Checkout links

You can use checkout links to create a payment page and share it with your customers. Checkout links are the most convenient way to collect on-chain/lightning payments from customers for any goods or services without directing them to an app or website. Checkout links are one-of-a-kind URLs that direct your customer to a payment page. When your customers click the link, they can pay by scanning the QR code on a simple payment page that opens in a web browser. Customers do not need a Speed account to pay you through checkout links.

You can request a checkout link in your preferred base currency, in order to be paid in cryptocurrency supported by the Speed platform API (currently SATS). Share the link with customers via social media, emails, your preferred chat software, or any other channel. Start accepting on-chain/lightning payments by creating checkout links from the web application or using our APIs. To ensure that you can receive both on-chain and lightning payments, remember to keep the “BTC On-chain” payment method enabled in the Speed web application.

Checkout links have a no-code option, where you can generate a payment page with the web application, and begin collecting payments in seconds. You can perform all the actions of checkout links from the web application - create, activate and deactivate. Alternatively, you can extend the functionality and generate checkout links programmatically at scale using the Speed platform API, in addition to the benefits of this no-code option. Additionally, subscribe to webhook events to receive instant notifications.

The following are the checkout link API endpoints for creating, deactivating, updating and retrieving checkout links

Please refer to create a checkout link for a step-by-step guide on implementing this.

Checkout link statuses

Checkout link API creates a checkout link URL, which is used to accept one-time on-chain/lightning payments until they are paid or deactivated. When you receive the payment, the checkout link status changes to paid.

After you create a checkout link, it can be in either of the following states described below.

Active
The status of the checkout link will be active after you create it. It will be in an active state till the customer makes the full payment.
Paid
The status of the checkout link will be paid after the customer has made a complete payment. No further payments will be accepted using the same link.
Deactivated
The status of the checkout link changes when you deactivate the link. This link is no longer accessible to the customers.

The following state diagram depicts the various checkout link states:

Before you begin

Before you begin to integrate the checkout link APIs, make sure you have followed the Get started section.

The prerequisite steps to accept a payments through APIs are listed below

Set up your test account.
Create your API key in order to create checkout links.
Set up webhooks to monitor the outcome. Notifications allow you to receive payment updates after you've sent the checkout link to your shopper.

Use case it solves

D2C (direct to customers) entrepreneurs and small businesses
If you are a small business or a D2C brand that sells its products or services primarily through social media channels, you can use these checkout links to generate an instant payment page and get paid.
Ecommerce platforms and marketplaces
Ecommerce merchants can also improve their daily financial conversion by following up on this quick payment collection via checkout link.
Conversational commerce
Online businesses that accept orders through chatbots can use checkout links to enable seamless order creation and online payment collection as part of the conversational flow.

In its simplest form, processing a payment requires only three steps: setting up the checkout link, sending the link to the customer, and determining whether or not the customer has paid based on the status of the checkout link.