The End of an Era for Sofort

As of September 30, Klarna will depreciate Sofort, marking a significant change for many businesses across Europe - particularly in Germany. Sofort has established itself as a trusted payment method, facilitating seamless direct bank transfers. So why the change? In this piece we’ll outline why Klarna has taken this decision, what that means for businesses and how alternatives like Yapily can end up bringing greater advantages to their offerings.

Why Klarna is Depreciating Sofort

Sofort is not being punished for a Crowdstrike style outage. It continues to be a reliable provider for European bank transfers and will continue to operate as it always did. Klarna’s decision to discontinue Sofort is instead driven by a need to consolidate and enhance its payment services. By focusing on its main products, Klarna aims to provide a more unified and robust payment experience for users. This strategic shift also aligns with broader trends in the fintech industry towards more integrated and efficient payment solutions.

How this could impact your business

For businesses that have relied on Sofort via Klarna for secure and efficient payments, they are of course now presented with a challenge. These businesses will need to adapt quickly to ensure continuity in their payment operations.

However, while transitioning to new payment methods can seem daunting, it can also be an opportunity for growth and innovation. Alternative providers such as Yapily have their own benefits, which can result in a stronger payment offering than businesses previously had.

Embracing Open Banking: The Yapily Advantage

Like Sofort, Yapily also offers open banking, enabling businesses to initiate transfers directly from bank accounts. However, Yapily works slightly differently. Yapily gives businesses access to real-time payment rails, ensuring that transactions settle in a matter of seconds. What’s more, being a strictly open banking provider, payment UX is built around making the open banking payment flow as simple and intuitive as possible for all end users.

Access to real-time payment rails can ease longstanding issues relating to cash flow, while also keeping payment costs down.

Seamless Integration and Enhanced Security

Whilst new benefits may be available with a different approach, an understandable concern of businesses will be that the transition to a different provider will be disruptive to their business. Fear not. Yapily addresses this with comprehensive API documentation and dedicated support, making the transition as seamless as possible. Additionally, Yapily’s robust encryption and stringent authentication protocols ensure that transactions are safe, meeting the critical need for security in today’s digital age.

A Bright Future with Yapily

While the depreciation of Sofort marks the end of an era, it also opens the door to new opportunities. By transitioning to Yapily’s open banking solutions, businesses can enhance their payment operations with faster, more secure transactions, and ensure they stay competitive in an ever-evolving market.

This is why Yapily was created - to build better and fairer financial services for everyone. If you have any questions on what the transition to Yapily looks like in more detail, get in touch with us today.

Get in touch to learn more about how Yapily can power your product innovation. Exploring your options? Check out our Open Banking Buyer’s Guide to understand how to vet providers and choose the best partner.