---
title: "Payment links through the Customer Area"
description: "Learn how to create payment links through the Customer Area."
url: "https://docs.adyen.com/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/create-payment-links/customer-area"
source_url: "https://docs.adyen.com/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/create-payment-links/customer-area.md"
canonical: "https://docs.adyen.com/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/create-payment-links/customer-area"
last_modified: "2026-05-12T10:22:00+02:00"
language: "en"
---

# Payment links through the Customer Area

Learn how to create payment links through the Customer Area.

[View source](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/create-payment-links/customer-area.md)

##### Release notes

Learn about the [latest updates to Pay by Link](/online-payments/release-notes?integration_type=pay_by_link).

Creating payment links through the [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/) requires no development work and allows you to accept [most payment methods](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/supported-payment-methods), except for [buy now, pay later](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/supported-payment-methods) payment methods. You can view the status of payment links in your Customer Area and get payment webhook events sent to your email.

Using payment links to accept payments works as follows:

1. [Create a payment link](#create).
2. [Send the payment link to your shopper](#send).
3. [Get updates about the payment](#get-updates).

This page also explains how to implement additional use cases such as:

* [Customizing](#customize) the payment methods, style, and language shown on the payment page.
* [Forcing the expiry of a payment link](#force-the-expiry-of-a-payment-link).

## Requirements

Before you begin, take into account the following requirements and preparations.

| Requirement                                     | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Integration type**                            | Any Adyen company and merchant account.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **[Customer Area roles](/account/user-roles)**  | Make sure your user has the following roles:- To create payment links in the Customer Area: **Pay by Link Interface**.
- To customize showing payment methods: **Change payment methods**.
- To customize themes: **Merchant admin** or **Pay by Link Settings**.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **[Webhooks](/development-resources/webhooks)** | Optionally set up standard webhooks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| **Setup steps**                                 | Before you begin:- [Add your terms and conditions](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link#add-your-terms-and-conditions) to the Pay by Link payment page.
- If you haven't done so already, check the [supported payment methods](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/supported-payment-methods) and [add payment methods](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/supported-payment-methods#add-payment-methods) to your merchant account.
- [Configure Pay by Link creation settings](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings#creation-settings). |

## 1. Create a payment link

To create a payment link:

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).

2. Switch to your merchant account.

3. Go to **Pay by Link** > **Payment links**\
   1.vSelect **Create payment link**. The fields and options on the form depend on the [creation settings](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings#creation-settings) that you configured.

4. Fill out the transaction details:

   | Field name                 | Required                                                                                    | Description                                                                                                                                                                  |
   | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   | **Store**                  | Depends on creation setting: always, never, optional                                        | The store that the payment is processed for.                                                                                                                                 |
   | **Payment link theme**     | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | The theme to show on the payment page.                                                                                                                                       |
   | **Merchant reference**     | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | Your order number. You can use this to identify and reconcile the payment in your own system.                                                                                |
   | **Amount**                 | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | The currency and value of the payment.                                                                                                                                       |
   | **Shopper country/region** | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | We use this to tailor the list of payment methods available to your shopper.                                                                                                 |
   | **Language**               |                                                                                             | The language of the payment page. By default, this is the language of the shopper's browser locale.                                                                          |
   | **Shopper reference**      | Depends on creation setting: always, never, optional                                        | Your reference to uniquely identify this shopper. Do not include personally identifiable information (PII), such as name or email address. Minimum length: three characters. |
   | **Description**            | Depends on creation setting: always, never, optional                                        | Describe what the shopper is paying for. This description will be visible on the payment page.                                                                               |
   | **Link type**              | Depends on creation setting                                                                 | Select **Single use** if you want the link to be non-reusable or **Open (for multiple payments)** for a reusable payment link. **Single use** is selected by default.        |
   | **Service date**           | Depends on creation setting: always, never, optional                                        | Select the validity period of the payment link. This can be a maximum of 70 days from the time you create the link. **24 hours** is selected by default.                     |

5. If you have enabled the [email service](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings#additional-fields), next to **Payment link email**:

   1. Select checkboxes to indicate the email service flow you want to enable:

      * **Send the payment request directly to the shopper's email address.**
      * **Send a payment confirmation success email to the shopper upon successful and completed payments.**

   2. In the input field that appears, enter the shopper's email address.

6. Under **Additional details**, fill in:

   | Field name                 | Required                      | Description                          |
   | -------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
   | **Shopper reference**      | Depends on creation settings. | A unique identifier for the shopper. |
   | **Shopper country/region** | Depends on creation settings. | The shopper's country/region.        |

7. Select **Create payment link**. The next page confirms the payment link was created.

## 2. Send the payment link to your shopper

1. On the payment link confirmation page, select **Copy link**.

   Below is an example payment link.

   ```html
   https://test.adyen.link/PL45D0F79183A4CCA2
   ```

2. Send the payment link to your shopper.

When the shopper selects the link, they are redirected to the Adyen-hosted payment form. The shopper can choose to pay with any payment method available in the **Shopper country/region** you provided in the form.

