Accepting Remote Payments Through Gravity Payments
July 12, 2026
By Alex Morgan, editorial reviewer of merchant-support documentation
Last reviewed: July 12, 2026
Gravity Payments merchants can request remote payments through Dashboard payment links, text messages and, when enabled for the account, ACH bank transfers. A link may be created for one customer or reused across several customers, but ACH payments do not receive the same immediate authorization as card transactions.
This independent article is not operated by Gravity Payments and cannot enable payment methods or inspect a merchant account.
What these Gravity Payments tools do
A Gravity payment link opens a hosted page where a customer completes the transaction without visiting the merchant’s premises. The business can distribute the URL by text, email, a website, social media or another approved communication channel.
Text to Pay is the delivery method. The merchant sends an SMS containing the payment link, the customer opens the page and chooses from the payment methods made available for that account. Gravity’s explanation lists options such as cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and ACH bank transfer, but availability can depend on the merchant configuration.
ACH moves money between checking or savings accounts. Gravity says an ACH payment may take anywhere from several hours to several business days, and it requires authorization from the party sending the funds.
| Tool | Best fit | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Single-use link | One invoice or customer | Intended for one payment request |
| Multi-use link | Repeated sales, donations or shared offers | Requires careful amount and expiration settings |
| Text to Pay | Sending a payment request to a phone | The customer must trust and open the link |
| ACH | Invoices, recurring bills or larger amounts | Funds can be returned after submission |
| Virtual Terminal | Staff-entered remote card payment | Treated as card-not-present processing |
Gravity Dashboard contains transaction reporting, batch history and a Virtual Terminal, while its Merchant Logins page routes merchants to Dashboard or an applicable legacy account system.
Create a single-use payment link
Inside Gravity Dashboard, open Payment Link from the left-hand menu and select Create Link. Choose Single-Use Link when collecting a defined amount from one customer.
Gravity’s current documentation lists these fields:
- Customer Name
- Amount
- Description (optional)
- Reference Number (optional)
- Link Expiration in days (optional)
After selecting Create Link, the merchant can send it by Email, Text or Copy URL for manual delivery.
Use the reference field for an internal invoice or order identifier when reconciliation depends on it. Skip vague descriptions when several outstanding payments have the same amount, because the transaction may be harder to match later.
A single-use link is the better choice for a specific invoice. Do not post it publicly or reuse it for unrelated customers.
Build a multi-use link carefully
A Multi-Use Link can be shared with several customers through a website, social page or direct communication. Gravity lets the merchant choose a set amount or a custom amount range.
The setup includes a link name, customer-facing description and optional switches requiring an invoice number or shipping address. An expiration limit can also be entered.
The difference matters.
A set-amount link works for a fixed-price item or standard deposit. A custom-amount link may suit donations, variable balances or customers paying different invoice totals. Gravity’s support instructions say a custom amount requires the merchant to define a minimum and maximum payment range.
Require an invoice number when customers may submit different amounts. Require a shipping address only when the transaction workflow needs it; unnecessary fields add friction and can increase abandonment.
How Text to Pay reaches the customer
Gravity describes the customer path in five stages: the merchant sends the link, the customer opens the invoice, selects an available payment method, completes the transaction and receives a confirmation text and receipt.
The customer should enter payment information only on the hosted payment page. A business should not ask for banking or card details in an ordinary SMS reply.
Payment links can also be distributed by email or social media, so Text to Pay does not require a separate website. Gravity presents hosted payment pages as another option for businesses that need branding and a checkout-style experience without maintaining a full ecommerce site.
Send the request from a recognizable business conversation when possible. An unexplained link from an unfamiliar number can resemble phishing even when the page itself is legitimate.
ACH payments are not confirmed immediately
A card may be approved or declined while the customer is completing the transaction. ACH works differently.
Gravity says ACH transactions are not authorized in real time and can later be rejected by the bank. A merchant may receive an ACH return code within two to four business days, depending on the situation.
This creates a practical accounting problem: a submitted ACH payment should not automatically be treated as irreversible cash.
