How Text to Pay Works
Three steps from "how would you like to pay?" to paid.
Agent sends the link
From the FloPay dashboard, the two-way inbox or the API, your agent creates a payment request and sends a secure SMS link to the customer's mobile number, after capturing consent with the published script.
Customer pays
The customer taps the link and enters card or bank details on a hosted checkout page, or uses Apple Pay or Google Pay. The card is tokenized on the page and never reaches your systems.
Payment confirmed
FloPay processes the payment through your gateway, texts or emails a receipt, updates the dashboard and fires a webhook, all in real time.
Why Text to Pay?
Stop taking card numbers over the phone. Text payments are more secure, more convenient and approve more often.
For Your Business
- Higher approval rates than MOTO transactions
- Classified as customer-initiated (CIT) by the card networks
- Fewer chargebacks on authenticated, customer-entered payments
- Never handle raw card numbers, which keeps PCI scope small
- Agents handle more customers at the same time
- Schedule payment links for future delivery
For Your Customers
- Pay from their phone in under 30 seconds
- No app to download or account to create
- Secure hosted checkout with encryption
- Pay by credit card, debit card or bank transfer
- Apple Pay and Google Pay supported
- Instant receipt by text or email
CIT vs MOTO: Why It Matters
Card networks treat a text payment differently from a phone payment, and that works in your favor.
When a customer enters their own card on a hosted checkout page reached from a text link, the transaction is classified as customer-initiated (CIT). When an agent takes the card number over the phone and keys it in, it is a mail order / telephone order (MOTO) transaction. Issuers trust the first far more than the second.
- Higher approval rates: issuers decline customer-initiated payments less often
- 3-D Secure eligibility: strong authentication can shift fraud liability to the issuer
- Fewer chargebacks: authenticated, customer-entered payments are harder to dispute
- Stored credential support: tokenize once with the right consent, charge again for installments or subscriptions
Read the full explanation in CIT vs MIT: why it matters.
Text to Pay vs Email Invoice vs Phone Payment
The same amount collected three ways. Only one of them is fast, cheap and keeps the card out of your hands.
| Text to pay | Email invoice | Phone payment (MOTO) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who enters the card | The customer, on a hosted page | The customer, on a hosted page | Your agent, from dictation |
| Transaction type | Customer-initiated (CIT) | Customer-initiated (CIT) | MOTO, keyed |
| Typical time to payment | Minutes; most texts are read within minutes of arrival | Hours to days; depends on the inbox | Immediate if the customer has the card out, otherwise a callback |
| Card data exposure | None to your staff or systems | None to your staff or systems | Spoken aloud, written down, keyed by staff |
| PCI scope for you | Smallest | Smallest | Largest: phones, agents and any recordings are in scope |
| Best for | Balances due now, field and phone sales, reminders | Detailed invoices, B2B, anything that needs a PDF | Customers who cannot or will not use a link |
FloPay sends both text and email invoices from the same order, so you can lead with email and follow up by text on the same payment link.
Text to Pay by Industry
The same link, used at the moment each business gets paid.
Home Services
The technician marks the job done and the customer pays the balance before the truck leaves. See home services.
Auto Repair
The approval text and the payment text use the same thread; the car is paid for before pickup. See auto repair.
Medical and Dental
Patient balances after insurance, texted the day the statement posts, paid without a mailed bill. See practices.
Legal Practices
Retainers and invoices by link, routed to the operating or trust profile you choose. See legal.
Property Management
Rent reminders by text that carry the link, with fees and deposits paid the same way. See property management.
Insurance Agencies
Premium down payments and installments by text, with the financing agreement signed on the same page. See insurance.
Consent, Opt-Out and Compliance Built In
A payment text is the most regulated eleven words a business sends. The TCPA requires prior express consent for the number, the carriers require registration and documented opt-in and opt-out flows under 10DLC, and the CTIA principles set the content rules. FloPay sends only transactional messages: payment links, reminders and receipts, with the business name, an opt-out instruction and a link to a hosted, tokenized checkout.
- Consent is captured with the verbal script and checkout checkbox published in our SMS consent policy and recorded against the customer
- STOP and HELP replies are handled automatically and STOP writes to a suppression list
- Reminder timing and frequency are set per business in customer messaging
- Links use HTTPS on a recognizable domain and open a PCI-compliant hosted page; card data never appears in a text
The full rulebook, with consent language you can copy, is in our guide to text-to-pay compliance.
Text to Pay Features
Everything you need for SMS-based payment collection.
- Twilio-powered SMS delivery
- Configurable payment link expiration (1 hour to 7 days)
- Hosted checkout, no coding required
- Credit card, debit, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay
- 3-D Secure authentication support
- Consent tracking and opt-in management
- Scheduled text payment links and reminders
- Two-way agent inbox with templates
- Real-time payment status tracking
- Webhook notifications on payment events
- Tokenize card on file for future payments
- Full REST API for custom integrations
Ready to get paid by text?
Start sending secure payment links by SMS in minutes. We will walk through consent, the hosted page and the inbox on a live demo.
Talk to SalesFrequently Asked Questions
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How does the customer receive the payment link?
As a standard SMS text message containing a secure link. When they tap it, a hosted checkout page opens in their mobile browser. No app download or account creation is required.
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Is text to pay secure?
Yes. Card data is entered on a PCI-compliant hosted checkout page and tokenized immediately. Raw card numbers never touch your servers or FloPay's servers, and every link uses HTTPS.
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Does text to pay work for a small business?
It is built for one. There is no integration required: an agent sends the link from the dashboard, the customer pays on their phone, and the receipt goes out automatically. The same link works for a one-person contractor and a multi-location operator, on any supported gateway.
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Can I send payment reminders by text?
Yes, as long as the customer consented to texts and the reminder stays transactional: business name, amount, reference, link and an opt-out instruction. Reminder timing and frequency are set per business, and anyone who replies STOP is suppressed automatically. See the compliance guide for the rules and wording.
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Do payment links expire?
Yes. You can configure link expiration from 1 hour to 7 days. Expired links show a friendly message and the customer can request a new one.
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What does it cost the customer to pay by text?
Nothing beyond their carrier's standard message and data rates, which the consent language discloses. The payment itself is processed like any card or bank payment on your gateway.
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What about SMS consent and TCPA compliance?
FloPay includes consent tracking and opt-in management. Agents follow a verbal consent script and record the customer's approval, or the customer ticks a checkbox at checkout. Customers can reply STOP at any time to opt out. Messages are transactional only, with the business name and an opt-out instruction, which is what the TCPA, the carriers' 10DLC rules and the CTIA principles expect.
Talk to Sales
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