Pay by Link: The Feature That Turns Every Phone Call Into a Sale

Pay by Link: The Feature That Turns Every Phone Call Into a Sale

A customer rings your shop. They want the item. You have it in stock. The price is right. Then comes the pause: "Can I pay over the phone?"

You either scramble for a card machine that does phone payments, read out your bank details and hope they actually transfer the money, or watch the sale evaporate entirely while the customer says they will "pop in later" and never does.

This is not a rare edge case. According to research by Mastercard, remote and card-not-present transactions now account for more than half of all card spending in the UK. Customers expect to pay from wherever they are, in whatever way suits them. If your checkout experience does not meet them there, someone else's will.

Pay by link is the fix. It is simpler than it sounds, and if you are not using it, you are likely losing sales every single week.

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What Pay by Link Actually Is (In Plain English)

A payment link is a unique URL that you generate and send to a customer. They click it, land on a secure payment page, enter their card details or tap Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the money comes to you. The whole thing takes under a minute on their end.

You can send the link via WhatsApp, SMS, email, or paste it directly into a chat. There is no app for the customer to download. No account to create. No back-and-forth. Just a link, a tap, and a payment.

From the merchant's side, you generate the link yourself, often in seconds, from your terminal, your app, or an online portal, set the amount, optionally set an expiry date, and send it. When the customer pays, you get notified. The funds settle like any other card payment.

It is genuinely one of those features that, once you have used it, you wonder how you ever managed without it.

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Where Pay by Link Actually Earns Its Keep

Before we get into who offers what, it helps to understand the full range of situations where this matters. Because it is not just about phone calls.

Phone and WhatsApp sales. A customer calls a camera shop, a florist, a furniture maker. They want to pay now, before they lose the impulse or someone else gets there first. A payment link sent to their phone closes the deal in under two minutes.

Deposits and booking fees. A wedding photographer, a catering company, a bespoke tailor. You confirm the booking in conversation, then send a link for the deposit immediately while the customer is still warm. No chasing invoices a week later.

Invoice follow-ups. You send an invoice by email. You can embed a payment link directly in it. The customer does not need to log in anywhere or set up a standing order. They just click and pay.

Market traders and pop-up sellers. You sell at a market, you have no fixed premises, your customer saw you on Instagram and wants to buy but is not near you. A link in your DMs sorts it.

Trade customers. A builder rings to order materials. They cannot come in. A link sent to their email and it is done.

In every one of these scenarios, the alternative is worse: bank transfers that take time to verify, manual card-over-phone processes that carry higher fraud risk and compliance requirements, or simply losing the sale.

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How Teya Handles Pay by Link

Teya includes pay by link as a standard feature. There is no separate product to activate, no additional monthly fee, and no specialist onboarding.

You can generate a payment link from three places:

1. Your Teya card terminal directly, without touching a phone or computer
2. The Teya app on your smartphone
3. The Teya merchant portal on any browser

The link supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and standard card entry. You can set a custom expiry date, which matters more than it sounds: if you are sending a quote with a deadline, you can set the link to expire when the quote does. No awkward conversations about whether a price is still valid.

The transaction rate is Teya's standard card rate. There is no surcharge for pay by link being a card-not-present transaction versus an in-person tap. That distinction matters, and we will come back to it.

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What the Major Competitors Offer (Honestly)

Let us go through the main alternatives that UK small businesses typically consider.

SumUp

SumUp does offer payment links. They call it "Pay by Link" and it is available through their dashboard. The link can be shared via email, WhatsApp, or SMS. Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported on the payment page.

Here is the honest catch: SumUp charges a higher transaction rate for payment links than for in-person payments. In-person transactions on their standard plan are processed at 1.69%. Payment links are charged at 2.5%. For a £500 transaction, that is a difference of £4.05 in fees: £8.45 rather than £8.45. On a £2,000 deposit for a kitchen installation, the gap becomes £16.20.

If you use payment links regularly, that rate differential accumulates. SumUp has the feature. The pricing is the meaningful variable.

Square

Square supports payment links through its online store and checkout infrastructure. The functionality works, the interface is clean, and links can be sent via any channel.

The important context: Square's UK payment link offering sits within its broader e-commerce ecosystem. The standard rate for online and remote payments in the UK is 1.9% per transaction. The experience is more oriented towards businesses that are already running an online shop and are adding payment links as part of that.

For a pure bricks-and-mortar merchant who simply wants to send the occasional link without building out an online presence, the setup overhead is higher than it needs to be. Square does the job. It just carries more infrastructure around it than some merchants need.

Zettle by PayPal

Zettle does not offer a native pay by link feature for standard merchant accounts at the time of writing. Their product focus is firmly in-person: card readers, point-of-sale systems, and inventory management. For remote payment capability, merchants are directed towards PayPal invoicing or PayPal payment buttons, which operate under PayPal's fee structure (typically 2.99% plus 30p per transaction for PayPal payments).