Common return codes listed by Gravity include:
- R01: Insufficient funds
- R02: Account closed
- R03: No account or unable to locate account
- R04: Invalid account-number structure
Gravity says ACH reject fees are typically $2 to $5 per rejected transaction and are billed during the month after processing. The company presents that as a typical range, not a universal quote for every merchant agreement.
Wait for the transaction’s actual status. Skip immediate shipment or irreversible work when the business cannot absorb a later ACH return.
Payment-link pricing needs a separate check
Gravity’s advertised flat rate is 2.5% plus $0.10 for qualified in-person transactions. Its pricing page expressly says payments accepted when the customer is not physically present, or payments integrated into software, may not qualify for that rate.
Payment links and Text to Pay are remote-payment methods. A merchant should therefore confirm the applicable card-not-present or integrated rate rather than applying the in-person headline price.
Gravity also promotes ACH as a potentially lower-cost alternative to cards, but its public pages do not provide one universal ACH processing price for every account.
Check these items in the quote or processing statement:
- Per-transaction ACH charge
- ACH return charge
- Card-not-present rate
- Gateway or software fee
- Monthly minimum
- Payment-link or messaging charge, if any
- Funding schedule
Pricing varies by account arrangement.
Why a Gravity payment link may fail
Start with the link settings.
A link may have been created with an expiration limit, or the merchant may have cancelled or replaced the request. Gravity’s Dashboard documentation allows an optional expiration period for both single-use and multi-use links.
Other common frictions include:
- The copied URL is incomplete.
- The customer is opening an older request.
- The amount is outside the custom link’s permitted range.
- A required invoice number or shipping address is missing.
- The intended payment method is not enabled for that merchant.
- The transaction was submitted but later returned through ACH.
Create a replacement link when the original settings are wrong. Skip repeated attempts against an expired or cancelled request.
When several customers report the same problem, check Gravity’s system-status link from the official site before changing multiple account settings. The company also publishes 24-hour multilingual support through its support library.
Integrated Text to Pay has different rules
Gravity’s emergepay developer documentation describes a separate API-based Text to Pay implementation. An integration specialist must establish the sandbox account and associated credentials before development begins.
The current documentation says the API supports CreditSale as its Text to Pay transaction type. If no custom expiration is supplied, the generated payment page has a default expiration of 90 days.
Cancellation is final. Once the cancellation request succeeds, Gravity says the link cannot be modified or used for payment.
Developers must also expect multiple transaction postbacks for one payment request. Gravity explains that a customer may have one card declined, enter another card and then complete the payment, producing several status messages tied to the same external transaction identifier.
This is easy to mishandle. Deduplicate by the transaction identifier and retain the full status trail rather than treating every postback as a separate invoice payment.
FAQ
Can Gravity Payments send a payment link by text?
Yes. Dashboard supports text delivery.
Does the customer need a Gravity account?
Gravity’s published customer flow sends the payer directly to a hosted invoice or payment page. It does not describe a requirement for the customer to maintain a merchant Dashboard account.
Can one Gravity payment link be used several times?
A multi-use link can. Gravity allows merchants to use a set amount or define a permitted custom range and distribute the link to several customers.
How long does an ACH payment take?
Gravity says ACH can take from several hours to several business days. A rejection code is commonly received within two to four business days when the bank returns the payment.
Why was an ACH payment returned?
Possible reasons include insufficient funds, a closed account, an account that cannot be located or incorrectly structured account details. The return code attached to the transaction identifies the reported reason.
Does Gravity charge the in-person rate for Text to Pay?
Do not assume that. Gravity limits its advertised 2.5% plus $0.10 rate to qualified in-person transactions and says card-not-present or software-integrated payments may not qualify.
Can a cancelled Text to Pay link be restored?
Not in the documented emergepay API. Gravity describes cancellation as irreversible, meaning the merchant must generate a new payment request when collection is still required.
The dependable workflow is to choose the correct link type, label the payment clearly, confirm remote-payment pricing and wait for an ACH transaction’s actual result before treating it as settled.