> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://ixopay.ferndocs.com/developer-hub/documentation/reference/features/pay-by-link/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://ixopay.ferndocs.com/_mcp/server.

# Pay-by-Link

IXOPAY's Pay-by-Link feature empowers you to create a secure URL for your customers to access a payment page. The payment page can be customized to ensure a seamless and branded payment experience. This document provides a comprehensive guide to using the Pay-by-Link feature.

> **Guide**
>
> For a detailed, step-by-step guide on integrating Pay-by-Link, refer to the [Pay-by-Link guide](https://documentation.ixopay.com/docs/guides/features/pay-by-link "Pay-by-Link guide") in our guides section.

> **Email Features**
>
> To utilize the email features of Pay By Link, please provide SMTP email server details to the Customer Success Team and request the *Pay By Link email permissions* be enabled. It is by design that Pay By Link emails will not be sent until these requirements have been met.

## Creating a Pay-by-Link

To create a Pay-by-Link, simply create a transaction request as you typically would, while adding the additional parameter `payByLink` and specifying whether the link should be sent via email with the `sendByEmail` flag.

**Important:** The `sendByEmail` field must be explicitly set to `true` or `false`. If this field is omitted, no Pay-by-Link will be created.

### Supported transaction types

A Pay-by-Link can be created using one of the following [transaction types](https://documentation.ixopay.com/docs/reference/concepts/transactions/types) at the *initial* stage:

* [Debit](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/transaction/debit)
* [Preauthorize](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/transaction/preauthorize)
* [Payout](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/transaction/payout)
* [Register](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/transaction/register)

### Email delivery

Setting `sendByEmail` to `true` will automatically send the link to the customer, provided that the `email` field has been specified for the customer. The email content itself can be customized. For more details, consult the [Pay-by-Link article in the User Manual](https://docs.ixopay.com/en/platform-user-administration-manual/connector-specific-features-1/paybylink).

Here's an example of a Pay-by-Link request sent via email:

```json
{
  "merchantTransactionId": "your-unique-identifier",
  "amount": "9.99",
  "currency": "EUR",
  "description": "Purchase description shown on credit card statement.",
  "customer": {
    "identification": "616c6578-2e73-6d69-7468-406578616d70",
    "firstName": "Alex",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "payByLink": {
    "sendByEmail": true
  }
}
```

### Automatic expiration

Pay-by-Link transactions can be set to expire after a specified number of minutes. For detailed information, see automatic expiration below.

## Pay-by-Link data

The following fields in the [Transaction API](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/transaction/transaction-api) response and the [callback](https://documentation.ixopay.com/docs/reference/integration/callbacks) request body are relevant for Pay-by-Links:

* `redirectUrl` (`string`): This is the Pay-by-Link URL. It provides a direct link to the payment page, which offers a seamless and secure payment experience for customers.
* `payByLinkData.cancelUrl` (`string`): This is the URL used for manual cancellation of a Pay-by-Link. To learn more about canceling Pay-by-Links, refer to Cancellation — Manual cancellation.
* `payByLinkData.sendViaEmail` (optional `boolean`): This field represents the value of `sendByEmail` set during transaction creation.
* `payByLinkData.expiresAt`1 (optional `string`): This field defines the expiry time using the [RFC 3339](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3339#section-5.6) Internet Date/Time Format `date-time`.

Here are examples of a Pay-by-Link response:

* API response
* API response with expiration
* Callback

```http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "success": true,
  "uuid": "d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "purchaseId": "20260922-d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "returnType": "REDIRECT",
  "redirectUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/redirect/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/ABCDEF01234567890ABCDEF01234567890",
  "paymentMethod": "Creditcard",
  "payByLinkData": {
    "cancelUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/api/v3/payByLink/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/cancel"
  }
}
```

```http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "success": true,
  "uuid": "d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "purchaseId": "20260922-d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "returnType": "REDIRECT",
  "redirectUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/redirect/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/ABCDEF01234567890ABCDEF01234567890",
  "paymentMethod": "Creditcard",
  "expiresAt": "2026-09-23 14:02:59 UTC",
  "payByLinkData": {
    "cancelUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/api/v3/payByLink/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/cancel",
    "expiresAt": "2026-09-23T14:02:59+00:00",
  }
}
```

