Getting Started with Payment Links

Overview

Pay by Link lets you create a shareable payment link without building your own payment flow. You create the link in the Dashboard or through the API, then share it with your customer as a URL or QR code.

When the customer opens the link, Lean hosts the payment session, guides them through bank authorization, initiates the payment, and redirects them back to your site when the flow ends.

Who	What happens
You	Create and share the link Configure the payment details, redirect URL, expiry, usage limits, and any customer fields you want to collect. Then share the link with your customer.
Lean	Hosts the payment page and initiates the payment Lean displays the hosted payment page, collects any configured customer information, guides the customer through bank authorization, initiates the payment, and redirects them back to your site.

When to use Pay by Link

Use Pay by Link when you want to:

Collect a payment without building your own frontend checkout
Share payment requests by embedding Pay by Links in emails, SMS, WhatsApp, QR codes, or invoices
Create payment pages that can expire or be used a limited number of times
Optionally collect customer information, such as an email address, phone number, or internal reference

How it works

When your customer opens the link, they land on a Lean-hosted checkout page that shows your merchant name, logo, and payment details.

From there, the flow is straightforward:

The customer opens Lean hosted payment link page.
If you configured customer fields, Lean collects them before payment.
The customer selects their bank, reviews the payment details, recipient and completes authorization.
Lean initiates the payment.
Lean displays the payment submission result to the customer.
Lean redirects the customer to your redirect_url.

Pay by Link flow diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant Y as You
    participant L as Lean API
    participant C as Customer
    participant LC as Lean Checkout
    participant B as Customer's bank

    Y->>L: Create payment link (Dashboard or API)
    L-->>Y: link URL

    Y->>C: Share the link (email / WhatsApp / invoice)

    C->>LC: Open link URL
    LC->>C: Checkout page

    C->>LC: Complete checkout
    LC->>B: Bank authorization redirect
    B-->>LC: Authorization grant

    LC->>LC: Initiate payment
    LC->>C: Redirect to your redirect_url?status=success&sid=…

    opt Confirm payment outcome
        L-->>Y: Payment webhook
        Note right of Y: or check the Dashboard
    end