A comprehensive Guide to Custom Payment Links

The below examples are ways that you can use custom payment links to collect money from your customers. We have listed ways in which you can manipulate the URL's to suit your business use case. The examples cover 2 and 3 Types of Payment Links (Custom Payment Links and Pay-Any-Amount). Type 1 payments (Payment Requests) can be found on the Payment Requests page. 

Example 1: Create a persistent link for an existing customer to pay any amount at any time

Use cases:

• You need to provide a link to each customer where they can make contributions at any time.
• Accepting donations from specific customers

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/portal?externalid=[value]
https://[clienttoken].pad.live/portal?customerref=[value]
https://[clienttoken].pad.live/portal?bpayref=[value]

Explanation: These URLs allow you to generate a personalised payment page for existing customers where they can choose any payment amount. Each parameter serves a specific purpose:

• externalid: Use this to reference a customer by their ID in your system
• customerref: Use this to reference a customer by their unique reference number
• bpayref: Use this to reference a customer by their BPAY reference number

NOTE: The customer must already exist in Pay Advantage.

Example Scenario: If your client "ABC Company" has a token "abc123" and a customer with external ID "cust789", the URL would be:

https://abc123.pad.live/portal?externalid=cust789

When the customer visits this link, they'll see a payment portal pre-populated with their information where they can enter any payment amount they wish.

Example 2: Create a persistent link for a fixed amount and description for anyone to pay

Use cases:

• You have a product and you want to provide a link where anonymous people can sign up and pay for that product
• You want to provide a payment link on an invoice 

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/pay?paymentamount=90&paymentdescription=Purchase%20from%20ABC%20Corp

Explanation: This URL creates a payment page with a predetermined amount that anyone can use. It's ideal for specific products or services with fixed pricing.

• paymentamount: Sets the exact payment amount (in this case, 90 dollars)
• paymentdescription: Provides context for what the payment is for (appears on the payment page and receipt)

NOTE: The customer will be able to register themselves before making payment.

Example Scenario: For a business selling consultation sessions at $150 each:

https://abc123.pad.live/pay?paymentamount=150&paymentdescription=60-Minute%20Consultation%20Session

This creates a dedicated payment page where the amount is locked at $150, and customers only need to enter their payment information to complete the transaction.

Example 3: Create a persistent link for accepting a payment from anyone and any amount

Use cases:

• You accept payments for any amount at any time, such as church or school donations

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/portal

Explanation: This is the simplest URL format, providing access to your customer portal. It allows any visitor to make a payment of any amount without predefined parameters.

NOTE: The customer will be able to register themselves before making payment.

Example Scenario: A donation page for a nonprofit organization:

https://nonprofit123.pad.live/portal

Visitors can enter any donation amount they wish along with their details. This option provides maximum flexibility for both the payer and recipient.

Example 4: Create a persistent link that allows anyone to create a brand new customer BPAY code

Use cases:

• You want people to be able to register themselves as a customer and have a permanent BPAY code

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/pay

Explanation: This URL directs users to a payment page where they can enter their details to become a new customer. The system will automatically generate a new BPAY reference for them to use for current and future payments.

NOTE: The customer will be able to register themselves before making payment.

Example Scenario: For a utility company onboarding new customers:

https://utility456.pad.live/pay

New customers visit this page, enter their information, and receive a unique BPAY reference for making their first payment and any subsequent payments.

Example 5: Create a link to create a customer for a specific payment amount. Requesting the customer to enter their email and phone.

Use cases:

• You know the product and amount and name of the person purchasing the product
• You have an e-Commerce stores where you redirect to the payment portal for payment
• You have an invoice that has the customers details on it and you need the pay link added

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/pay?paymentamount=90&paymentdescription=Purchase%20from%20ABC%20Corp&firstname=John&lastname=Thomas

Explanation: This URL creates a pre-populated payment page with customer information and a fixed payment amount. If the customer already exists in your system (based on name matching), their existing record will be used.

• paymentamount: Sets the exact payment amount
• paymentdescription: Describes what the payment is for
• firstname: Pre-fills the customer's first name
• lastname: Pre-fills the customer's last name

Example Scenario: For a membership renewal fee of $75:

https://club789.pad.live/pay?paymentamount=75&paymentdescription=Annual%20Membership%20Renewal&firstname=Sarah&lastname=Johnson

When Sarah visits this link, with her name already filled in she'll first be asked to add her email and phone number before proceeding to the payment page with the exact amount due for her membership renewal.

Example 6: Create a link to either create or match a customer for a specific payment amount prompting for payment method immediately. 

Use cases:

• You know all the details of a customer and you want to send them a link to pay
• You don't know if the customer exists or not and you want the system to handle adding to an existing customer or creating a new one by itself
• You have an eCommerce stores where you redirect to the payment portal for payment
• You have an invoice that has the customers details on it and you need the pay link added

https://[clienttoken].pad.live/pay?paymentamount=90&paymentdescription=Purchase%20from%20ABC%20Corp&firstname=John&lastname=Thomas&phone=0400000000&email=jay@jay.com

Explanation: This comprehensive URL creates the most streamlined payment experience by pre-populating all customer details. With all information already provided, the customer is directed straight to the payment method selection screen.

• All previously mentioned parameters, plus:
• phone: Pre-fills the customer's phone number
• email: Pre-fills the customer's email address

Example Scenario: For an online course registration with a fee of $199:

https://academy101.pad.live/pay?paymentamount=199&paymentdescription=Advanced%20Marketing%20Course&firstname=Michael&lastname=Brown&phone=0412345678&email=michael@example.com

When Michael visits this link, all his personal information is already filled in, and he can immediately proceed to enter his payment details, creating the smoothest possible checkout experience.

Implementation Tips:

• Replace [clienttoken] with your actual client token provided by the payment system. This can be found in the business details section of the Pay Advantage Portal under the title Client Code.
• Use URL encoding for special characters in parameters (spaces become %20, etc.)
• Test your links thoroughly before sending them to customers
• Consider adding these links to emails, invoices, or your website for easy customer access