The Problem: Getting Paid Is Harder Than Doing the Work
If you run a service business — whether that's plumbing, electrical work, landscaping, cleaning, or any trade where your team goes out to customers — you already know the frustration. The work gets done, but chasing payment takes almost as long as the job itself.
Your team of plumbers finishes a boiler installation at 4pm on a Friday. The homeowner says they'll "transfer the money this weekend." By Wednesday, nothing has arrived. Your office manager sends a reminder. The customer apologises, says they forgot, and asks for your bank details again. Another week passes. Meanwhile, your materials supplier wants paying and your team needs their wages.
The traditional options aren't great either. Card machines mean carrying hardware that needs charging, costs money to rent, and doesn't help when you're quoting over the phone. Bank transfers rely entirely on the customer remembering to do it. Invoicing adds admin and typically means waiting 14 to 30 days. And asking for cash in 2026 is increasingly unrealistic — most people don't carry it.
What if you could simply send your customer a link — by text, email, or WhatsApp — and they could tap it and pay with their card in under 60 seconds? That's exactly what payment links do, and they're transforming how service businesses get paid.
Your Options for Sending Payment Links
Not all payment link providers are the same. The right choice depends on how your business operates — how many people on your team need to send links, whether you want your own branding on the checkout page, and which payment methods your customers prefer. Here's how the main options compare.
Stripe Payment Links
Stripe is one of the most well-known payment providers and offers payment links as part of its platform. You create a link in the Stripe dashboard, set the amount, and share it with your customer. Stripe supports card payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
The upside is reliability and a well-built checkout experience. The downside for service businesses is that Stripe is primarily designed for developers and online businesses. The dashboard can feel complex if your team just needs to send a quick payment request. Team access requires managing Stripe accounts, and customisation beyond basics requires technical knowledge. Transaction fees sit at 1.5% + 20p for UK cards, rising to 2.5% + 20p for non-UK cards.
PayPal.me Links
PayPal offers a simple approach: you get a personalised PayPal.me link (like paypal.me/yourbusiness/50) where the amount is embedded in the URL. You send this link to your customer, and they pay through PayPal.
The advantage is simplicity and the fact that many customers already have PayPal accounts. The significant drawback is that your customer either needs a PayPal account or has to go through PayPal's guest checkout, which adds friction. Fees are 1.99% + 20p for standard UK transactions but can climb higher for international payments. There's limited branding, and managing team access through a shared PayPal business account can become messy.
Square Invoices and Checkout Links
Square offers payment links through its invoicing feature and its online checkout tool. You can create a checkout link from the Square dashboard or app, set the amount and description, and send it to your customer.
Square works well if your team already uses Square for in-person payments, as everything lives in one ecosystem. The checkout page is clean and professional. However, Square's payment link functionality can feel secondary to its point-of-sale focus. Fees are 1.4% + 25p for online payments. Customisation is limited, and the checkout page prominently features Square's branding.
SumUp Payment Links
SumUp, known primarily for its card readers, also offers payment links. You can create links from the SumUp app, making it convenient for businesses that already use their card machines.
The pricing is straightforward at a flat 1.69% per transaction with no monthly fees. The limitation is that SumUp's payment link feature is fairly basic — limited customisation, basic reporting, and the checkout experience is functional but not particularly polished. It works well as an add-on if you already use SumUp hardware, but it's not the strongest standalone option.
Shuttle Links Checkout
Shuttle takes a different approach by building payment links specifically for businesses with teams. Rather than being an add-on to a card machine or developer platform, payment links are a core product.
The key differences: your team members can each send payment links from their own access without sharing a single login. The checkout page is fully white-labelled with your branding — your logo, your colours, your business name — so customers feel they're paying you directly, not a third party. Real-time notifications tell your office when payments are completed. And because Shuttle is built as payments infrastructure, it handles the complexity of PCI compliance, payment routing, and reconciliation behind the scenes. For businesses where multiple team members need to collect payments independently, this team-first approach makes a meaningful difference.
