Sofort was for years the way German speaking players paid a casino straight from their bank: pick your bank, log in, confirm with a TAN, done. Then Klarna, which had owned Sofort since 2014, folded it into its own Pay now service and switched off Sofort as a standalone method in autumn 2024. Many casinos still show the Sofort name, but what runs behind it has changed.
For players the idea lives on. Paying directly from a bank account, with no card and no wallet in between, is still one of the most popular ways to deposit in Germany, Austria and neighbouring countries. What matters now is knowing what a Sofort button in a cashier actually does today, and which bank payment methods have taken its place.
Below are the casinos we rate for players who used to pay with Sofort, followed by what changed, how Klarna Pay now works at the cashier, how payouts are handled and which alternatives give you the same instant bank deposit.
Reviewed byFred Anderson
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Can you still pay with Sofort at online casinos?
Not as a separate service. Klarna, which owns Sofort, stopped offering Sofort as a standalone payment method on 1 October 2024 and moved it into Klarna Pay now. Some casinos still label the option Sofort, and it may route through Klarna, while others have replaced it with Trustly, Rapid Transfer or another open banking method. All of these work the same way: you log in to your own bank and confirm the payment, and the deposit arrives instantly. Withdrawals go by bank transfer, so check the payout options and verify your account before your first deposit.
For years Sofort was simply how Germans, Austrians and Swiss paid online from their bank. It launched in Germany in 2005, Klarna bought it in 2014, and for about a decade the two brands ran side by side.
Klarna stopped taking on new Sofort merchants from late 2023. On 1 October 2024 it switched Sofort off as a standalone method in every market. The bank payment part did not vanish, though. It carries on inside Klarna Pay now, under the Klarna brand.
Players know the name, and not every cashier got relabelled. That is why you still spot Sofort in payment lists, and why the tag sits on so many casino profiles, ours included.
Click a Sofort option in a casino cashier now and you will usually end up in one of three places:
The window that opens tells you which case you are in. The first two both finish at your own bank’s login, so either is fine. If you hit the third, pick the bank payment option listed under its current name and deposit exactly the same way.
If you want the old Sofort experience, Klarna Pay now is as close as it gets. Select it in the cashier, choose your bank and sign in with your normal online banking details inside the Klarna window.
Approval works the way your bank already does it, with a TAN, a card reader or a push message in your banking app. The casino gets confirmation on the spot and credits your balance.
Do not confuse this with Klarna’s pay later and instalment products. Licensed casinos will not accept them for gambling, and frankly you should be glad of that. At a casino, Klarna only ever means paying now with money that is already in your account.
Sofort never handled payouts, and neither does Klarna Pay now. Winnings come back as a bank transfer, normally to the account you paid from, which the casino already knows belongs to you.
From the moment the casino approves your cashout, a SEPA transfer normally needs one to two banking days. If both banks support instant payments it can be quicker. Before any of that, the casino runs its pending period and checks.
Get verified before asking for your first payout, and make sure your casino account name matches your bank account letter for letter. A mismatch between the two holds up more bank payouts than anything else.
No card number ever changes hands. That was the whole appeal of Sofort style payments, and it still is. You prove who you are to your own bank, and the casino only hears that the payment went through.
European rules also demand two factor approval for online bank payments. Every deposit therefore needs your login plus a second step, typically a confirmation in your app, which makes it very hard for anyone to misuse the method without your phone in their hand.
Keep one habit and you are well covered. Start payments only from inside the casino cashier. A genuine bank payment window always leads to your bank’s official login, never to someone in a chat or an email asking for your details.
You will almost never pay to deposit by bank payment. The casino covers the processing, and a domestic or SEPA payment is normally free at your bank.
Casino minimums usually begin at EUR 10 or EUR 20. The maximum is set by the casino and by the transfer limit on your online banking, which you can often raise yourself in the app.
German licensed operators must apply a monthly cap on deposits, measured across every provider you use, and some banks block payments to unlicensed gambling sites. Those rules follow you whichever bank payment method you pick.
Casinos rarely exclude direct bank payments from their welcome offers. The exclusions go mainly after e-wallets, so a Klarna deposit, or one through a similar open banking provider, usually qualifies without any fuss.
Watch out for terms that name methods which no longer exist, and Sofort is the classic example. If the rules mention Sofort while the cashier shows Klarna, ask support which one they mean before you put any money in.
Clear the wagering and your verification before withdrawing. Your payout goes to a bank account, and a verified player gets through the approval queue faster.
What Sofort fans actually miss is an instant deposit from their own bank, without a card and without a wallet. Several services now fill that gap, and which ones you see depends on the casino:
Go with whatever your chosen casino lists, ideally one that can send your winnings home too. Then you have one route in and one route out.
Not as a standalone method. Klarna ended Sofort on 1 October 2024 and moved its bank payment function into Klarna Pay now.
Some cashiers never updated the label. The option may now route through Klarna or another bank payment provider, or it may no longer work.
No. Both are deposit methods. Casinos pay winnings back by bank transfer, usually to the account you deposited from.
Usually yes. The casino pays the processing cost, and banks normally charge nothing for the payment itself.
No. Licensed casinos only accept Klarna’s pay now option, which takes money directly from your bank account.
Klarna Pay now is the direct successor. Trustly and Rapid Transfer offer the same instant bank deposit, and Trustly often handles payouts as well.
Every method we have tested at a licensed casino, with the deposit floor, the payout route and the cost written out for each one.
81 methods
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