What’s the difference between a payment link and a payment?

A payment link is a unique link you can share with a customer which allows them to make a payment to your business using Stitch Express.
A payment exists once the customer has selected a payment method and initiated a payment.

Example: create a payment link

POST /api/v1/payment-links
{
 "amount": 1,
 "merchantReference": "string",
 "expiresAt": "2026-02-17T09:39:07.159Z",
 "payerName": "string",
 "payerEmailAddress": "test@test.express",
 "payerPhoneNumber": "+27791231234",
 "collectDeliveryDetails": true,
 "skipCheckoutPage": false,
 "deliveryFee": 0
}

Example response

{
 "paymentId": "pay_123",
 "status": "CREATED"
}

The payment itself appears later, once the customer pays.

More detail is available here:
👉 Official Stitch Express API

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