WooCommerce Sofort Payment Gateway

**Sofort** (also known as Sofortüberweisung) is a popular European direct bank transfer payment method. However, if you are setting this up in **2025**, there is a major change you need to be aware of: **Sofort is being officially retired as a standalone brand and consolidated into Klarna.** 

As of late 2024 and early 2025, many providers are phasing out the legacy "Sofort" gateway in favor of **Klarna's "Pay Now"** (which uses the same Sofort technology). 

--- 

### ## 1. Recommended Integration (Stripe) 

The most stable way to offer Sofort in 2025 is through the **WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway** plugin. 

* **Why:** Stripe handles the transition from Sofort to Klarna automatically. 
* **Step 1:** Install the [WooCommerce Stripe Gateway](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce-gateway-stripe/). 
* **Step 2:** In your WordPress dashboard, go to **WooCommerce > Settings > Payments**. 
* **Step 3:** Find **Stripe** and click **Manage**. 
* **Step 4:** Navigate to the **Settings** or **Payment Methods** tab within Stripe settings. 
* **Step 5:** Enable **Sofort** (or **Klarna** if Sofort is listed as deprecated). 
* *Note: Your Stripe account must be based in a supported country (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain).* 



--- 

### ## 2. Alternative: Official Klarna Payments 

Since Sofort is now a Klarna product, using the official Klarna plugin is the most "future-proof" method. 

* **Plugin:** [Klarna Payments for WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/klarna-payments-for-woocommerce/). 
* **Benefit:** It includes "Pay Now" (Sofort), "Pay Later," and "Financing" in one interface. 
* **Setup:** You will need a Klarna Merchant account. Once connected, "Pay Now" will function exactly like the traditional Sofort bank transfer. 

--- 

### ## 3. Legacy Sofort Plugin (Not Recommended) 

There is an original "Sofort Payment Gateway" plugin, but it has been largely discontinued on the official WooCommerce Marketplace as of **March 2025**. 

> **Warning:** If you find a "Sofort-only" plugin, check the last updated date. If it hasn't been updated recently, it may fail to handle the new **SCA (Strong Customer Authentication)** requirements or the redirect protocols used by modern European banks. 

--- 

### ## Key Information Table 

| Feature | Details | 
| --- | --- | 
| **Type** | Redirect (Direct Bank Transfer) | 
| **Settlement Time** | 2 to 14 days (it is not instant like a credit card) | 
| **Customer Experience** | Uses their own online banking PIN/TAN | 
| **SCA/PSD2** | Fully compliant (when used via Stripe/Klarna) | 
| **Supported Currencies** | Primarily EUR, CHF, GBP, PLN | 

--- 

### ### Common Issue: Orders stuck in "Pending Payment" 

Because Sofort is a "delayed notification" payment method, the order status in WooCommerce will remain **Pending Payment** until the bank confirms the funds (usually 2-3 business days). 

* **Do not ship the items** until the status changes to **Processing**. 
* **Webhooks:** Ensure your Webhooks are correctly configured in your Stripe or Klarna dashboard, otherwise your site will never "hear" from the bank that the payment was successful. 

**Would you like me to provide the specific Webhook URL format you need to add to your Stripe dashboard for Sofort to work?**