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Pay By Link

Create and send secure, customizable payment links that allow merchants to collect payments from customers via email or SMS. These links direct customers to a hosted payment page where they can complete transactions using their preferred payment methods, with options to tailor messaging, redirect URLs, and link validity for a seamless payment experience.

Overview

Pay By Link enables merchants to collect payments from customers by sending a secure payment link via email or SMS. The customer clicks the link, which opens a hosted payment page where they can complete the transaction using their preferred payment method. The transaction amount, message displayed to the user and optional redirects can be customized to tailor the customer experience.

This eliminates the need for merchants to build and maintain their own checkout pages or process sensitive card data, reducing PCI scope and operational complexity.

1

Merchant creates PayByLink session (via Portal or API)

A PayByLink session can be generated either manually via the TNS Merchant Portal, or via an API Integration for those with a software development team.

The below is an example of how a Pay By Link -

2

Customer Receives Link via Email, SMS or Both

The link will be received near real-time via the delivery method selected. The text included within the email and SMS can be customized.

3

Customer clicks link → TNS Hosted Payment Page opens

TNS Hosted Payment Page will be presented with your specific branding and logos.

4

Customer selects payment method and enters details

The customer will enter their credit card details to perform payment. Alternatively they can select one of the Alternative Payment Methods that TNS supports.

Here is an example where Credit Card & GooglePay have been enabled:

5

3DS2 Secure authentication (if applicable)

For Credit Card Transactions, 3DS2 Authentication can be enabled if required.

6

Payment processed

The payment will be processed according to the payment method the cardholder selected.

7

Customer will see the result message OR is redirected to merchant URL

Once completed, there are two options available depending on your preference.

Redirect the user to your webpage. A different landing page should be made available for Approved, Declined or Error Transaction results.
The TNS Hosted Payment Page can show a customized message to the customer. For example - Thank you for your payment.

Here is a sample of the transaction result page:

8

Merchant receives payment confirmation

The merchant can monitor transaction reports which TNS makes available for all merchants. Alternatively, you can have webhook events enabled, this delivers transaction results in near real-time to your backend server.

An example of the PayByLink Report can be seen below. You can also Resend the link if it has expired.

Key Features

Benefit

Description

No Website Required	Accept payments without having to writing code to integrate your website to perform payments
Reduced PCI Scope	Card data is handled entirely by the hosted payment page
Multi-Channel Delivery	Send links via email, SMS, or retrieve the URL directly. This can be also be turned into a QR Code
Customisable Branding	Control over logos, branding, and basic text/colors
Flexible Expiry	Links can be configured to expire after minutes or days
Digital Wallet Support	Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal available on the payment page
3DS2 for secure fraud protection	Optional built into the form to provide strong customer authentication to combat fraud
Optional Card Storage	Optional tokenization for future transactions

Use Cases

Call Centre / Phone Orders

Send a payment link during or after a phone call instead of taking card details verbally (MOTO). Reduces fraud risk and PCI compliance burden.

Email Invoicing

Embed a payment link directly in digital invoices for immediate payment collection.

Social Media / Messaging

Share links via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or any messaging platform to enable conversational commerce.

In-Store Hybrid

Accept a deposit in-store, then follow up with a Pay By Link for the remaining balance.

Recurring Payment Setup

Use the initial Pay By Link transaction to tokenize a card, then process future recurring payments using the stored token.

Ad-hoc Charges

Quickly generate a link which can be shared to your customers for any purpose your business requires

Supported Features

Delivery Methods

Email

Link sent via email to the customer's email address

SMS

Link sent via SMS to the customer's phone number

QR

Turn the link into a QR code to accept payments from a users mobile device

Digital Wallets

ApplePay & GooglePay

Ability to enable ApplePay & GooglePay eCommere methonds to the customer

PayPal

PayPal can be enabled on the page, allowing seamless integration and acceptance

Additional APM's

TNS has access to hundreds of APM's globally. If there is a specific APM which within your region that you would like to accept, please contact the TNS Sales team.

