Enhanced Payment Links

Updated: May 21, 2026

Overview

Enhanced Payment Links is a feature that transforms existing payment gateway URLs into rich, native payment experiences within WhatsApp.

It converts existing payment links into an in-app checkout flow - no changes to your payment backend, reconciliation, or callback setup are required. When a supported payment link is sent through a message template, it automatically renders as a structured payment bubble featuring:

• Amount and currency clearly displayed
• "Pay Now" CTA for seamless checkout
• In-app checkout via UPI Intent or hosted payment page

This feature significantly improves payment conversion rates by reducing checkout friction and increasing consumer trust.

Superfast Setup: Merchants can independently create the required WhatsApp templates and embed payment links from supported payment gateways - no BSP involvement is needed.

This feature is not publicly available yet. To request access, please reach out to your BSP or Meta representative with your WABA ID, sample payment link, and preferred Payment Gateway (Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree).

User Experience

On supported WhatsApp versions, the payment link renders as an enhanced bubble:

• Rich Payment Card: Displays Amount, currency, and CTA button
• In-App Checkout:
  • UPI: Direct app-switch to UPI apps (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.)
  • Other methods: In-app browser for cards, net banking, or wallets
• Automatic Status Updates: The payment card automatically updates to reflect the payment status on completion or expiry, and disables the "Pay Now" button to prevent duplicate payments.

Prerequisites

Enhanced Payment Links is an experience that works with both existing BSP APIs and WhatsApp Business Cloud API. Neither BSPs nor merchants need to make any backend, API, reconciliation, or callback changes to enable this feature. Your existing payment gateway integration remains completely unchanged.

To use Enhanced Payment Links:

Requirement	Description
Allowlisted WABA	Your WABA ID must be enabled for Enhanced Payment Links. Submit a request to your BSP or Meta representative with your WABA ID, preferred payment gateway(s), and sample payment links for validation.
Supported Payment Gateway	An active account with Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree
Compliant Template	A message template configured with no header and a dynamic URL button (see Template Requirements)

Supported Payment Gateways

Payment Gateway	Status
Razorpay	✅ Supported
PayU	✅ Supported
Cashfree	✅ Supported

Integration Flow

The following diagram illustrates the end-to-end flow, from sending an Enhanced Payment Link to payment completion and callbacks:

Steps:

• Generate payment link - Your server calls the payment gateway API (Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree) to create a payment link for the transaction.
• Receive payment link URL - The payment gateway returns a URL (for example, https://rzp.io/i/abc123XYZ).
• Send template message - Your server sends a template message via the Cloud API or your BSP, embedding the dynamic portion of the payment link (the suffix) in the button component.
• Message delivered on WhatsApp - The consumer receives an enhanced payment bubble with the amount, currency, and a "Pay Now" button for in-app checkout.
• Consumer completes payment - The consumer taps "Pay Now" and pays via UPI apps, cards, net banking, or wallets within WhatsApp.
• Payment gateway sends callback to merchant - Your existing webhook endpoint receives the payment status callback with the same payload format as before. No changes to your webhook URL, payload handling, or reconciliation logic are needed.
• WhatsApp updates the payment card - The payment card automatically reflects the payment status (success, or expiry) and disables the "Pay Now" button to prevent duplicate payments. This happens independently and requires no merchant action.

Template Requirements

Enhanced Payment Link templates must follow these constraints:

Component	Requirement
Header	None — templates must not include a media header (image, video, or document)
Button	Exactly one dynamic URL button with a supported PG link prefix

Merchants can independently create these templates without involving their BSP. Templates can be created using any one of the following methods:

• Template Library (recommended)
• WhatsApp Manager⁠
• Business Management API
• BSP Dashboard

Example Template Configuration

Your business can enable customers to pay using their favorite UPI apps or other payment methods accepted by supporting Payment Gateways without leaving WhatsApp.

Body: "Hi 1, reminder to pay for your insurance renewal #2. Amount: ₹3"

Button:
  - Type of Action: "Visit website"
  - Button Text: "Pay Now"
  - URL Type: Dynamic
  - Website URL: https://pg.io/i/

Important: The button URL must be configured as dynamic to pass the payment link at send time.

Dynamic URL Prefix Configuration

When creating your template, the dynamic URL button requires a URL prefix that matches your payment gateway's domain. Use one of the following prefixes based on your PG:

Razorpay

URL Prefix
https://rzp.io/rzp/
https://rzp.io/i/

PayU

URL Prefix
https://pmny.in/PAYUMN/
https://api.payu.in/
https://u.payu.in/PAYUMN/

Cashfree

URL Prefix
https://payments.cashfree.com/links
https://payments.cashfree.com/link/
https://cfre.in/CSHFRE/

Note: The URL prefix you configure in your template must match the format of payment links generated by your PG. When sending the message, pass only the dynamic portion (e.g., the link ID) in the button parameter.

