Sending a payment link on WhatsApp is the fastest way to get paid for an order you have agreed in chat: create a link for the amount in your payment gateway, paste it into the conversation, and the customer pays by UPI or card without typing your UPI ID or the amount. The gateway tells you the moment the money lands, so there is no screenshot to check. This guide covers the three kinds of payment link on WhatsApp, the step-by-step for creating one in a gateway dashboard, the message to send with it, how to know it has been paid, and the cost and safety rules on both sides.
Three kinds of payment link
Not every link that collects money is the same, and the differences decide whether you get automatic confirmation.
| Type | How it works | Confirms to you automatically | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway payment link (Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, PhonePe and others) | You create a link for a fixed amount; the customer opens a hosted page and pays by UPI, card, netbanking or wallet | Yes, in the dashboard and by notification | Gateway's usual percentage per paid link | Advances, custom orders, catering, any agreed amount |
| UPI deep link | A upi:// link carrying your UPI ID and amount that opens the customer's UPI app | No; you check your own bank or app | Nothing | Small amounts from known customers, where you accept manual checking |
| Request money from a business app (PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay for Business) | You send a collect request to the customer's UPI ID; they approve it in their app | Yes, inside that app | Nothing | Customers who use the same app and know how to find requests |
UPI deep links are tempting because they are free, but they behave inconsistently: some phones open the app, some show a blank page, and WhatsApp on some devices does not treat them as tappable. Collect requests fail quietly when the customer never notices the request. For anything above a token amount, a gateway link is the reliable tool, and the rest of this guide uses it.
Step by step: creating a payment link in Razorpay
The steps are nearly identical in Cashfree, PayU and PhonePe; the menu names differ.
- Open the dashboard and go to Payment Links, then Create Payment Link.
- Enter the amount and a short description the customer will see on the payment page, such as "Advance for 2 kg chocolate cake, Sat 4pm".
- Add the customer's name and phone number. This ties the payment to the person and lets the gateway send its own SMS or email copy if you want one.
- Set an expiry. For an advance, a few hours or until end of day. An expired link cannot be paid late after you have given the slot to someone else.
- Create and copy the link. It is a short URL on the gateway's domain.
- Paste it into the WhatsApp chat with the message below. Send it from the business number the customer is already talking to.
- Watch the status. The link shows as paid in the dashboard the moment the customer completes it, and you get a notification if you have them switched on.
Before any of this, the gateway account has to be live, which takes a few days of KYC; the Razorpay setup guide lists the documents and the usual delays.
The message to send with the link
The link alone looks like spam. Three lines around it make it an invoice.
For an order agreed in chat
Order confirmed: 2 veg thali, 1 paneer tikka, delivery to Sector 12. Total ₹640 including delivery. Please pay here: [link]. The link is valid till 1pm; we start cooking once the payment shows on our side.
For an advance
To hold Saturday 4pm for your cake, please pay the ₹1,900 advance here: [link]. Valid till 8pm today. The balance of ₹1,900 is due at pickup.
Reminder, sent once
Your payment link for ₹640 is still open and expires at 1pm: [link]. If you would prefer cash on delivery, reply COD and we will switch it.
After payment
Received ₹640, thank you. Your order is being prepared and will reach you by around 1:30pm.
Two habits keep the conversation short. Always say the amount in the message, so the customer does not have to open the link to see it. And always say what happens next, whether that is "we start cooking" or "the slot is held". The templates in the advance payment guide extend these for catering and bulk orders.
Knowing it has been paid
This is the reason to use a gateway link at all. Confirmation arrives in three ways.
- The dashboard. The link's status flips from created to paid, with the payment ID, time and method.
- Notifications. An email or SMS to you per payment, if enabled. For a busy kitchen, route these to a manager's phone rather than the owner's.
- Your ordering system. If the gateway is connected to it, the order itself is marked paid and the kitchen sees it without anyone checking anything.
Whichever you use, the rule for staff is the same: the order is cooked when your own system shows paid, never when the customer's screen does. The fake payment screenshot post explains why a screenshot proves nothing and what a convincing fake looks like.
Costs and safety on both sides
What it costs you. A paid link carries the gateway's usual transaction fee, a percentage plus GST, as listed on the gateway's pricing page; check the page, because UPI and cards are often priced differently. Unpaid or expired links cost nothing. Some gateways charge a small amount for sending the link by SMS from their side, which you avoid by pasting it into WhatsApp yourself.
What the customer should check. The link opens on the gateway's own domain and shows your business name as the payee. Tell new customers this once ("the page will say Razorpay and show our name"), because people are rightly cautious about links.
What you should do. Send links only from the business number the customer is already chatting with, never from a personal number. Set an expiry on every link. Issue refunds from the dashboard rather than by sending money back manually, so the record stays in one place. And never confirm an order against a screenshot, even from a regular.
When a payment link is the wrong tool
A link is made one at a time, by a person. That is fine for ten or twenty a day and a bottleneck at a hundred. Three situations call for something else.
- Ordinary menu orders at volume. A checkout on your store page or inside a WhatsApp ordering bot takes the payment as part of the order, with no link to create. On Tezzu, for example, the ordering bot takes the order and sends the customer to pay by UPI or card through Razorpay, and the order shows as paid in the dashboard; cash on delivery stays available for customers who want it. The payment side of that setup is in Razorpay setup in Tezzu.
- Counter and door payments. A QR, static or dynamic, is faster than a link when the customer is standing in front of you.
- Payment inside WhatsApp itself. WhatsApp Pay lets some customers pay from within the chat without any link. It is not available to every customer, and the WhatsApp Pay post covers where it fits.
The UPI payments guide compares links, QR and checkout for each part of a restaurant's day.
Skip the link for everyday orders
If you are sending more than a handful of payment links a day, a store page and ordering bot with checkout built in will save the typing. The trial runs on your own WhatsApp number.
Start your free 7-day trialFrequently asked questions
Can I send a UPI payment link on WhatsApp without a payment gateway?
Yes, in two ways: a upi:// deep link containing your UPI ID and amount, or a collect request from a business app like PhonePe or Paytm. Both are free. Neither confirms the payment to your order system; you have to check your own bank app, and deep links open inconsistently across phones. For small amounts from regulars they work. For anything larger, a gateway link is more reliable.
Is it safe for customers to pay through a payment link on WhatsApp?
A gateway link opens a page on the gateway's own domain (for example a Razorpay address) showing the business name and amount, and the payment runs through the customer's own UPI app or bank. The risk is a fake link from an impersonator, so tell customers your links always come from your business number and always open on the gateway's domain, and never ask them to pay to a personal UPI ID.
Does Razorpay charge for payment links?
Creating a link is free; a paid link carries Razorpay's usual transaction fee, a percentage of the amount plus 18 percent GST on the fee, as listed on its website at the time of writing. Check the pricing page, because UPI and card rates differ. Sending the link through Razorpay's own SMS may carry a small extra charge, which pasting it into WhatsApp yourself avoids.
How long does a payment link stay valid?
As long as the expiry you set when creating it. Set one every time: a few hours for an advance that holds a slot, the end of the day for an ordinary order. An expired link cannot be paid, which protects you from a customer paying for a slot you have already given to someone else. You can always create a fresh link if they come back.