Link Expiry

PayByLink sessions can have a specific expiry duration, depending on your business needs.

Title

Description

Unit	Description
`Minute`	Link expires after specified number of minutes (e.g., 20 minutes)
`Day`	Link expires after specified number of days

Display & Branding Configuration

The payment page appearance is fully customisable:

Title

Description

Element	Description
Header Text	Custom text displayed at the top of the page
Logo URL	Merchant logo displayed on the payment page
Page Title	Browser tab/page title
Footer Text	Custom text in the footer area
Pay Button Label	Custom label for the payment button
Cancel Button Label	Custom label for the cancel/back button

Result Messages

Custom messages displayed to the customer after payment completion. These will only be displayed if you do not support Redirect URL's to your own website.

Title

Description

Scenario	Configurable Message (examples)
Approved	"Transaction is Approved. Contact Merchant for more details"
Declined	"Transaction is Declined. Contact Merchant for more details"
Error	"Transaction Error. Contact Merchant for more details"
Link Expired	"Link Expired. Contact Customer Care"

Redirect URLs

After payment completion, customers can optionally be redirected to merchant-controlled URLs:

Title

Purpose

`approvedUrl`	Customer redirected here on successful payment
`declinedUrl`	Customer redirected here if payment is declined
`errorUrl`	Customer redirected here on payment error
`cancelUrl`	Customer redirected here if they cancel the payment

When a redirect occurs to your website after a user had attempted to pay, additional parameters will be included in the redirect url. The parameters included in the URL redirect include:

Parameter

Description

status	The status of the transaction. e.g. approved, declined
event	The callback event that occured after processing the transaction
sessionId	The session id for the PayByLink Session
transactionId	The transactionId returned for the transaction
dateTime	The date/time in which the transaction was performed
referenceId	merchantReference passed while creating pay by link session

Note: URLs can be configured by TNS as part of your setup which will take precedance over those supplied in your PayByLink Session

Metadata

Merchants can optionally attach custom key-value metadata to each payment link for reconciliation and tracking purposes. This information can then be enabled in the Merchant Portal for reporting purposes.

One or more custom key-value pairs can be associated with a transaction.

JSON

"metadata": [
    {
        "name": "Order",
        "value": "product"
    }
]

API Specification

API Endpoint

Description

https://checkout.uat.pay.tnsi.com/v1/session/paybylink/create

UAT

Pre-production

https://checkout.ap.paymentgateway.tnsi.com/v1/session/paybylink/create

LIVE - Production

Asia Pacific

https://checkout.eu.paymentgateway.tnsi.com/v1/session/paybylink/create

LIVE - Production

Europe

https://checkout.us.paymentgateway.tnsi.com/v1/session/paybylink/create

LIVE - Production

North America

Sample

merchantIdstring

The unique identifier assigned to the merchant within the payment system.

sessionModestring

Specifies the intended action or context for the payment session, such as authorization or capture.

transactionInitiatorstring

Identifies the party that initiated the transaction, providing context for transaction processing.

currencystring

The ISO 4217 currency code specifying the transaction currency, such as "AUD" for Australian Dollar, "USD" for US Dollar, or "GBP" for British Pound. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217 for all supported currencies.

amountstring

The monetary amount to be processed in the transaction (decimal value e.g.15.00)

merchantReferencestring

A merchant-provided reference string used for transaction identification or reporting.

sendLinkBystring

Specifies the delivery method for sending the Pay by Link to the recipient, such as email or SMS.

emailstring

The email address where the Pay by Link will be sent if email delivery is selected.

countryCodestring

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code used specifically for SMS delivery routing.

phoneNumberstring

The mobile phone number where the Pay by Link will be sent via SMS.

cardAuthenticationModestring

Specifies the card authentication method to be used, such as 3DS2 (3-D Secure 2) or AVS (Address Verification Service).

