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Sofort casino sites are a cut above the rest, particularly for players who appreciate speedy deposit and withdrawal times – which, let’s face it, is all of us, right?
By signing up with an iGaming platform that permits Sofort as a payment option, instant deposits and swifter-than-average cash-outs are all but guaranteed. And since Klarna’s acquisition of Sofort in 2014, you guys can also play with the peace of mind that you’re using an ultra-secure, 100% reputable money transfer platform to power your online gaming. Ace.
I’ve found that Sofort has been getting mad popular in the online casino space of late. Perhaps today’s gamers consider debit card casinos to be a bit old-hat in the age of easy-to-use e-wallets and online money transfer services, I guess. Though of course, these sites do have their merits, too.
But back to Sofort. This increasingly widely-accepted casino payment option offers three key benefits. First, it’s fast, offering instant deposits and sub-24-hour withdrawals with many of the best casino sites you’ll see promoted in my banners on this page. Second, it’s secure, utilizing high-end encryption and owned by the very widely regarded e-payments company, Klarna. And finally, the Know Your Customer (KYC) checks enforced by most Sofort casinos aren’t too much of a slap in the face come cash-out day. They’re actually super straightforward, as you’ll soon see in this guide.
But what about the downsides? Well, there aren’t really that many. In fact, the only one that really springs to mind is that Sofort isn’t quite so widely supported by online casinos as, say, PayPal or Skrill, just yet.
So, in summary, then:
It’s dead-easy – as the steps involved are what I like to call beginner-proof. Of course, you’ll need to start out by using the banners on my site to find a Sofort-friendly platform that’s a good fit for you. But once you’ve gotten that hot mess out of the way, all you need to do is…
What you need to do… | |
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Step 1 | Sign-up for a new player account (assuming you don’t already have one) then select “Sofort” as a payment option from your casino’s “Payments” page. This should transfer you directly to a login window for whatever bank account you’ve got hooked-up to your Sofort account. |
Step 2 | Complete a few basic KYC checks with the casino – in my experiences, I’ve found that you’ll only need to do this for your first deposit. It’s a proper cinch though; just upload a photo of your ID and proof of your address. |
Step 3 | Select the amount you’d like to deposit, then confirm it. Sofort themselves let you transfer money directly from your bank account to your online casino, so there’s no faffing about at all. |
Step 4 | Boom. There it goes. Your deposit should be processed instantly. |
More good news, boys and gals – cashing out from most Sofort online casinos is just as simple. Depending on the site you’re dealing with, you might need to get your initial KYC checks sorted at the withdrawal stage rather than when making your first deposit. Though to be honest, I actually prefer to but these to bed early on, and I reckon you lot will loo.
Generally, cashing-out is simply a case of:
To be fair, most of the brands recommended in my banners will process Sofort withdrawals within 24 hours or less – which, believe me, is fast for casinos. I mean, that’s why I shortlisted these sites for you guys in the first place. That said, it could of course vary depending on what kind of bank account you’ve connected to your Sofort account, as this is a direct-to-bank payment provider, remember?
I recently put out an iDebit casino list, where I explained that all iDebit-compatible casinos are marginally different when it comes to their verification requirements. Well, it’s a similar story with Sofort-friendly ones, but to be honest, 99% of sites tend to roll with pretty basic KYC encounters of the ID upload kind, as I mentioned earlier.
My top tip here would be to sort out these checks as early on as possible. Why? Well, uploading your ID and proof of address to your casino can sometimes take a while, so you don’t want to be left fiddling around with this during busy gaming periods, or when you’re in a dash to cash out. Not to mention putting the checks to bed early will stop all those “please complete KYC” notifications cropping up…
As I said before, it’s all great news on the speed front here. You guys can usually expect the following:
You’ll never guess what… At the consumer end, Sofort payments are fee-free. The way it works is simple: Sofort will charge merchants that integrate with their online payments service (in this case casinos) rather than personal Sofort account holders.
Though of course, the issue here is there’s a slim chance some Sofort online casino sites might pass this cost on to us lot by way of their own service fees.
