How it works: Payment Link instead of terminal – why psychotherapists in Switzerland collect payments differently

A card terminal in the therapy room disrupts the therapeutic setting – the Payment Link is the more elegant alternative. Psychotherapists send a payment link via SMS or WhatsApp after the session. Clients pay discreetly at home using TWINT, card or mobile wallet. For online sessions, the Payment Link is the only sensible solution anyway.

This guide shows you what the Payment Link workflow looks like in practice in a psychotherapy practice, how you can use it for online sessions and how you can permanently eliminate outstanding payments with it.

1. The problem with the terminal in therapy

Imagine this: A patient has just finished an intensive session. The conversation ends, and the therapist accompanies them to the exit. And then: bringing out the terminal, inserting the card, entering the PIN, printing the receipt. This moment of payment disrupts the therapeutic transition and feels clinical – not because money has bad intentions, but because the context isn't right.

Many psychotherapists describe this moment as uncomfortable. Some avoid card payments entirely and only accept cash or TWINT transfers – with the well-known problems: no structured bookkeeping, no refund option, manual entry.

The Payment Link solves this structural problem without compromise: The checkout process is decoupled from the session in terms of time. The therapist sends the link after the session – in their own time, discreetly, without interrupting the end of the session.

2. The Payment Link workflow step by step

The entire workflow takes less than 2 minutes per session and can be completed entirely from your smartphone:

• Hold and conclude the session – no checkout process

• Create a new Payment Link in the Payrexx Dashboard: enter the amount, set an optional title (e.g. 'Session 3 June'), generate link

• Send link to the client via SMS

• Client pays at home: TWINT, card or mobile wallet, in under a minute

• Payment appears immediately in the Dashboard – no further action required

For practices with fixed session prices, we recommend a pre-configured Payment Link with the standard amount, which can be shared directly from the Dashboard. Even simpler: A Payrexx Page with the fixed session price as a permanent URL – set up once, always the same.

3. Online sessions: Payment Link before or after the session

Remote therapy via Zoom, Teams or other video conferencing tools has established itself permanently in Switzerland. There are two sensible Payment Link options for these sessions:

Prepayment before the session

The therapist sends the Payment Link with the appointment confirmation. The client pays before the session. Advantage: No payment step after the intensive session, the session starts with a paid context. Particularly suitable for new clients or when the risk of a no-show is high.

Payment after the session

As with in-person sessions: send link via WhatsApp after the session, client pays afterwards. Advantage: More flexible handling, amount can still be adjusted after the session (e.g. if the session lasted longer). Less upfront friction with existing clients.

4. Recurring Payments: Collect automatically without a manual link

For clients who come weekly or fortnightly, Recurring Payments are the most elegant solution: the client enters their credit card details once, and the amount is automatically deducted after each session. No manual link creation, no payment reminders, no outstanding payments.

Recurring Payments are included in all Payrexx plans, including Free. Important: Only Visa and Mastercard (debit and credit) support Recurring Payments via Payrexx – TWINT does not support tokenised recurrence. The client must explicitly authorise the automatic debit once. This happens when the Payment Link is first opened if Recurring is set up.

5. Eliminating outstanding payments: Why payment discipline is important

In psychotherapy, the relationship with money is a topic of its own. Some therapists hesitate to send payment reminders – the therapeutic relationship should not be strained by reminders. This leads to a silent tolerance of outstanding payments that accumulate over months.

The Payment Link establishes a different framework: Payment is part of the agreed setting, not a subsequent demand. When the client knows that a link will be sent after every session, paying is normal and expected – no awkward moments, no social embarrassment. Practices that consistently implement this system report significantly fewer outstanding payments.

In the event that a payment is missed: The payment status of each link is immediately visible in the Payrexx Dashboard. You can see at a glance which links are open and can follow up specifically – friendly and without a formal reminder: simply send the link again via WhatsApp.

6. Discretion and data protection with Payment Links

The Payment Link leads to a secure Payrexx payment page. The link itself does not contain any diagnoses, names or other sensitive data – it only contains the amount and an optional title. The client sees 'Session EUR 160' – nothing more. Payrexx is PCI DSS certified. Payment data is stored in tokenised form, no plain text credit card numbers.

According to the revised FADP (since September 2023), Payrexx is considered an order processor. For the practice, this means: conclude an order processing contract (DPA) according to Art. 9 FADP with Payrexx – Payrexx provides this upon request. Do not use diagnoses in the booking text: initials or a patient ID are sufficient for internal allocation.

7. Checklist: Setting up the Payment Link workflow in a psychotherapy practice

• Create a Payrexx account – the Free plan is sufficient for Payment Links

• Preconfigure a standard amount link or set up a Payrexx Page with the session price

• Activate TWINT and credit card as payment methods

• Prepare a WhatsApp or SMS template: 'Your payment link for today: [Link]'

• For weekly clients: set up Recurring Payments with credit card

• Define booking text convention: initials or ID, no diagnoses

• Check open links daily or weekly in the Dashboard

• Conclude a DPA with Payrexx (Art. 9 FADP)

Payrexx Payment Links are available in all plans, including Free. For psychotherapy practices that exclusively use Payment Links and Recurring Payments, the Free plan is a complete setup with no monthly fee. Transaction fees: TWINT Standard 1.25% + EUR 0.18, Visa/Mastercard Standard 1.65% + EUR 0.18. Accurate as of: May 2026.