Thanks to German consumers' habit of completing payments with just a bank account and no card, Sofort was long synonymous with online bank-transfer payments in Germany. However, since being acquired by Klarna in 2014, its exposure as a standalone brand has declined, and it is clearly being absorbed into Klarna checkout as an instant-transfer option.

For a new integration, it is more realistic to evaluate Klarna as the baseline rather than Sofort alone, and to consider displaying Sofort alongside it only if you have an existing base of loyal German customers accustomed to paying with the Sofort brand.

When a consumer selects their bank and logs in with their online banking credentials to approve the transfer, the merchant receives real-time payment confirmation. The confirmed transfer amount is received by Hecto Financial in euros (EUR) and then proceeds to the settlement stage.

Since this method is being integrated into Klarna, at the time of integration you will need to confirm with Hecto Financial whether Sofort is still offered as a standalone brand and whether it is routed through Klarna checkout.

• Business registration country

  Confirm contract eligibility for Korea-based merchants

• Sales channels

  The integration method and priority differ depending on your online sales channel mix, such as your own storefront, open marketplaces, or mobile apps

• Product categories

  Advance confirmation is needed to check whether your category falls under Sofort's restricted merchant policies

• EU regulatory compliance

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

Euro (EUR) amounts confirmed via transfer accumulate in the Hecto Financial receiving account, are converted, and are paid to the Korea-based merchant in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY was selected in the contract. The settlement cycle follows the contract terms.

Due to the nature of bank transfers, there is no card-style chargeback, but refunds under the EU consumer's 14-day right of withdrawal must be handled as a return transfer to the consumer's account, so a refund operating procedure should be set up in advance.

• Deutsche Bundesbank, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)Official information on Germany's payment system operations and financial supervision. Where this page differs from actual regulations, the official source takes precedence.