This German payment service has been operating since 2005 and has since expanded beyond the borders of Germany. Currently, many banks work with Sofort not only in Germany, but also in Austria, Italy, Poland, Spain, Hungary, and France. So in the European Union, paying for purchases using Sofort is convenient and does not cause any problems.
Sofort was founded in Germany in 2005. It was originally a local payment service, but eventually entered the international market. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Swedish Klarna Group of companies. This is not a payment system, but a payment service. In other words, Sofort does not have its own internal wallet, which is why it differs from classical electronic payment systems.
Payment services of this type are needed to make it easier to work with your bank account. Instead of going to a bank branch and making a transfer of money from their account to the merchant’s account, the client can do the same thing through the payment service.
The only thing you need is that your bank must be a Sofort partner. It is supported by hundreds of large and small banks in Germany, Austria, Italy and other European countries. So an EU resident should not have any problems with this.
As for support, the ability to pay via Sofort is supported by more than 25,000 online stores. Online casino support is also quite good. The service processes more than 2 million requests per month. Of course, the customer base is growing, so the service has a bright future.
Advantages and disadvantages of Sofort
Among the advantages, we note:
- ease of use – you don’t even need to register to use Sofort. If you have a bank account and the bank is a partner of the service, you can use it;
- speed of transaction confirmation. The payment process is almost instantaneous. You will have to wait at most a couple of seconds;
- security and anonymity. PIN and TAN codes are used for confirmation. The PIN code is used for general access to the account, and TAN is a one-time code that is generated to confirm one specific transaction.;
- no commission is charged to the client by the payment service;
- unlike many other similar services, Sofort allows you to withdraw money from your online casino account. However, not all online casinos have this option. Please check with our technical support service.
There were also some drawbacks:
- only 1 currency is supported – euro. If your casino account is opened in a different currency, you will lose a little on conversion;
- you can use the service without any problems mainly in European countries. Sofort’s partner banks are mainly located there.
If you compare the advantages and disadvantages, Sofort stands out from the competition because it allows you to withdraw funds to a bank account. This opportunity is really rare. Usually payment services of this type work in the same direction.
How to top up your online casino account
To make sure that your casino supports this deposit method, go to the Payments section on the casino’s website. Usually Sofort is present.
Deposits to your account are made in this order:
- on the casino’s website, Sofort is selected as the deposit method and the deposit amount is indicated;
- after that, the client is redirected to the payment service page;
- here you need to enter the account holder’s full name, account number, and other details from your bank account;
- using the TAN code, the transaction is confirmed directly. Money is debited from the account instantly and ends up on the merchant’s account. In the case of a casino, you can continue playing immediately after payment.
As for the support of online casinos, their number reaches about a hundred. Almost any major European casino supports the option of depositing funds via Sofort.
Conclusion
The Sofort payment service can be used to top up your casino account, but only if you have an account with a partner bank. Otherwise, this method will not be available to you. There are no problems with this in Europe. Most banks, even small ones, work with Sofort. Outside of European countries, there is no guarantee that the bank will cooperate with this service.