Today, India’s online payment system is fast, convenient, and secure, making everything from shopping to recharge transactions fun and easy. While several businesses integrate their website or smartphone application with a payment gateway, doing so is not always feasible for small businesses, startups, and home-based sellers – which is where payment links come into play.
A payment link is one of the most secure and fastest ways to sell anywhere, anytime while also receiving payments instantly. It is a great alternative for businesses that don’t have a website but still wish to boost their sales and revenue. Plus, it is even more convenient for customers as they don’t have to visit multiple web pages, especially third-party ones, to complete the transaction.
Now, let’s take an in-depth look at payment links and how they work.
The Basics of Payment Links
As the name implies, a payment link is a URL (or QR code) that redirects customers to a stand-alone web page to checkout and complete the transaction. The amount is to be specified by the merchant while generating the payment link, which can then be shared with customers over email, SMS, WhatsApp, and even social media platforms.
For instance, if you sell men’s clothing items like shirts, pants, tee-shirts, and shorts, you can create an individual payment link for each product type if they have the same price range.
Here’s how the entire process works:
- First, the merchant generates a payment link by adding information, including the amount.
- The generated link is then to be shared with the customer over any communication channel, be it SMS or email.
- Next, the customer opens the link, which redirects to a secure payment web page.
- The customer completes the transaction with a preferred payment method like UPI, wallet, debit card, credit card, or net banking.
- Lastly, the merchant instantly receives the amount into their bank account and notification on successful completion of the transaction.
What are the Benefits of Using Payment Links?
If you’re wondering if using payment links has any benefits for businesses and merchants, here are some worth considering:
Easy Online Payments – Even if your business does not have an e-commerce website, you can continue to sell virtually through other platforms. And payment links make collecting online payments convenient and easy. Plus, you don’t need to set up a digital infrastructure and you can even eliminate COD payments.
Cost-Effectiveness – A noteworthy advantage of payment links, especially for small businesses, is that they are quite cost-effective. This is because you won’t have to invest in a POS terminal or other physical devices for collecting payments. Moreover, you can even save time and manpower.
Maximum Security – If you are under the impression that payment links are not secure, that is not the case. Instead, the transaction is carried out via secure payment gateways. This reduces the chances of online scams and also keeps customers’ banking details protected from malware and cyber threats.
Higher Customer Satisfaction – Today, most people prefer making online payments for all types of goods and services because it is hassle-free. So, offering the same ease and convenience to your customers will lead to increased satisfaction, which will further help you boost sales and revenue.
Choose Razorpay as Your Payment Link Provider
Although generating a payment link is quick and easy, choosing a reliable provider like Razorpay is essential. By installing the Razorpay mobile application, you can create links and accept payments in just 3 simple steps. What more? You can issue refunds with a single click and track payments even when you’re on the go.
Plus, you can even set up automated reminders and the onboarding process is pretty straightforward as all you need to provide is a few documents.
Visit the Razorpay website to find out more!
