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Send a Payment Link with Virtual Terminal

Send payment links directly to your customers via text message from your Virtual Terminal. With the Virtual Terminal Send Payment Link feature, you can collect payments from customers in real time when they aren’t physically at your payments. Payment links are a secure payment method customers can use to pay right from their smartphone — without visiting a website — using their credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, where available.

There is no monthly fee for sending payment links via text message from your Virtual Terminal. You’ll only pay Square’s standard Virtual Terminal processing fee of 2.50% per transaction.

Get Started

  1. From your Virtual Terminal, select Virtual Terminal > Take a Payment

  2. Add the items and the customer

  3. From the Payment Method section of Payment Details, select Send Payment Link

  4. Select your customer's Country Code

  5. Enter the customer's phone number and click Send Link

  6. Wait for confirmation that the customer completed the payment

Note: Selecting the back button while a payment is pending will cancel the payment link. Wait until you receive the payment before closing the window.

Your customer will receive a text message with a payment link. The link will take your customers directly to an online checkout page to pay on their mobile device.

FAQ

Do I have to wait for my customer to complete the transaction?

Yes. Payment links are for taking payments in real time, like while you’re on the phone with the customer. If you want to send a payment link your customer can use to pay at a later time, you can also send them a Checkout Link or an Invoice.

How does tipping on payment links work?

Tip settings are located in your Virtual Terminal. Select Settings > Checkout to adjust your tip settings. For more on tipping, visit Get Started with Square Online Checkout Links.

Clearpay and Virtual Terminal

Overview

With Virtual Terminal, you can send online payment links to your customers to accept payments via Clearpay.

Learn more about Clearpay and Square.

Clearpay Pricing

  • For card-not-present transactions via Virtual Terminal, the processing fee is 6% + £0.30 per transaction.

Note: Clearpay rates are fixed and do not vary by subscription type, hardware or custom pricing.

Enable or Disable Clearpay

You can go to Payment Methods to enable or disable Clearpay at any time. To get started:

  1. Go to Virtual Terminal from your online Square Dashboard.
  2. Click Settings > Checkout.
  3. Under Payment Methods, ensure Send Payment Link is toggled on.
  4. Click Manage Settings.
  5. If the status is Inactive, next to Clearpay click ••• then click Edit settings.
  6. Ensure Online is toggled on.

You can now send payment links to customers and accept Clearpay as a payment option.

Note: The setting for online payments with Clearpay is global and applies across all Square products that can also take Clearpay payments online. This includes other online platforms such as Square Online and Square Online Checkout. There isn’t a way to disable Clearpay only for Virtual Terminal at this time.

Clearpay Eligibility

To see if you are eligible for Clearpay, visit our Square Online eligibility and In-Person eligibility.

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