There's something important to know up front. Sofort is not an independent service; it is owned by Klarna, and its bank-transfer functionality is being merged into Klarna's Pay Now. In Austria, the preference for bank transfers remains strong, so demand for Sofort-style transfer payments is still real, but eps exists separately as the Austrian banking industry's own transfer standard for the same transfer-type method. So when adopting it newly, it is more accurate to evaluate it against the Klarna product line or against eps, rather than as "Sofort on its own."

For merchants that already have German or Austrian customer traffic accustomed to the Sofort button, or that want to bundle Klarna's pay-later and bank-transfer options into a single contract, adopting it through Klarna is more convenient to manage. See the Klarna Austria page to review the pay-later and installment models together.

When a consumer pays via Sofort (Pay Now), they approve the transfer by logging into their own bank, and the merchant immediately receives an authorization notice that functions as a payment guarantee. The euro (EUR) funds are then collected and converted by Hecto Financial and paid out to the merchant in Korea in the USD, KRW, or JPY currency set at contract time.

Because the brand is in the middle of a merger, the exact form of the offering at the time you integrate—whether the Sofort brand is retained, whether it is bundled into Klarna Checkout—may vary. Be sure to confirm the quote and terms with Hecto Financial based on the current form of the offering at the time of consultation.

• Business registration country

  Confirm contract eligibility for businesses registered in Korea

• Sales channels

  The integration approach and priorities vary depending on your mix of online sales channels, such as your own site, open marketplaces, and mobile apps

• Product categories

  Check in advance whether your products fall under restricted categories per Sofort's operator merchant policy

• EU regulatory compliance

  Confirm compliance with EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA (see official sources below)

Euro funds paid via the Sofort route also follow the same structure: local collection by Hecto Financial, currency conversion, and settlement in the chosen currency of USD, KRW, or JPY. Being transfer-based, there is no chargeback risk, but keep in mind that refunds arising from an Austrian consumer's 14-day right-of-withdrawal return must be processed as a return transfer.

• Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)Official information on Austria's payment systems and statistics. If actual regulations differ from this page's content, the official source takes precedence.
• Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA)Official regulatory information on payment services licensing and supervision.