Sofort
Information on the Sofort payment method.
- Introduction
- User Experience
- Details
- How to activate Sofort
- Merchant Categories
- Payment method messaging
- Get Support
Introduction
Sofort (previously known as ‘Direct Pay’) is a payment method allowing customers to pay via fast and easy direct bank transfers.
Some of the main benefits of offering Sofort as a payment method are:
- Popularity: Trusted by more than 85 million users and available in 13 countries
- Speed and ease of use: Customers can quickly and easily log into their chosen bank and complete a payment
- Security: Every payment is authorised securely within the bank’s environment
- Get started quickly: There is no need for the merchant to have an account with Sofort
User Experience
Screenshots
At the checkout page, the customer chooses Sofort as their preferred payment method:
The customer is directed to a Sofort-hosted page to search for and select their preferred bank:
They are then either redirected to their bank’s online environment or continue on the Sofort-hosted page. Either way, the following actions are essentially the same:
The customer logs into their bank account using their credentials:
The customer then reviews the payment before confirming the transaction using a transaction authorization code:
Lastly, the customer is redirected back to the merchant:
Videos
Please also see our videos below, outlining the desktop and mobile use of Sofort:
Desktop:
Mobile:
Details
Merchants do not need to have an account with Sofort
- How to activate: Please refer to the How to activate section below
- Payment method type: Asynchronous- payments are not confirmed immediately, it may take up to 1 hour to receive confirmation of payment. You need to set up webhooks in order to get notified for asynchronous payments
- Refunds: Supports partial and full refunds
- Recurring payments: Not yet supported
- Pre-authorizations: Not yet supported
- Restricted MCC: Some Merchant Categories are not eligible to have Sofort activated
- Μerchant countries: Available for merchants registered in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal & Spain, United Kingdom
- Customer countries: Available to customers in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom
- Pricing: Please refer to our pricing page under the main navigation for more information
- Settlement: Customer payments are deposited next day into your business account for confirmed payments / successful transactions (i.e. have statusId = F)
- Cross-currency payments: Not yet supported
- Additional notes: The Email address and Customer Name fields within Smart Checkout are optional
How to activate Sofort
Merchants do not need to have an account with Sofort
| Environment | Activation details |
|---|---|
| Production | This payment method is available upon positive review of your request. For more information, please contact your Viva sales representative. Alternatively, you can contact us directly via our live chat facility(which can be found in your *Production* Viva self-care account). *You may visit our Test Cards and Environments page for further information on how to make test payments with Sofort. |
| Demo |
Merchant Categories
There are some merchant categories that are not eligible to have Sofort activated. If your business is in one of these categories, you will not be able to accept payments through Sofort:
| Merchant Category (MCC) | Description |
|---|---|
| 5094 | Precious Stones and Metals, Watches and Jewelry |
| 5122 | Drugs, Drug Proprietors, and Druggist’s Sundries |
| 5499 | Misc. Food Stores – Convenience Stores and Specialty Markets |
| 5912 | Drug Stores and Pharmacies |
| 5962 | Direct Marketing – Travel Related Arrangements Services |
| 5966 | Direct Marketing- Outbound Telemarketing Merchant |
| 5967 | Direct Marketing – Inbound Teleservices Merchant |
| 5999 | Miscellaneous and Specialty Retail Stores |
| 7322 | Debt collection |
| 7996 | Amusement Parks, Carnivals, Circuses, Fortune Tellers |
| 9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
Payment method messaging
It is important that the customer is aware of the payment methods you offer via Smart Checkout, as this will increase conversion and average order values. Please see our payment method messaging guide for more details on why and where we would recommend adding this information to your site.
If desired, you can download and use this icon on your site or online store, in order to show customers you offer Sofort as a payment method:
Get Support
If you would like to integrate with Viva, or if you have any queries about our products and solutions, please see our Contact & Support page to see how we can help!