Payment links
Payment link generation allows sales and marketing teams to collect funds instantly across social platforms and messaging apps. Merchants create no-code payment links directly within the Cardflo dashboard, turning conversations into immediate revenue opportunities through a global acquirer partner network.
- Category
- Checkout
- Capabilities
- 6
- Available on
- All plans
Sales and marketing teams operating across social platforms and messaging applications require immediate checkout options that bypass traditional store infrastructure. Engaging a customer in a chat environment demands a quick transition to a secure checkout, as redirecting buyers to navigate a full website catalogue often results in abandoned purchases.
Cardflo provides dashboard tools to create payment link campaigns instantly, bypassing developer requirements entirely. The merchant inputs the transaction amount and currency, generates a unique URL and shares it directly with the buyer. Each transaction routes through our acquirer partner network, capturing funds while updating reporting in real time.
Cardflo's payment links offer a secure and efficient way to process remote payments, even without a dedicated website, including for MOTO orders. This provides a flexible solution for sales teams, accelerating payment collection and improving cash flow.
Payment links overview
Marketing teams increasingly rely on social channels and direct messaging to drive impulse purchases, necessitating immediate checkout solutions that operate independently of a main storefront. The Cardflo dashboard allows staff to manually generate a shareable payment url and specify exact order amounts without requiring technical intervention.
Merchants can dispatch these secure links via email, text message or social media platforms to convert conversational leads instantly.
This dashboard-driven approach focuses strictly on manual link generation for ad hoc sales and marketing campaigns, whereas merchants seeking programmatic API link creation should evaluate the pay by link solution, and those needing website checkout components or bespoke API development must review embedded checkout or custom checkout capabilities.
Every generated URL routes transactions through multiple regulated acquirer partners, ensuring high authorisation rates across different regions and card schemes while maintaining consolidated reporting capabilities.
How payment links works
Input transaction parameters
The merchant logs into the secure Cardflo portal and navigates to the manual payment generation tab. Staff define the specific transaction details by inputting the required currency, total amount and an optional reference code. Users can also configure link expiration parameters at this stage to ensure that promotional offers or flash sale prices remain valid only for a predetermined window.
Generate and share the URL
Upon confirming the transaction variables, the dashboard generates a unique, encrypted web address. The sales agent copies this shareable payment url and drops it directly into a live chat window, a direct message or an email thread with the prospective buyer. The system requires no technical deployment, allowing commercial teams to bypass development queues and engage customers in real time.
Authorise and route the payment
The buyer clicks the link and lands on a secure page hosted by Cardflo to enter their card or wallet details. Once submitted, the transaction undergoes immediate fraud screening before passing through our multi-acquirer routing engine. The system directs the payment to the optimal acquirer partner based on the currency and location, finalising the transaction and updating the dashboard status.
Why payment links matters
Capitalising on conversational commerce
Social media interactions often generate high commercial intent that dissipates quickly if the buyer must independently navigate to a web store. Providing a direct route to a secure checkout within the messaging environment captures this immediate intent. Merchants eliminate the friction of product searches and cart creation, directly converting social engagement into completed sales.
Removing developer resource constraints
Launching new sales channels usually demands significant technical investment to build and maintain checkout flows. Creating manual links through a central dashboard allows commercial teams to deploy promotional campaigns immediately. This operational autonomy accelerates time to market for marketing initiatives while freeing technical staff to focus on core platform infrastructure.
Regulatory notes for payment links
3DS2 for social commerce links
Under European and UK payment directives, merchants must apply Strong Customer Authentication across the majority of electronic transactions to mitigate fraud risks.
Links generated via the Cardflo dashboard natively support these regulatory mandates by routing buyers to a secure, compliant environment capable of executing 3D Secure 2 protocols.
When the buyer enters their card details, the system dynamically assesses the transaction risk and prompts the cardholder for biometric or password verification if requested by the issuing bank.
This automated compliance protects merchants from liability shifts while ensuring that legitimate social commerce sales proceed without unnecessary friction.
Keeping messaging channels outside PCI DSS
Handling raw card data exposes merchants to strict compliance audits under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
Generating manual payment links shifts this regulatory burden entirely, as the merchant never captures, stores or transmits sensitive cardholder information across their own network infrastructure or messaging applications.
The buyer inputs their payment details directly into a secure, hosted environment managed by Cardflo and processed by regulated acquirer partners.
