How to create a UPI payment link and share it on WhatsApp

A customer asks how to pay. You could send your UPI ID and hope they type it right, or you could send a link that opens their UPI app with your name, the amount and a note already filled in. All they do is check it and enter their PIN.

That link is a UPI payment link. Here's how to make one, what's inside it, and how to share it so it actually works when it arrives on someone's phone.

What a UPI payment link looks like

A UPI payment link starts with upi://pay and carries a few fields:

upi://pay?pa=sam@okaxis&pn=Sam%20Bakes&am=450&cu=INR&tn=Order%2042

• pa: your UPI ID, the payee address. This is the only field you must have.
• pn: the name people see on the payment screen.
• am: the amount in rupees. Leave it out and the payer types the amount.
• cu: the currency, always INR.
• tn: a short note, which shows in both payment histories.

Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM and the banks' own UPI apps all read the same fields. A UPI QR code is simply this link drawn as a QR code.

How to make one

The quickest way is our UPI QR code generator:

1. Type your UPI ID, for example yourname@okaxis, and the name people should see.
2. Add an amount and a note, or leave them empty.
3. Copy the pay link, and download the QR code as PNG or SVG.

It runs in your browser. We never see your UPI ID or the payments, and the money goes straight from the payer's bank to yours, with no fee from us.

You can also type the link by hand. Replace spaces with %20 so the name and note survive, and use a plain number for the amount, like 450 or 99.50.

Fixed amount or open amount

Leave the amount empty for a link you can use again and again: in your Instagram bio, on a price list, or on a sticker by the till. Each payer types what they owe.

Set an amount for a single bill, a class fee or a fixed-price order, so nobody types the wrong number. Put the order number or the customer's name in the note, so you can match the payment when it arrives.

Many banks cap a single UPI payment at ₹1,00,000, so a larger amount may be refused. Split big bills, or use a bank transfer for those.

Sharing it on WhatsApp

Here's the catch. Chat and email apps usually only turn web addresses (the ones starting with https://) into tappable links. A upi:// link may arrive as plain text that does nothing when tapped. And someone paying on the same phone can't point their camera at their own screen to scan your QR code.

So send three things together:

1. The QR code as an image. Every major UPI app can scan a QR code from a photo in the gallery: the payer saves the image, opens their UPI app, chooses to scan, and picks the photo.
2. Your UPI ID as text, so they can copy it and pay to the ID directly.
3. The amount and the note, so they know what to type if they pay by ID.

Hi Priya, your total is ₹450 for order 42. Pay by scanning the QR code below in any UPI app, or to sam@okaxis. Thank you.

On a web page or in a PDF, the upi:// link works better. On Android, tapping it offers a choice of UPI apps. On iPhone it depends on which apps are installed, so keep the QR code and UPI ID next to the link there too.

Test before you share

Before you print the code or send the link to customers, pay yourself a small amount from another phone, ideally with a different UPI app. Check three things:

• The right name appears on the payment screen.
• The amount and note come through as you set them.
• The money lands in the account you expect.

A typo in a UPI ID is easy to miss and costly once the code is on every table.

Stay safe, and tell your customers

You never need to enter your UPI PIN to receive money. A PIN is only for paying. If anyone sends a "payment link" or "refund QR code" that asks for a PIN so you can receive money, it's a scam. It's worth saying this to customers too, especially if you send pay links regularly.

Payers should always check the name on the payment screen before entering their PIN. That's why the name field matters: make it the name your customers know you by.

Put your pay QR on your page

If you're sending your UPI details to customers every day, put them in one place. A free Liite page at liite.co/yourname can hold your pay QR code next to your menu or price list, your opening hours and your WhatsApp link. Upload the QR code as an image, add your UPI ID in a text block, and share or print the page's own QR code.

When your prices change, edit the page. The printed QR code keeps working, because it points at the page, not at a fixed amount.

Make your pay link with the UPI QR code generator, then make your free page to keep it next to everything else customers ask for. Selling in Singapore? The same tool makes PayNow QR codes from a mobile number or UEN.