How to get paid on WhatsApp with payment links without losing the sale

The customer has decided: she wants the two tickets for Saturday. You send her your bank account details, she says she will transfer “later” and then sends a blurry photo of the receipt that someone has to check by hand. Sometimes the payment arrives, sometimes it does not, and in the meantime the sale is up in the air.

What is a payment link?

A payment link is a checkout page from your gateway that you share via WhatsApp, email or social media, without needing an online store. The customer opens the link, chooses how to pay and the gateway processes the charge.

In Colombia, Wompi calls them payment links. According to its documentation, they are created from the merchant dashboard or through the API, and shared by email, social media or WhatsApp. Stripe, for its part, describes its Payment Links as a way to accept payments without writing code.

What types of link can I create?

Depending on the gateway, you can create single-use or reusable links, with a fixed or open amount, and with an expiration date. This is what Wompi states:

Option	What it is for
Single use	The link stops accepting payments after the first approved one: ideal for a one-off sale
Reusable	The same link works for many customers: ideal for a fixed product
With expiration	The link stops working on a date: useful for bookings and promotions
Open amount	The customer enters the amount: useful for partial payments or donations
Additional fields	Asks the payer for extra information

For a chat sale, the tidiest option is a single-use link per customer, with a near expiration date. That way each link matches one sale.

When is a payment truly confirmed?

A payment is confirmed when the gateway confirms it, not when the customer sends a screenshot. A receipt image can be edited or can belong to a transfer that later failed.

Gateways send notices automatically. According to Stripe’s documentation, when a customer completes a payment through a link, Stripe sends an event your system can use to fulfill the order and reconcile. The same documentation warns that some methods, such as bank debits or vouchers, can take 2 to 14 days to confirm, so you also need to listen for those notices.

Important: if an AI assistant handles the sale, it can send the link, but it must never treat the payment as done. Confirmation must come from the gateway, and only then is the purchase recorded.

How does the payment connect to the CRM?

The gateway’s confirmation updates the customer’s record and triggers the next action, without anyone checking chats. The typical flow looks like this:

1. The customer confirms what they want to buy in the conversation.
2. A link is generated for that sale and sent in the same chat.
3. The gateway confirms the payment.
4. The payment is recorded on the contact and the opportunity moves to won.
5. What comes next is triggered: invoice, access, booking confirmation and a notice to the team.

If you sell from a catalog, this flow fits with what we explain in WhatsApp Business catalog. If your charges are recurring, see how to charge subscriptions automatically. And if you need electronic invoicing, the payment can trigger it, as we explain in DIAN electronic invoicing connected to your CRM.

What mistakes should you avoid?

The most common are reusing the same link for everything, not setting an expiration and confirming payments by eye. Others we see often:

• Sending the link without restating what the purchase includes and for how much.
• Not telling the customer what happens after paying.
• Letting the advisor mark the sale by hand, with no link to the actual payment.
• Not replying fast when the customer asks how to pay, as we explain in responding fast to your leads.

How does TMV One solve it?

TMV One sends payment links inside the conversation and records the payment on the contact when the gateway confirms it. From there, the actions you define for your company are triggered.

In short

The customer with the two tickets would have received a link in the same chat, paid in a minute and gotten her confirmation without anyone checking receipts. Getting paid on WhatsApp works when the link is for that sale and the confirmation comes from the gateway.