If you are a Zettle user who regularly needs to take remote payments, you are essentially running two separate systems with two separate fee structures. That is manageable, but it is not seamless.

Worldpay

Worldpay does offer payment link functionality, but it operates as a distinct product rather than a native feature of their standard card reader offering. For many small merchants, Worldpay's pay by link is bundled into their Paybylink product or Virtual Terminal service, which typically requires separate activation and, depending on the contract, separate pricing.

Worldpay's strength is enterprise scale. Their SME offering is functional but often comes with the complexity and contract terms associated with a large institutional provider. Small merchants report that accessing remote payment features can involve conversations with account managers and, in some cases, different monthly fees depending on how the account is structured.

If you are a larger merchant with dedicated account management, Worldpay can be configured to do exactly what you need. If you are a sole trader who just wants to send a WhatsApp link to a customer right now, the overhead may not suit you.

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A Side-by-Side Summary

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What This Means for Your Bottom Line: A Worked Example

Let us take a concrete scenario: you run a specialist outdoor and camping equipment shop in the UK. You have a loyal base of regular customers who call ahead to reserve items, particularly before long weekends. On average, you process 20 remote payments per month through payment links, with an average transaction value of £180.

That is £3,600 per month in remote payment volume.

With SumUp at 2.5%: £90 per month in remote payment fees.

With Square at 1.9%: £68.40 per month in remote payment fees.

With Teya at standard rate: Remote payments processed at the same rate as in-person payments. At a standard rate of 1.49% (based on Teya's published pricing for card-present transactions on qualifying plans), that is £53.64 per month.

Over a year, the difference between SumUp's pay by link rate and Teya's standard rate on this volume is £437.52. That is not a headline-grabbing number, but it is a camera lens, a season's worth of packaging supplies, or three months of a business insurance premium. For a business operating on tight margins, it is real money.

Note: Always verify current rates directly with each provider before making a decision, as pricing can change. The figures above are based on publicly available information at time of writing.

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The Practical Bit: How to Start Using It

If you are a Teya merchant and have not used pay by link yet, here is how to get started today.

From your terminal: Navigate to the payment link option in your terminal menu. Enter the amount. Generate the link. Share it.

From the Teya app: Open the app, select "Payment Link", set the amount and any expiry date, then share directly to WhatsApp, SMS, or email from your phone's sharing options.

From the portal: Log into your Teya merchant portal online. The payment link tool is available under your transactions and remote payments section. Useful if you want to generate several links at once or include them in email quotes.

A practical tip: if you regularly send quotes or proposals, build the payment link into your standard template. "To confirm your booking, please use this link by [date]:" followed by the link. It removes friction and the need for a follow-up call.

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The Bottom Line

Pay by link is not a luxury feature for large e-commerce operations. It is a basic commercial tool that every merchant who occasionally needs to take a payment remotely should have access to, without paying a premium for the privilege.

SumUp has the feature but charges more for it. Square has it but wraps it in e-commerce infrastructure that not everyone needs. Zettle does not have it natively. Worldpay has it but separates it from their standard offering.

Teya includes it, built into the tools you already have, at no additional rate premium, with the flexibility to generate from your terminal, your app, or your browser, and to send it wherever your customer already is.

The next time a customer calls, you should be able to close the sale before they hang up. That is not a complicated ask. The technology exists. The question is whether your current payment setup makes it as easy as it should be.

If the answer is no, that is worth a conversation.

Sources

1. Mastercard Economics Institute, 'E-commerce in the UK: the shift to card-not-present spending' (referenced for CNP transaction volume statistic): https://www.mastercardservices.com/en/reports-insights/economics-institute
2. SumUp UK pricing page, Pay by Link rate (2.5%) versus in-person rate (1.69%): https://sumup.co.uk/pricing/
3. Square UK pricing and online checkout documentation: https://squareup.com/gb/en/payments
4. Zettle by PayPal UK product pages, confirming absence of native pay by link and referral to PayPal invoicing: https://www.zettle.com/gb
5. Worldpay Pay by Link product information for UK merchants: https://www.worldpay.com/en-gb/small-business/features/pay-by-link
6. Teya merchant portal documentation and pay by link feature overview (internal product reference): https://teya.com/gb
7. UK Finance Payment Markets Summary 2023, for context on UK card payment volumes and remote transaction trends: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/system/files/2023-06/Payment%20Markets%20Summary%202023.pdf

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Disclaimer

The views and information shared in this post are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, Klipy UK Limited accepts no liability for decisions made based on this content. Payment processing rates, regulations, and product features referenced are subject to change. Klipy UK Limited (Co. No. 15984744) is an authorised Independent Sales Channel of Teya Solutions Ltd (FCA Ref. 978181). Where third-party sources are cited, links are provided for reference; Klipy UK does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of external content. For personalised guidance on your business payment needs, please contact us directly at support@klipy.uk.