Using the banners on this page, you’ll be able to quickly and easily compare the transaction fees (if there are any) charged by some of my favorite Sofort-friendly casinos in your region. The same goes if you came here looking for Sofort-compatible bookmakers, though most of the time, I’m sure you’ll find no additional fees are added at all.
Sofort is the Alcatraz of online payment options – it’s super-secure. But if you’ve already been using your Sofort or Klarna account for online shopping and other purposes before now, I’m sure you guys knew that already, yeah?
But what’s the deal, security-wise, with Sofort online casinos? Well, basically, any sites you see promoted in my banners are 100% safe and legit – I can promise it. They’ve all been vetted for the correct licensing credentials in your area, and they each offer a decent level of on-site encryption, too.
If you go shopping around for online casinos or bookmakers elsewhere, though, don’t forget that any sites you register with ought to have:
Generally, it’s pretty easy to determine whether a brand offers these things – just run a keyword search or two through their T&Cs and Privacy Policy pages.
Well… to be honest, an easier question would be “where do you live?”, because your location is going to dictate what Sofort-friendly casino sites are available to you. Why? Well, because of the law, yeah?
I won’t bore you with a load of legalese, but online gaming regulations vary from country to country, as do your choices in terms of legal online casinos with Giropay support, or those that are compatible with Sofort. But don’t worry because, unless you’re visiting me using a VPN, you’ll only see banners displayed here on my site for betting sites and casinos that are legal and accessible where you live.
So, go ahead and click around to check out some of my absolute fave Sofort-friendly gaming brands in your region.
Finding a Sofort-friendly betting site or casino shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes at most if you’re using my banners. But when comparing the market, I’d strongly advise keeping the following factors in mind:
What to consider | Why |
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Licensing | Well… it’s the law. If a betting brand isn’t licensed, you can’t play their online casino games legally; simple as. |
Compatibility | Obviously, any online casino you register with should support Sofort. But your compatibility concerns ought to extend beyond that. Make sure you double-check any betting apps available are iOS or Android-friendly, for example. And consider whether any customer support services offered are available in your time zone and preferred language, too. |
Bonuses | All iGaming sites offer bonuses, but not all are willing to grant their best promos to Sofort users, unfortunately. I’m not sure why, but it’s weirdly common for Sofort and other specific payment methods to be off-the-table for certain bonuses, so always double-check the T&Cs before claiming, just to be sure. |
The biggest draw of Sofort is that it’s dead-easy to use. But there’s more to it than that. Of course, among most Sofort casinos, it’s also super-fast as far as deposits and withdrawals are concerned and isn’t too taxing in terms of KYC checks either.
In all, I’d definitely suggest considering using Sofort for iGaming. Because to be honest, the only potential downside you’re likely to encounter is that it isn’t quite so widely supported as PayPal, VISA and other alternatives. Well…Yet.
Oh, and if you’re claiming any bonuses, be sure to double check they’re Sofort-compatible. You can thank me later.
As you may or may not already know, I’ve been in the biz for a while. As such, a lot of gamers and bettors get in touch asking me various questions about casinos with Sofort as a payment option. Some of the most popular ones, seem to be:
Sofort themselves set a transaction limit of 25,000 EUR per day (it’s in EUR because the brand was originally set-up in Germany, but of course, your local currency equivalent will apply).
As for Sofort casino sites, their upper limits on things like deposits and withdrawals vary. Pretty drastically, actually – check out my guides to high-roller oriented online casinos, or low limit betting sites, if this is what you’re after.
Currently, you can use Sofort for transactions that involve EUR, GBP, CHF, PLN, SEK and several other European currencies. USD, CAD and AUD aren’t on the table just yet due mainly to the brand’s European origins, but some rumors out there suggest this could change any day now. And I for one like these kinds of rumors.
In short, it’ll say in the T&Cs. Usually, deposit bonuses can only be claimed if you make your initial activation deposit using a specific payment method. Sometimes, you might need to withdraw to the same banking option you deposited with, too, so consistency is key here. Basically, if ever you claim a Sofort-friendly bonus, remember to cash-out to Sofort later down the line, too.
Users must be 18+. If you are having trouble with gambling then help and advice can be found at responsiblegambling.org