SOFORT Deprecation

Sofort is being deprecated by Klarna as a payment method this year. Sofort will no longer be available through PayPal as of April 18, 2024.

Background
Sofort is a bank transfer payment method available for buyers in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In 2014, Klarna acquired Sofort, which allows buyers to pay immediately using a linked card or bank account. Since the acquisition, Sofort continued to operate as an independent payment method.

What's changing?
Klarna is in the process of deprecating Sofort as a payment method.

Businesses currently offering Sofort are encouraged to use the following payment methods instead:

• PayPal: globally, PayPal has over 400 million active accounts. The PayPal wallet already includes the capability to make transactions directly via bank funding.

Additionally, your customers can pay with the following pay-by-bank solutions:

• Pay by Bank via Trustly
• Blik in Poland
• Bancontact in Belgium
  You will find a list of available payment options on this page: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/checkout/apm/

When do these changes take effect?
Sofort for merchants:

• Effective April 18, 2024, Sofort will be suspended as a payment method through your PayPal integration for all merchants. This also applies to Partners, who should also stop offering Sofort to their merchants. PayPal's Alternative Payment Methods Agreement (accessible via the PayPal Legal Hub) will also be updated on May 28, 2024, to remove Sofort from the list of available payment methods offered as part of PayPal's APM functionality.
• No extensions beyond April 18, 2024, will be provided.

Am I impacted by the deprecation if I am an existing merchant who already accepts Sofort?
Yes, existing merchants who already accept Sofort will not be able to continue processing Sofort payments after April 18, 2024. We recommend that you start migrating to the alternative options listed above to ensure the least interruption to your business.

What action do I need to take?
The required actions might vary based on your integration.
If you are a Partner, you'll need to do the following by April 18, 2024, to prevent disruption to your business:

• Update your code to prevent businesses from using your platform/plugin/app to turn on Sofort as a payment method.
• You may also need to update your own support and integration documentation and train impacted teams on the deprecation.
  If you are a merchant integrated via a partner,
• Your partner will be removing Sofort*.
  If you are a direct merchant, migrate your customers to PayPal wallet by:
• Using JS SDK integration
• Braintree SDK integration

What happens if I do not take action?

• Partners: If you do not take action to stop businesses from enabling Sofort by April 18, 2024, Sofort may still appear on their websites as an enabled payment method. However, if a buyer chooses to check out with Sofort, they will be presented with an error message.
• Direct merchants: If you do not take action to disable Sofort by April 18, 2024, Sofort may appear on your checkout page as an enabled payment method. However, if a buyer chooses to check out with Sofort, they will be presented with an error message.

How to integrate Trustly?
The guidelines to accept Trustly payments can be found here: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/checkout/apm/trustly/

How to integrate Blik?
The guidelines for accepting Blik payments can be found here: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/checkout/apm/blik/.

How to integrate Bancontact?
The guidelines for accepting Bancontact payments can be found here: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/checkout/apm/bancontact/.

* If you are integrated via a partner, for alternative APM options, please check your partner's offering.