This tokenisation process keeps the merchant's operational environment completely out of scope for complex security audits, allowing marketing teams to safely sell across unencrypted social channels.
Payment links use cases
Instagram drop reservations
Fashion brands taking reservations through Instagram direct messages need to collect payment quickly before limited colourways and sizes are allocated elsewhere. Sales teams generate a fixed-amount no-code payment link in the Cardflo dashboard, while an acquirer partner handles card authorisation and Cardflo records the completed transaction for order fulfilment.
Email basket recovery links
Retail teams following up an abandoned basket by email need a direct route back to payment without asking the shopper to rebuild the order. Staff generate a no-code payment link for the outstanding basket value, with Cardflo supporting secure checkout, transaction reporting and 3DS2 where required by the acquirer partner.
Made-to-order deposit collection
Furniture makers and bespoke studios agreeing specifications by email need to secure a deposit before purchasing materials or scheduling production. Finance teams create a fixed-amount payment link from the Cardflo dashboard, and Cardflo routes the card transaction to an acquirer partner while keeping a clear payment reference for fulfilment records.
Pop-up QR code sales
Brand teams selling samples or campaign merchandise at pop-up events need a card payment option without installing a till at each temporary location. Staff generate a dashboard payment link, present its QR code on signage, and use Cardflo reporting to identify paid orders before handing goods to attendees.
Payment links by the numbers
Authorisation speeds typically fall within this range depending on the issuer's response time and the network latency between the gateway and the acquirer.
Merchants often observe an increase in successful settlements when moving from manual bank transfers to direct payment links due to reduced friction.
Industry data suggests that utilising 3DS-enabled links significantly reduces successful unauthorised transactions compared to non-authenticated MOTO or manual entry methods.
Methodology: these figures are illustrative ranges drawn from published industry data and observed merchant cohorts, not guarantees. Actual results depend on your risk profile, card mix, geography and acquiring setup, and are confirmed only in your own pricing and approval terms.
Related terms
Talk to our team about a live rollout across our acquirer partners' rails.
What you get with Payment links
- Sales agents can create a dashboard generated checkout instantly to capture impulse buys on social channels.
- Marketing teams embed single-use links into abandoned cart recovery emails to secure outstanding retail purchases.
- Retail staff display static QR codes for specific promotions to initiate contactless payments via mobile devices.
- Administrators enforce link expiry times to limit exposure and control valid periods for flash sale discounts.
- The dashboard provides immediate confirmation statuses when a customer successfully completes a social media payment link.
- Regional routing rules direct traffic from international buyers to the most suitable regulated acquirer partners automatically.
A short scoping call, then a written plan for your MIDs.
Questions about Payment links
Can we restrict how long a payment link remains active?
Merchants can configure strict expiration parameters when they create a payment link within the Cardflo dashboard. Staff set exact dates and times for the URL to expire, ensuring that limited-time promotional pricing or flash sale inventory cannot be purchased after the event concludes.
Once the designated time passes, any customer attempting to click the link encounters a customisable expiry notification rather than a payment form. This control prevents late purchases on out-of-stock items and helps marketing teams enforce genuine urgency during time-bound sales campaigns.
How do we track which links have been paid?
The Cardflo dashboard monitors the status of every generated link in real time. Finance and sales teams can filter the interface to view pending, completed or expired transactions alongside their unique reference codes.
When a buyer successfully completes a transaction via a social media payment link, the dashboard instantly updates the status to reflect the captured funds.
Merchants can also export this data for reconciliation, ensuring exact matching between specific customer conversations, issued links and settled funds across the acquirer partner network.
Do these manual links support digital wallets?
Customers clicking a shared URL can access a full range of payment methods, including major credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay.
The exact methods presented on the final page depend on the merchant's configured routing rules and the buyer's device.
By offering digital wallets, merchants eliminate the need for buyers to manually enter card details on their mobile devices, significantly reducing drop-off rates when completing purchases directly from social media applications or chat windows.
Which currencies can we select when creating a link?
Staff can generate links in any currency supported by the merchant's underlying acquirer partners. During the creation process within the dashboard, the user simply selects the appropriate currency from a dropdown menu and inputs the corresponding value.
Cardflo then routes the transaction to the most suitable regional acquirer partner for that specific currency and card type. This allows merchants to confidently sell to an international audience over email or social media without worrying about foreign exchange rejections at the gateway level.
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