How Payment Links Work — Step by Step
Payment links are beautifully simple in concept, but understanding the mechanics helps you see why they're so effective for service businesses.
Here's the process from start to finish:
- Create the link — Log into your payment provider's dashboard or app. Enter the amount, add a description (e.g., "Boiler service — 42 Elm Street"), and generate the link. Most providers create this in under 30 seconds.
- Send it to your customer — Copy the link and send it via SMS, email, WhatsApp, or any messaging platform. Some providers let you send directly from their dashboard.
- Customer taps and pays — Your customer opens the link in their browser. No app download, no account creation. They see the amount, your business name, and a secure card entry form. They enter their card details and tap pay.
- Payment is processed — The payment provider processes the card payment, handles PCI compliance, and deposits the funds to your bank account (typically within 1-3 business days).
- You get notified — You receive a confirmation that the payment has been completed. Good providers send notifications in real-time so your office knows immediately.
Let's make this concrete. Imagine your team of electricians has just finished rewiring a kitchen. Your electrician opens the app on their phone, enters £1,200 and "Kitchen rewire — Mrs Johnson," and generates a payment link. They text it to the customer before they've even packed up their tools. Mrs Johnson taps the link on her phone, pays with her Visa, and your office gets a notification. The payment arrives in your account the next business day. No invoicing, no chasing, no waiting.
The same process works whether you're collecting payment after a job, requesting a deposit before work starts, or billing for a service plan. The link is just a URL — it works everywhere a URL works.
Taking Payments Over the Phone
Not all your customers will be comfortable clicking a link on their phone. Some will call your office and want to pay there and then during the conversation. For these situations, you have two options that work alongside payment links.
The first is simply sending a payment link during the phone call. Your office team creates the link while on the call, sends it via SMS, and asks the customer to tap it. Many customers are happy to do this — they stay on the line, tap the link, complete the payment, and you confirm receipt immediately.
The second option is Voice Checkout — a technology that lets customers enter their card details securely using their phone keypad during the call. The customer never reads their card number aloud, and your team never sees or hears the card details. It's fully PCI compliant and works within existing phone systems. For businesses that take a lot of bookings and payments over the phone, Voice Checkout can be a natural complement to payment links.
What to Look For in a Payment Link Provider
If you've decided that payment links are right for your business, here's what to consider when choosing a provider. Not all platforms are equal, and the wrong choice can create more problems than it solves.
Team access and permissions. If more than one person in your business needs to send payment links — which is almost always the case for service businesses with teams — check how the provider handles multiple users. Can each team member have their own login? Can you control who sees what? A shared single login is a security and accountability problem.
Branding and customisation. Your customers should feel confident they're paying your business, not some unknown third party. Look for providers that let you add your logo, business name, and brand colours to the checkout page. Fully white-labelled checkout pages convert better because they build trust.
Delivery channels. Make sure you can send links via the channels your customers actually use. At minimum, you need SMS and email. WhatsApp support is increasingly important. Some providers offer direct sending from their dashboard, which saves your team copying and pasting links between apps.
Real-time notifications. Your office needs to know the moment a payment is completed — not hours later when someone checks a dashboard. Look for real-time push notifications or webhook integrations that update your systems instantly.
Transparent pricing. Understand exactly what you'll pay per transaction and check for hidden fees. Monthly minimums, setup fees, and different rates for different card types can make a seemingly cheap provider expensive in practice. The best providers charge a simple per-transaction fee with no surprises.
Payout speed. How quickly do funds reach your bank account? Some providers hold funds for days or even weeks, especially for new accounts. Next-business-day payouts should be the standard, not a premium feature.
Mobile experience. Most of your customers will open payment links on their phones. Test the mobile checkout experience yourself — is it fast, clear, and easy to complete? A checkout page that's clunky on mobile will cost you completed payments.
For service businesses with teams, the combination of white-labelled checkout, individual team access, and real-time notifications is what separates a payment link tool from a genuine payment collection system. These aren't nice-to-have features — they're the difference between a tool that works for a solo freelancer and one that scales with your business.