The Problem: Everyone Says You Need a Website
Search for "how to take card payments" and almost every result assumes you have a website. Set up Stripe on your checkout page. Embed a payment form on your site. Integrate WooCommerce. The advice is written for online businesses, not for the thousands of service companies that operate perfectly well without a website.
Your team of painters and decorators doesn't need a website to find customers. You get work through recommendations, local Facebook groups, Checkatrade, and word of mouth. Your team of cleaners builds its client base through referrals and local advertising. Your landscaping business has never had a website and has more work than it can handle.
But when it comes to getting paid, you hit a wall. Customers increasingly expect to pay by card. They don't carry cash. Bank transfers require them to remember to do it, and chasing payments eats into your time. You know you need a modern payment solution — but everything seems to require a website you don't have and don't want to build.
The good news is that taking card payments in 2026 does not require a website. Several methods work independently of any web presence, and some of them are actually simpler and faster than website-based payment forms. Here are your real options.
Your Options for Taking Payments Without a Website
Each of these methods works without a website. They differ in cost, convenience, and how well they work for businesses with teams. Let's look at each one honestly.
Payment Links (SMS, Email, WhatsApp)
Payment links are the closest thing to a website checkout without the website. You create a link through a payment provider, set the amount, and send it to your customer via text message, email, or WhatsApp. The customer taps the link, lands on a secure hosted checkout page, enters their card details, and pays.
The checkout page is hosted by the payment provider — not on your website — which is exactly why this method works without one. The best providers let you brand this page with your business name and logo, so your customer sees a professional payment experience even though you don't have a site.
This is the strongest option for most service businesses without websites. It's fast (customers pay in under 60 seconds), it works remotely (you don't need to be face-to-face), and it doesn't require any hardware. For businesses with teams, providers like Shuttle let each team member send payment links independently, with all payments tracked centrally. Your team of plumbers can each send a link after finishing a job, and your office sees every payment in real time.
Typical fees range from 1.4% + 20p to 2.9% + 30p per transaction depending on the provider. There's no website to build, no hosting to pay for, and no technical setup required.
Phone Payments (Voice Checkout and Virtual Terminals)
If your customers tend to call your office to book or pay, phone-based payment methods let you collect card payments during the conversation. There are two main approaches.
Virtual terminals are web-based interfaces where your office staff types in the customer's card details as the customer reads them out over the phone. This works but has a significant drawback: your staff is handling sensitive card data, which creates PCI compliance obligations. You're responsible for ensuring card details aren't written down, overheard, or stored improperly.
Voice checkout is a newer approach where the customer enters their own card details using their phone keypad during the call. Your team never hears or sees the card numbers. This is fully PCI compliant and eliminates the security risk entirely. It's particularly valuable for businesses that take bookings and deposits over the phone.
Neither method requires a website. Virtual terminals just need a web browser (which you'd access from your office computer), and voice checkout works entirely through the phone system.
Card Machines (In-Person)
The traditional answer to taking card payments without a website. A portable card machine lets your team accept contactless and chip-and-PIN payments on site. Providers like SumUp, Zettle, and Square offer simple card readers that connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth.
Card machines work well for face-to-face payments when your team is physically with the customer. The costs have come down significantly — you can get a basic reader for under £50 with per-transaction fees around 1.69%.
The limitations are real though. Every team member who collects payments needs their own device. The machine needs to be charged. It only works in person — so it doesn't help when a customer wants to pay remotely, when you're collecting a deposit before arriving, or when you're chasing a late payment. And if a team member forgets the machine or it runs out of battery, you're back to asking for a bank transfer and hoping for the best.
PayPal.me Links
PayPal offers a simple personalised link (paypal.me/yourbusiness) that you can send to customers. You can append an amount to the URL, and the customer lands on a PayPal payment page.
The upside is that many customers already have PayPal accounts, and the setup is quick. The downside is significant: customers without PayPal accounts face a clunky guest checkout process, and the experience is clearly branded as PayPal rather than your business. Fees are around 1.99% + 20p for standard transactions but can be higher. And managing team access through a shared PayPal business account creates both security and accountability issues.
PayPal.me links work as a basic solution, but they lack the professionalism and team management features that growing service businesses need.
Bank Transfers
The simplest method: give your customer your bank details and ask them to transfer the money. No fees, no provider, no setup.