> **Info**
>
> To receive callbacks for transactions in the `pending` state, you need to enable the [connector setting](https://docs.ixopay.com/en/platform-user-administration-manual/connector/edit-connector/connector-settings) *Postback: Send on PENDING status*.

```json
{
  "result": "PENDING",
  "uuid": "d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "merchantTransactionId": "your-unique-identifier",
  "purchaseId": "20260922-d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "transactionType": "DEBIT",
  "paymentMethod": "Dummy",
  "amount": "9.99",
  "currency": "EUR",
  "description": "Purchase description shown on credit card statement.",
  "customer": {
    "firstName": "Alex",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "payByLinkData": {
    "payByLink": true,
    "cancelUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/api/v3/payByLink/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/cancel",
    "sendViaEmail": false,
    "expiresAt": "2026-09-23T14:02:59+00:00"
  }
}
```

## Cancellation

Pay-by-Links can be cancelled in two ways: automatically through expiration after a specified time period, or manually.

When a transaction is cancelled:

* The transaction status is updated to `cancelled`.
* The Pay-by-Link will redirect to one of the following:
  * `cancelUrl` if it has been specified.
  * the cancel result template if no URLs have been specified and a result template has been configured.
* Payments processed directly by IXOPAY platform are prevented if customers have already clicked the link before it was cancelled (customers will be redirected to the `cancelUrl` or the cancel result page).
* Payments initiated by customers with a payment service provider (PSP) cannot be prevented in most cases.

> **Caveats**
>
> It's important to note that for technical reasons, cancelling a Pay-by-Link does not guarantee the prevention of customers from completing a transaction in all cases. If a customer was redirected to the PSP's payment page, they could still complete the payment. Depending on your use case, you must have remediation mechanisms in place to prevent double payments.
>
> When using Payment Selection Pages, cancelling the transaction is only possible until the point where the customer has not yet chosen a payment method.

### Automatic expiration

Pay-by-Link transactions can be configured to expire after a specified number of minutes. The basis for the `expirationInMinute` value is the transaction creation timestamp.

Here's an example of a Pay-by-Link request with automatic expiration:

```json
{
  "merchantTransactionId": "your-unique-identifier",
  "amount": "9.99",
  "currency": "EUR",
  "description": "Purchase description shown on credit card statement.",
  "customer": {
    "identification": "616c6578-2e73-6d69-7468-406578616d70",
    "firstName": "Alex",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "payByLink": {
    "sendByEmail": false,
    "expirationInMinute": 60
  }
}
```

### Manual cancellation

Every generated Pay-by-Link transaction will include a `payByLinkData.cancelUrl` in the response. You can use this `cancelUrl` to manually cancel uncompleted Pay-by-Link transactions.

For information on authenticating requests and understanding the structure of the response body, please consult the [Pay-by-Link API documentation](https://documentation.ixopay.com/api/pay-by-link/pay-by-link-api).

> **Info**
>
> Manual cancellation of Pay-by-Link transactions is possible only if they are in one of the following states:
>
> * `pending`
> * `await_redirect`
> * `redirected`
>
> It's important to note that cancelling a transaction is an idempotent operation, meaning that attempting to cancel a transaction that has already been cancelled will return a successful response.

* 1\. Transaction API response
* 2\. Cancel request
* 3\. Cancel response

```http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "success": true,
  "uuid": "d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "purchaseId": "20260922-d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e",
  "returnType": "REDIRECT",
  "redirectUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/redirect/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/ABCDEF01234567890ABCDEF01234567890",
  "paymentMethod": "Creditcard",
  "expiresAt": "2026-09-23 14:02:59 UTC",
  "payByLinkData": {
    "cancelUrl": "https://gateway.ixopay.com/api/v3/payByLink/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/cancel",
  }
}
```

```http
POST /api/v3/payByLink/d94c0d72f3a36e21f16e/cancel
Host: gateway.ixopay.com
Authorization: Basic dXNlcm5hbWU6cGFzc3dvcmQK
Content-Type: application/json

// empty request body
```

```http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "success": true,
  "transactionStatus": "cancelled"
}
```

## Footnotes

1. Please note that there is also a *deprecated* field called `expiresAt` with the format `YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss T` on the Transaction API response. It is recommended to rely on the newer `payByLinkData.expiresAt` field. ↩