Payment Link Requirements

Requirement	Details
Environment	Must be from production environment (not sandbox/test mode)
Status	Link must be active and not expired
Gateway	Must be from a supported PG (see Supported Payment Gateways)
URL Format	Must match one of the supported URL prefixes for your PG

Using wrapped or redirected payment links? Enhanced Payment Links requires direct payment gateway URLs that match the supported URL prefixes. If your implementation wraps payment gateway links under your own domain (e.g., yourdomain.com/pay/...) or redirects to the payment gateway from a hosted page, the enhanced experience will not render automatically. In such cases, you will need to update your workflow to pass the direct payment gateway link in the template button instead of your wrapped or redirected URL.

Generating Payment Links

Refer to your payment gateway's documentation:

• Razorpay: Create Payment Link (API)⁠Dashboard⁠
• PayU: Payment Links⁠
• Cashfree: Payment Links⁠

Sending Payment Links

Use the Cloud API to send a template containing the payment link.

Request

POST /{phone-number-id}/messages

Example

curl -X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/{PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": "919876543210",
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
      "name": "payment_reminder",
      "language": {
        "code": "en"
      },
      "components": [
        {
          "type": "body",
          "parameters": [
            {"type": "text", "text": "Rishi"},
            {"type": "text", "text": "ORD-12345"},
            {"type": "text", "text": "1,999"}
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "button",
          "sub_type": "url",
          "index": "0",
          "parameters": [
            {
              "type": "text",
              "text": "abc123XYZ"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }'

In this example, if the template URL prefix is https://pg.io/i/, the final URL becomes https://pg.io/i/abc123XYZ.

Button Component

The payment link suffix is passed in the button component:

{  
  "type": "button",  
  "sub_type": "url",  
  "index": "0",  
  "parameters": [  
    {  
      "type": "text",  
      "text": "{PAYMENT_LINK_SUFFIX}"  
    }  
  ]  
}

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Must be "button"
sub_type	string	Must be "url"
index	string	Button index, "0" for the first button
parameters[].type	string	Must be "text"
parameters[].text	string	The dynamic portion of the payment link URL (appended to the template's URL prefix)

Payment Reconciliation and Callbacks

Enhanced Payment Links does not modify your existing payment processing or backend infrastructure. This means:

Aspect	Impact
Payment callbacks/webhooks	No change. Your existing webhook endpoints and callback flows from your payment gateway continue to work as-is.
Reconciliation	No change. Reconciliation remains the same as configured on your payment gateway (Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree).
Settlement	No change. Settlement flows and timelines are unaffected.

No backend integration changes are required to adopt Enhanced Payment Links.

Reporting

Reporting for Enhanced Payment Links is split across two sources:

Metric	Source	Details
Link clicks	WhatsApp	Click metrics on payment gateway links are available from WhatsApp analytics.
Payment status, success/failure rates, refunds, settlements	Payment gateway	All payment-level reporting remains on your payment gateway (Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree). Use your existing dashboards and reports.

No additional reporting setup is required. WhatsApp provides visibility into link engagement, while your payment gateway continues to be the source of truth for all payment and transaction metrics.

Best Practices

Practice	Details
Use production links	Sandbox/test links will not render enhanced bubbles
Set reasonable expiry	24-48 hours balances conversion and security
Include context	Add amount and order details in the message body
One button only	Multiple buttons are not supported
Match URL prefix	Ensure template URL prefix matches your PG's link format

Limitations

• Only one payment link per template message
• No header components allowed
• Single button required
• Enhanced rendering depends on recipient's WhatsApp version
• Currently available for India only
• Payment metrics behavior: Enhanced Payment Links create a UPI intent on every "Pay now" tap. This means:
  • Total payment attempt counts will be higher than pre-EPL
  • Expired intents are reported as failures, which may inflate failure rates (for example, Razorpay webhooks for expired UPI intents: "Payment was unsuccessful as you could not complete it in time")
  • Recommendation: Exclude payment expiry errors when calculating your success metrics.

Troubleshooting

Payment link not rendering as enhanced bubble

Check	Action
WABA allowlisted?	Confirm with your BSP or Meta representative
Supported PG?	Must be Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree
URL prefix correct?	Template URL prefix must match your PG's supported formats
Link active?	Verify link hasn't expired
Template compliant?	No header, single dynamic URL button

Note: If your template gets miscategorized, you can appeal the assigned category. See the Template Categorization Guide for details on the appeal process. To avoid categorization uncertainty altogether, consider using a Utility Template from the template library, this ensures correct categorization and provides guidance on template content structure.

Getting Help

• Direct API users or Meta Managed Businesses: Contact your Meta representative
• BSP partners: Reach out to your BSP for integration support
• Payment gateway issues: Consult your PG's documentation or support team

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See also: Message Templates, Cloud API Messages, Payments Overview