The problem is reliability. Bank transfers depend entirely on the customer taking action, and there's no way to enforce or prompt payment. You can't verify if the transfer has been initiated. Reconciliation is manual — matching incoming payments to jobs when customers don't use meaningful references is tedious. And for customers who are used to tapping a card or clicking a button, being asked to manually enter sort codes and account numbers feels outdated.
Bank transfers work for established clients who always pay promptly, but they shouldn't be your primary payment method if you're trying to get paid faster and more reliably.
Invoicing with a Payment Link
Traditional invoicing (sending a PDF or paper invoice) is slow and relies on the customer to act. But modern invoicing that includes an embedded payment link combines the professionalism of a formal invoice with the convenience of instant card payment.
You send your invoice by email as usual, but it includes a "Pay Now" button or link that takes the customer to a secure checkout page. This approach works well for businesses that need formal invoices for accounting purposes but want to reduce the time between sending an invoice and receiving payment.
The downside compared to a standalone payment link is that it adds the delay of creating and sending a formal invoice. For many service businesses, a payment link sent immediately after the job is faster and simpler.
How Payment Links Work Without a Website
Since payment links are the strongest option for most businesses without a website, it's worth understanding exactly how they work — and why no website is needed at any stage.
When you sign up with a payment link provider, they host a secure checkout page for your business on their own servers. Think of it as a single-page mini-website that exists solely to collect payments. You don't need to build it, maintain it, or host it. The provider handles everything: the page design, the security certificates, the PCI compliance, the card processing.
Your role is simply to create links and send them. Here's a typical workflow for a team of builders working on a kitchen renovation:
- Your project manager finishes the initial consultation and agrees a price of £12,000 with 25% deposit upfront
- From the provider's app on their phone, they create a payment link for £3,000 with the description "Kitchen renovation deposit — 15 Oak Lane"
- They send the link to the customer via WhatsApp
- The customer opens the link, sees a branded checkout page showing your company name and the £3,000 amount, and pays with their card
- Your office receives an instant notification that the deposit has been paid
- Work is scheduled with confidence
At no point in this process does a website come into play. The checkout page exists independently. The link is delivered through messaging. The payment is processed by the provider. Your business gets paid without ever needing to register a domain, build a webpage, or worry about hosting.
For businesses with multiple team members, the best providers offer individual logins so each person can create and send links. Your office can see all payments across the team in one dashboard, making reconciliation straightforward even when you have ten different people collecting payments across different jobs.
What to Look For in a No-Website Payment Solution
If you're choosing a payment method specifically because you don't have a website, here are the factors that matter most.
Zero technical setup. You should be able to sign up and send your first payment within minutes. If a solution requires API integration, code snippets, or any kind of technical implementation, it's designed for businesses with websites and developer resources — not for you. The right solution should be as simple as creating an account, verifying your identity, and creating your first link.
Professional appearance. Without a website, your payment experience is one of the few digital touchpoints your customers have with your business. It needs to look professional. Look for providers that offer branded checkout pages with your business name and logo, rather than generic third-party payment forms. A professional checkout page builds trust and increases the likelihood of customers completing the payment.
Team management. If you have more than one person collecting payments — which is common in service businesses with teams in the field — you need individual user accounts with central oversight. Sharing a single login is a security risk and makes it impossible to track who collected what. The right provider gives each team member their own access while letting your office manage everything from a single dashboard.
Multiple delivery channels. Your customers have different preferences. Some check email regularly. Some respond instantly to text messages. Some live on WhatsApp. The best payment solutions let you send links through whatever channel your customer prefers. At minimum, you need SMS and email. WhatsApp support is a bonus that matters increasingly.
Real-time tracking. When your team of electricians sends five payment links in a day across different jobs, your office needs to know which customers have paid and which haven't — without logging in to check. Real-time notifications and a clear dashboard for tracking all outstanding and completed payments are essential for managing cash flow.
Transparent costs. Service business margins are tight. You need to know exactly what you're paying. Look for simple per-transaction pricing with no monthly fees, no setup costs, and no hidden charges. If a provider's pricing page requires a calculator to understand, that's a red flag.
The reality is that not having a website is not a limitation when it comes to accepting card payments — it's just a different starting point. Payment links, phone payments, and card machines all work independently of any web presence. For most service businesses with teams, payment links offer the best combination of convenience, professionalism, and team management — and they work just as well for a business with no website as they do for one with a fully built-out online presence.