## 3. Get updates about the payment

After the shopper completes the payment, you can check the payment result in your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/), under **Transactions** > **Payments**.

To keep track of the payment, you can also [get payment updates sent to your email](#email-updates), and [view payment links in your Customer Area](#view-links).

Alternatively, you can set up [webhooks](/development-resources/webhooks) to get payment updates sent to your server. This requires development work.

We keep payment link details for three months. If it was more than three months ago that a payment link was created, the details are no longer available.

### Get payment updates to your email

To get payment status updates sent to email addresses, configure in your [Pay by Link general settings](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings#general-settings).

When a payment has been completed, you receive an email that contains information about the payment, including the **Merchant reference**, **PSP reference**, and **payment method**.

### View payment links in your Customer Area

You can view payment links created within the last **90 days** in your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).
2. Select **Pay by Link** > **Payment Links**.

Payment links can have the following statuses:

* **Active**: the payment link is active and can be used to make a payment.
* **Completed**: the payment has been authorized. If you have enabled [manual capture](/online-payments/capture#manual-capture) on your merchant account, you also need to [capture](/account/manage-payments#capture-a-payment) the payment.
* **Payment pending**: the final result of the payment is not yet known.
* **Expired**: the payment link has expired.

If you created a reusable payment link, only two statuses apply: **Active** and **Expired**. The status will not change to completed.

Shopper details such as email address are masked by default on the payment link list and details pages. To view unmasked shopper details, your user must have the **Merchant view PII** [user role](/account/user-roles).

## Tokenize payment details

Ask for the shopper's consent before tokenizing their payment details.

When creating payment links through [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/), we only support saving payment details for recurring payments and not for one-off payments. To save your shopper's payment details for subsequent one-off payments, use the [Pay by Link API](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/create-payment-links/api).

To tokenize the shopper's payment details for recurring payments, enable it in your [Pay by Link settings](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings).

When the shopper wants you to save their payment details, follow the instructions for [creating a payment link](#create) and include the **Shopper reference**.

## Force the expiry of a payment link

In some scenarios, you may want to force the expiry of a payment link. For example, if a shopper updates their order after you have sent them a payment link, you may want to create a new payment link with the updated amount.

To force the expiry of a payment link:

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).
2. Select **Pay by Link** > **Payment Links**.
3. Under the **Payment link** column, select the payment link you want to force expiry for.
4. In the **Summary** section, select the **Manually expire link** button under the **Payment link**.

## Customize the payment page

You can customize:

* Which [payment methods](#payment-methods) are shown on the payment page, and in which order.
* The appearance of the payment page, using [themes](#themes).

### Payment methods

The payment methods are ordered by popularity: the most popular payment methods in the shopper's country/region appear at the top. You can configure which payment methods are rendered (and in which order) based on the shopper's country/region.

To configure these settings, you must have the **Change payment methods** [user role](/account/user-roles#account).

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).
2. Go to **Settings** > **Checkout settings**.
3. Select a **Shopper country/region**.
4. Drag the payment methods into the order you want them to appear to shoppers in this country/region.
5. To hide a payment method from shoppers in this country/region, drag it to the **Other configured payment methods** box.

### Themes

Themes allow you to specify a brand logo to customize the appearance of the payment page. If you create multiple themes, you can choose a theme when you create the payment link.

On the company account level, you can create only one theme. However, on the merchant account level, you can create multiple themes and set up a default one. If you do not create any themes on the merchant account, the one from the company account will be used for all payment pages.

#### Create a new theme

To create a theme, you must have one of the following [user roles](/account/user-roles#account):

* Merchant admin
* Pay by Link Settings

To create a new theme:

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/) and switch to your merchant account if necessary.
2. Go to **Pay by Link** > **Themes**.
3. Select **Create a new theme**.
4. Enter a **Theme name**. This name is visible to the user creating the payment link in the Customer Area.
5. Enter a **Display name**. This name is visible to the shopper.
6. Upload a favicon.
7. Upload a brand logo.
8. If you want this theme to be the default theme for all payment links, select **Set as default**. Available only on the merchant account.
9. Select **Create**.

## Test and go live

Before going live, use our list of [test cards and other payment methods](/development-resources/test-cards-and-credentials/test-card-numbers) to test your integration. We recommend testing each payment method that you intend to offer to your shoppers.

You can view the test payments in your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/), under **Transactions** > **Payments**.

When you are ready to go live, you need to:

1. [Apply for a live account](/get-started-with-adyen/application-requirements).
2. [Configure your live account](/online-payments/go-live-checklist).
3. Submit a request to add payment methods in your [live Customer Area](https://ca-live.adyen.com/) .
4. [Add your terms and conditions](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link#add-your-terms-and-conditions) to your [live Customer Area](https://ca-live.adyen.com/).

## See also

* [Creation settings](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/settings#creation-settings)
* [Payment methods](/unified-commerce/pay-by-link/supported-payment-methods)
* [Pay by Link release notes](/online-payments/release-notes?integration_type=pay_by_link)