redirectUrlsobject

Show child attributes

validForobject

Show child attributes

countrystring

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code representing the cardholder’s country. For example, use "AU" for Australia, "US" for United States, or "GB" for United Kingdom. Refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_3166_country_codes for all supported codes.

metadataarray

Show child attributes

cardBrandsarray

Show child attributes

displayConfigobject

Show child attributes

billingAddressobject

Show child attributes

allowToSaveCardboolean

Boolean flag indicating whether users can save their card details for future transactions.

timeoutMinutesnumber

Duration in minutes before the payment link expires and becomes invalid.

{
  "merchantId": "*****",
  "sessionMode": "PERFORM_TRANSACTION",
  "transactionInitiator": "CARDHOLDER",
  "currency": "USD",
  "amount": "",
  "merchantReference": "INVOICE_1",
  "sendLinkBy": "",
  "email": "example@gmail.com",
  "countryCode": "1",
  "phoneNumber": "**********",
  "cardAuthenticationMode": "NONE",
  "redirectUrls": {
    "approvedUrl": "https://www.example.com",
    "declinedUrl": "https://www.example.com",
    "errorUrl": "https://www.example.com",
    "cancelUrl": "https://www.example.com"
  },
  "validFor": {
    "value": 1,
    "unit": "Day"
  },
  "country": "US",
  "metadata": [
    {
      "name": "Order",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ],
  "cardBrands": [
    {
      "card": "VISA",
      "showLogo": true,
      "surchargePercentage": "0.00"
    },
    {
      "card": "MASTERCARD",
      "showLogo": true,
      "surchargeAmount": "0.00"
    },
    {
      "card": "AMEX",
      "surchargePercentage": "0.00"
    }
  ],
  "displayConfig": {
    "theme": "tns",
    "headerText": "Welcome to the Example Store",
    "logoUrl": "https://tnsi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/brand.svg",
    "pageTitle": "Pay by Link",
    "backToCartButtonLabel": "Cancel",
    "showCart": false,
    "showAmounts": true,
    "showBasketIcon": false,
    "showFooterBar": true,
    "footerText": "This is a sample footer message",
    "showPayButton": true,
    "payButtonLabel": "Pay",
    "cancelButtonLabel": "Cancel",
    "googlePay": "button",
    "applePay": "button",
    "paypal": "button",
    "customCss": null,
    "approvedMessage": "Transaction is Approved. Contact Merchant for more details",
    "declinedMessage": "Transaction is Declined. Contact Merchant for more details",
    "errorMessage": "Transaction Error. Contact Merchant for more details",
    "linkExpiredMessage": "Link Expired. Contact Customer Care"
  },
  "billingAddress": {
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "addressLine1": "Street Line 1",
    "city": "San Jose",
    "state": "CA",
    "phone": "********",
    "email": "john.smith@gmail.com",
    "zipCode": "95234",
    "country": "USA"
  },
  "allowToSaveCard": true,
  "timeoutMinutes": 10
}

Sections

Pay By Link

Overview

1

Merchant creates PayByLink session (via Portal or API)

2

Customer Receives Link via Email, SMS or Both

3

Customer clicks link → TNS Hosted Payment Page opens

4

Customer selects payment method and enters details

5

3DS2 Secure authentication (if applicable)

6

Payment processed

7

Customer will see the result message OR is redirected to merchant URL

8

Merchant receives payment confirmation

Key Features

Use Cases

Call Centre / Phone Orders

Email Invoicing

Social Media / Messaging

In-Store Hybrid

Recurring Payment Setup

Ad-hoc Charges

Supported Features

Delivery Methods

Email

SMS

QR

Digital Wallets

ApplePay & GooglePay

PayPal

Additional APM's

Link Expiry

Display & Branding Configuration

Result Messages

Redirect URLs

Metadata

API Specification

SampleExpand all

Sample