility, and ease-of-use.

We explain everything you need to know about payment links and how to get started with them – as well as three real-world examples from business owners. Let’s get started.

What are payment links?

A payment link is a unique hyperlink (or QR code) that directs your customers to a secure payment webpage. Your customer opens the page, chooses their payment method, and completes the necessary steps to make an instant payment.

You can send payment links via email, social media, text message, or other messaging apps. You can also embed links within invoices.

They’re provided by payment processing companies, but don’t require you to do any coding or complicated setups – you don’t even need a website to use payment links.

Airwallex's payment links offer global businesses a versatile solution to collect payments through cards and over 160 other methods globally in multiple currencies.

Airwallex also has a set of financial tools that let businesses open accounts in many currencies, make transfers across borders, give out company and employee cards, and manage card expenses, reimbursements, and bill payments all on one financial solution.

How to create and maintain high-converting payment links

If you want to learn how to create high-converting payment links, you’re in the right place. Here is some best practice advice from a payment processor’s perspective.

1. Choose a trusted payment provider – A regulated, familiar name in the payments space will help customers trust your links and remove some friction from the process.

2. Clear descriptions and transparent pricing – Don’t leave things to chance or inference. Make sure the details on your payment page spare no detail and are easy to understand.

3. Customise branding to build trust – Payment links can point to your processor’s generic payment page or a more customised, branded version that reflects your brand. That kind of consistency is a boon to consistency, familiarity, and trustworthiness.

4. Enable multi-currency and local methods – Digital wallets, the major card providers, and preferred local methods for your customers’ locations.

5. Optimise for mobile and social sharing – “Mobile phones dominate global digital commerce website visits and contribute to the largest share of online orders”, according to Statista’s Team Lead for eCommerce. Optimising for mobile is now essential, not an afterthought.

6. Track conversions and refine over time – Conversions are changeable and irrational. Things that ‘should’ work don’t move the needle and counterintuitive ideas create meaningful changes. Sometimes, nothing works. Other times, things change without you doing anything. It’s a complex task that you can never set and forget.

Benefits of using Airwallex for payment links

While there are many payment processors available, Airwallex stands out by making it simple for UK businesses to create, customise, and track payment links. Links like that get you paid faster and more efficiently throughout your business journey.

With payment links, it’s in the finer details that providers stand out from the crowd – and we’ve made those finer details as fine as can be. With Airwallex, you get payment links that:

• Are simple to create, edit, and customise

• Work for one-off and recurring payments

• Accept 160+ payment methods and 130+ currencies

• Are mobile-first, secure, and FCA regulated

• Come with integrated reporting and analytics

You also get access to our wider payments technology, so you can use features like checkouts, eCom integrations, subscription billing, and much more. Or you can build your own completely customised payment infrastructure using our API.

​​Learn how to set up online payments with Airwallex

Example of businesses using payment links successfully

It’s all well and good talking about how useful payment links are, but seeing is believing. Here’s an example of how Village Cricket Co. used payment links to speed up how quickly they got paid. 

Freddie Chatt runs eCommerce site Village Cricket Co., as well as an eCommerce consulting business. He started using payment links because “I was getting frustrated with the usual invoice-and-wait cycle. I'd send over a proposal or complete a project milestone, then do my admin and hope the client would pay within terms. My average time-to-payment has reduced significantly since using payment links.”

“There's something psychological about a payment link, it's so frictionless that clients tend to just pay there and then, rather than letting it sit in their inbox for a week. Cash flow is everything and payment links have genuinely improved mine.”

Why payment links are valuable for UK businesses

Payment links are another way to get paid among several others, but there are some factors that make them uniquely appealing to different businesses.

Fast and easy setup

No website, coding, or faffing required: A payment link is one of the most straightforward ways you can get paid.

A card machine requires hardware, software, and integrations across platforms. Cash requires handling, reconciling, and depositing. Bank transfers can be clunky and one misplaced digit can cause issues.

A payment link gets you paid in the space of a few taps, clicks, or swipes.

Perfect for certain businesses and sectors

Any business that bills predominantly via invoices stands to benefit from using payment links. A payment link, embedded in each invoice, makes it as easy as possible for customers to pay you – reducing friction and maximising efficiency.

