Give
Sofort Payment Gateway (Discontinued)
Sofort is no longer available.
Klarna, which owns Sofort, has discontinued it as a standalone payment method, and payment processors have ended support. The Give Sofort add-on can no longer process donations and isn’t compatible with forms built in the Visual Donation Form Builder. To accept bank-based donations from European donors, use the Stripe Payment Element gateway with SEPA Direct Debit or other local payment methods turned on, or the Mollie add-on.
What happened to Sofort
Sofort was folded into Klarna and retired as a separate payment method, so no processor accepts Sofort payments anymore. Klarna bought Sofort in 2014 and has since moved its bank-payment flow into Klarna’s own “pay in full” option (previously called “Pay Now”).
Give sites could take Sofort payments three ways, and all three have ended:
| How your site took Sofort payments | When Sofort payments ended |
|---|---|
| Give Sofort add-on, which connected directly to Sofort with a configuration key from your Sofort account | When Klarna retired standalone Sofort. The add-on can no longer complete donations. |
| Mollie add-on | September 30, 2024. New Sofort sign-ups ended November 1, 2023 (Mollie’s notice). |
| Stripe | March 31, 2025, extended from November 29, 2024 (Stripe’s notice). |
These deadlines were set by Klarna and its financial partners, so neither processor can grant extensions. On Stripe, a donor who still picks Sofort now gets a generic error and the donation fails.
If you still have the Sofort add-on installed
Remove Sofort from your donation forms so donors aren’t offered a payment method that can’t complete. The add-on only works with forms built in the Option-Based Form Editor and won’t appear in the Visual Donation Form Builder. It only processed one-time donations, so there are no recurring donations to move.
- Go to Give > Settings > Payment Gateways, open the Option-Based Form Editor tab and uncheck Sofortüberweisung (the add-on’s gateway name) under Enabled Gateways.
- If Sofort was your default gateway, choose a new default on the same screen and click Save Changes.
- Go to Plugins, then deactivate and delete the Give – Sofort Payment Gateway add-on.
- If you also offered Sofort through the Mollie add-on or Stripe, turn it off in that dashboard too.
Your past Sofort donations stay in Give > Donations. Removing the add-on doesn’t delete those records. Any Sofort donations still marked Pending won’t update on their own, since the add-on is what listened for Sofort’s payment updates.
What to use instead
For bank-based donations from European donors, we recommend the Stripe Payment Element gateway with SEPA Direct Debit turned on. Both options below can replace Sofort:
| Gateway | Bank-based methods to turn on | Where to turn them on | Setup guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Payment Element (built into Give 3.0+) | SEPA Direct Debit (EEA), bank transfers (UK and EU), plus local methods such as iDEAL | Stripe dashboard: Settings > Payment methods > Default Give configuration | Stripe Payment Element |
| Mollie add-on | Pay by Bank or Trustly, plus local methods such as iDEAL | Mollie Dashboard: Settings > Payment methods | Mollie Payment Gateway |
Both gateways are compatible with the Visual Donation Form Builder. For Mollie, use version 2.0.0 or newer of the add-on, which requires Give 3.6.0 or newer. Payment Element keeps most payment methods on your form, though some redirect the donor to finish paying, while Mollie sends donors to its own payment page.
Not every payment method is available to every account or donor: Stripe and Mollie decide availability based on your country, currency and business type. If a method won’t turn on, contact Stripe support or Mollie support.
Klarna, which now runs Sofort’s bank-payment flow as its “pay in full” option, doesn’t allow charities or fundraising organizations to accept payments through it, so it isn’t a replacement for most donation sites.
References
- SOFORT is being consolidated into Klarna and discontinued as a standalone payment method (Stripe Support)
- Remove and replace SOFORT in your integration (Stripe Docs)
- Klarna compliance requirements (Stripe Docs)
- SOFORT Deprecation – 30 September 2024 (Mollie Help Center)
- Prohibited and restricted businesses (Klarna Docs)