If you are one of those who send and receive money over the Internet, you may be familiar with various payment methods such as PayPal, Western Union... but what about Sofort? What is?
If you want to know another of the online payment methods and know what it can offer you, in addition to knowing the guarantees it has, Take a look at everything you need to know about Sofort.
What is Sofort?
Sofort It is one of the most booming means of payment over the Internet.. In fact, both in Germany and Austria it has a very high acceptance, in addition to its use. But it is also known in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy or even in Spain.
The company that created it is Payment Network AG, which belongs to Klarna Bank AB. And yes, as far as you can tell, Klarna is a bank, specifically a fintech bank that provides online financial services, being one of them the means of payment by Internet.
His name, Sofort, comes because of the german word “immediate”, as one of the characteristics of this payment method.
What has made this online payment method so successful, and why many use it, is due to your security and privacy. And it is that Sofort is audited and certified by the German certifying agency TÜV, an organization whose requirements to obtain this certificate are quite high, hence it is very reliable.
But it doesn't stop there. It also offers additional payment tests that are created in the system itself, notifying the parties and offering bank data privacy (you cannot access them if there is no consent and authorization for it).
The origin of Comfort
To find out when Sofort was born we have to go until 2005. At that time a small company settled in Munich. We are talking about Payment Network AG. This had, among its services, a special payment platform that It was characterized by being economical, instantaneous and safe.. In addition, it was adapted to any banking platform so that it could be used without problems.
Like all beginnings, it was difficult at first. But the fact of being fast and also very easy to use soon many platforms and banks were encouraged to include it in their services and little by little it was leaving Germany to give support to other countries in Europe.
In fact, today it is useful in more than 30.000 physical and online businesses as well as in about 100 different banks.
How Sofort works
Now that you know what Sofort is, maybe it catches your attention and you want to try it. The truth is that it is not difficult to create an account. But we must tell you that to make a payment you do not even need to register, much less give private data or data that someone can "hack" you with. Payment is always made from the bank's bank account, but Sofort is used to carry it out.
This allows the transaction to be much faster because you would only have to:
- Choose the country and the bank from where the transaction is made (in this case the payment).
- Add bank details. This is done in a secure environment enabled by Sofort.
- It is confirmed that everything is correct and accepted to obtain a confirmation of the transfer that has been made. These transfers can be carried out immediately or take about 4 days to become effective.
These data entered are encrypted in such a way that they are encrypted and only the other party will be able to “understand” them.
Comfort in Spain
You may not have heard of it. But you should know that there are currently companies and banks that are using iteither. Specifically, if you have an account at BBVA, La Caixa, Banco Santander or others, this system is included and you can make transactions through it.
As for companies, some important ones, such as PCComponentes, or Iberia, offer the possibility of buying using this payment method. It is true that many times it may sound familiar to you but you have not used it, however, more and more eCommerces are betting on it.
In the case of users, there are those who use it (especially to buy in installments without commissions).
If you want to visit the offices in Spain, these are in Madrid. Just search for Klarna Spain SL
Sofort's new name
Another point to keep in mind has to do with its name. As we have said before, Sofort means immediacy in Spanish. But You should know that Sofort is now called Klarna.
In fact, it is not exactly like that. In Germany and Austria, Sofort is PayNow. In the rest of the countries it is known as Klarna.
It was in 2014 that Sofort was bought by Klarna and since then belongs to this Swedish group, specialized in financial products and payment methods. Hence the name changed.
Advantages of using this payment method
If you have an eCommerce, it is possible that on some occasion you have received a suggestion to use Sofort or even that they have contacted you. If you are considering it, you actually have many advantages of using it. For example:
- You offer another payment method to your customers, and it's fast, secure and easy to use.
- Order can be confirmed instantly and also process it with you.
- Reduce costs and commissions. In addition to that you will be able to accept payments of high amounts (something that, with other systems, you may not be able to do).
Drawbacks
Not all good is good, nor is all bad bad. There are always pros and cons. And in the case of Sofort, or Klarna, hardly any inconvenience for users, but yes for the sellers or companies that use it since commission may be higher than expecteda.
In some comments we have seen in the app they also talk about “surprise” commissions on immediate transactions, so it is better to review, both from one side (user) and from another (entrepreneur, company...) if it is a good idea to use it or implement it in the business.
Now that you know what Sofort, or Klarna, is, would you dare to use it on your computer or through the app it has?