For retail businesses (eCommerce and bricks and mortar), payment links create new avenues for customer acquisition. Let’s look at a few examples in this next section.

There are use cases for lots of other industries, too, including as part of your SaaS pricing strategy.

Enables payments via multiple channels (social, email, SMS)

There are plenty of ways a retailer can use payment links to integrate new channels into their sales strategy. Just a few examples:

• Integrating a payment link into an abandoned cart text.

• Following up a customer enquiry on social media with a link to purchase a product .

• Answering an in-stock enquiry over the phone, then sending a payment link on confirmation.

Convenient for customers across mobile and desktop

As we touched upon already, links make it as easy as possible for your customers to pay you. They don’t have to remember their card number, copy your bank account details, or do anything other than click/tap a few buttons.

The flexibility of payment links and their delivery means it’s just as easy for you to get paid on-the-go as any other time. It also means customers can pay via the medium they’re most comfortable with – some customers feel more secure making purchases from their laptop, for example.

What makes a payment link convert (vs. fail)?

A payment link alone won’t help your chances of getting paid. There are optimisations you need to prioritise to ensure your links convert. Check the table below for some ideas of important areas of focus. For every optimisation we list, the opposite is generally a risk of failure.

Compliance and security considerations in the UK

Any kind of payment infrastructure you add to your business needs to meet high standards for security. You and your processor have a duty of care towards customers’ data – their card and bank details are some of the most valuable they can share with you.

Without wanting to get too technical, you should make sure your payment processor can evidence the following:

• FCA license and regulation (check their official register)

• PSD2 compliance (the EU’s security, competition, and consumer protection directive for payments)

• Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)/multi-factor authentication (MFA)

• Card processing that’s compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

• GDPR and data

  privacy policies

Any provider that can offer these assurances will be worth considering. You’ll need to make your own assurances and work with your compliance, technical, and legal teams to make sure any product you choose is suitable.

Get started with payment links

Getting paid is the most important part of running a business. Any steps that make it quicker, more efficient, and more likely are worth taking.

Payment links aren’t right for every business, but they’re so quick to set up and demonstrably effective, you’ve every reason to try them out.

Choose Airwallex, and you’ll unlock a powerful payments engine that helps your business get paid faster and with less hassle. With that sorted, you can focus on growth. Plus, with your Airwallex plan, you’ll get access to our business accounts, low-cost FX, spend management, and embedded finance products.

Book an Airwallex demo

FAQs

How do payment links work?

Payment links are a safe and easy way for businesses to get paid. Using a payment gateway like Airwallex, the business can generate a unique link that points their customer to a secure checkout page – preloaded with the products/services they want to buy.

They’re safe and secure, as well as being incredibly simple and efficient.

What does it cost to set up a payment link?

We don’t charge a fee for setting up payment links. You will pay our standard fee for the payment method used – for example, debit card payments cost 1.30% + 0.20 GBP with Airwallex.

What is the difference between a payment link, a checkout button, and an invoice?

A payment link is a unique URL that directs a customer to a payment page where they can complete a transaction. It's a flexible option that can be shared through email, messaging apps, or even social media.

A checkout button, on the other hand, is embedded directly within a merchant's website or app. This makes it easy for your customers to pay quickly and easily when they shop online. 

Lastly, an invoice is a detailed document issued by the seller to the buyer, listing the products or services provided along with quantities, prices, terms, and payment details. Invoices often facilitate payment through direct bank transfers or cheque payments.

Using Airwallex, businesses can directly embed Payment Links into their invoices via Xero, Quickbooks, and Netsuite, automating reconciliation when they’re being paid.

Why should I use payment links instead of checkout?

Payment links aren’t meant to replace your checkout; they’re a helpful extra way to get paid. There are lots of times when payment links are useful – for example, pre-filling an order for a customer who contacted you on social media or helping an in-person customer who forgot their card and doesn’t use digital wallets.

Can B2B businesses use payment links?

Definitely. Payment links can be integrated directly into your invoices, so a client only needs to open their invoice and tap the payment link to pay their bill. It’s a quick and easy option for both of you.