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Pay by Link

Create and share payment links using Adyen to collect payments without a full checkout. Learn how to generate links, handle customer payments, and process results securely using webhooks.

Pay by Link allows you to generate a payment link that you can share with a customer, enabling them to complete a payment without requiring a full checkout integration.

This is useful for:

  • Email or SMS payments

  • Customer support or back-office payments

  • Invoices or manual payment requests

How it works

  1. Your backend creates a payment link via Adyen

  2. You send the link to the customer

  3. The customer opens the link and completes the payment on a hosted page

  4. Adyen processes the payment

  5. You receive the result via webhooks

When to use Pay by Link

Use Pay by Link when:

  • You do not control the frontend checkout

  • You need a quick way to collect payments

  • Payments are initiated outside a standard e-commerce flow

Create a payment link

To generate a payment link, call Adyen's Pay by Link API.

Example request (pseudocode):

POST /paymentLinks

{
  "merchantAccount": "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
  "amount": { "currency": "EUR", "value": 1000 },
  "reference": "ORDER-12345",
  "shopperEmail": "[email protected]",
  "returnUrl": "https://yourdomain.com/return",
  "store": "YOUR_STORE_ID"
}

Important fields:

  • merchantAccount: your Adyen merchant account

  • amount: payment amount

  • reference: your internal order reference

  • store: required for Valpay integrations

  • returnUrl: where the customer is redirected after payment

Adyen returns a hosted payment URL, which you share with your customer:

{
  "url": "https://pay.adyen.link/xyz123"
}

Customer experience

  • The customer opens the link

  • A secure Adyen-hosted payment page is displayed

  • Available payment methods are shown

  • The customer completes the payment

  • They are redirected back to your returnUrl

Apple Pay and Google Pay on payment links

If you offer Apple Pay or Google Pay on payment links, the wallet must be approved for the Adyen payment link domain (for example eu.adyen.link or au.adyen.link), because that is where the shopper pays, not on your own site.

  • Apple Pay: the link domain must be registered for Apple Pay on the acquirer account. Valpay arranges this. See Apple Pay.

  • Google Pay: the link domain must be approved in your Google Pay and Wallet Console, with the integration type Gateway and checkout screenshots, for each domain. See Google Pay.

If a wallet does not appear or fails on a payment link, confirm the link domain is registered or approved before troubleshooting elsewhere.

Handling payment results

Like other Adyen integrations, the final payment status is not guaranteed from the redirect alone.

You must:

  • Implement webhooks

  • Listen for events such as AUTHORISATION

  • Update your system based on webhook data

Expiration and management

Payment links can:

  • Expire after a defined time

  • Be used once or multiple times (depending on configuration)

You can manage links via API to retrieve link status or cancel a link.

Testing

  • Use the Adyen test environment

  • Generate links using test credentials

  • Complete payments with test cards

Security considerations

  • Do not expose API keys when creating links

  • Only generate links from your backend

  • Treat links as sensitive, since they allow payment access

Adyen documentation

For full API details, see Adyen's Pay by Link documentation.

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