Klarna Debit Risk is replacing Sofort on the Adyen platform, how does it affect me?

What you need to know

As you were previously informed in the Adyen system message on June 12, 2024, Sofort would reach its end of life as a standalone payment method. As part of Klarna's consolidation efforts and to create a better user experience, Klarna is migrating Sofort into Klarna's network on a new technical platform under the product name Klarna Debit Risk. In a joint effort to continue payment acceptance with minimal technical changes required from you, Adyen will work with Klarna to seamlessly migrate your Sofort payments to Klarna Debit Risk over the following months.

How it affects you

While we’re working on making this migration as smooth as possible, there are minor differences between Sofort and Klarna Debit Risk regarding the customer journey, payment method presentation, non-payment chargeback flow, and the available countries. For required and optional, although advisable, actions, please see the list below. 

Steps to take

Required Action

If you host the Sofort logo yourself, please plan to replace it with the new logo. Adyen will make the new logo available soon in the usual location here. A separate communication will follow about this update. 

Highly advisable action

Ensure you send Adyen the countryCode parameter to pre-select the country-specific issuer list before 30th September. If you omit the countryCode in your /payments request, Adyen will take the default country code value (DE for Germany).

Optional action

If you want to make your logo visible to shoppers inside the Klarna payment flow (webpages and the Klarna app), you can upload it to the Klarna portal. We'll later send you access to the Klarna portal via email to your Support contact email in the Customer Area. Therefore, please verify as soon as possible that your Support contact email address in the Customer Area is up to date. 

Frequently asked questions

  1. What changes are Klarna and Adyen making?
    Klarna is consolidating its payment solutions by migrating Sofort into Klarna’s network, under the name Klarna Debit Risk on a new technical platform.  To allow you to continue processing your current Sofort payments, Adyen will make the necessary changes to seamlessly migrate you to Klarna Debit Risk while minimizing the technical changes required from you.
  2. What will the Klarna Debit Risk checkout flow look like?
    The checkout flow looks similar to Sofort’s. There is a redirect to the Klarna hosted page, and the payment is authorized through the issuer’s online banking system.
  3. Why do I have to ensure I’m sending countryCode in my /payments request to Adyen?
    In the "old" Sofort payment method, customers can change the country (for which banks are shown) on the Sofort page. This isn't possible in the "new" Klarna Debit Risk pages, which means only banks from a single country specified in the merchant's request can be selected. 
  4. In what field should I send the country code?

    Include countryCode as in the following example:

    {
   "amount" : {
      "value" : 100,
      "currency" : "EUR"
   },
   "merchantAccount" : "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
   "paymentMethod" : {
      "type" : "directEbanking"
   },
   "reference" : "YOUR_REFERENCE",
   "returnUrl" : "YOUR_RETURN_URL",
   "shopperInteraction" : "Ecommerce",
   "shopperReference" : "YOUR_SHOPPER_REFERENCE",
   "countryCode" : "DE"         <--- shopper country code value
}
  5. How do I upload my logo in the Klarna portal?
    Klarna will send an invite to the Klarna portal on the email you have stored in the Customer Area at a later date. Once you have created an account, you can upload your logo in the Brand Manager section. Please make sure your Support contact email address in the Customer Area is up to date.
  6. Which countries will no longer be supported?
    While Sofort was available in France and Italy, it will no longer be the case for Klarna Debit Risk.
    The supported countries for Klarna Debit Risk are AT, BE, CH, DE, ES, NL, and SE.
  7. How do chargebacks work with Klarna Debit Risk and what has changed compared to Sofort?
    • Sofort: With Sofort, Adyen receives the funds directly from the shopper’s bank account. The payment stays on the SentForSettle status, until the funds are received by Adyen from the shopper’s bank account. If the funds are not received after 8 calendar days, the payment status changes to Settled and Chargeback, at which point you will receive the CHARGEBACK webhook notification.
    • Klarna Debit Risk: With Klarna Debit Risk, Klarna settles all authorized payments regardless of whether funds have been received from the shopper’s bank account. Adyen will generally book payments to Settled by T+2 banking days. Suppose Klarna hasn’t received funds from the shopper’s bank account after a certain number of days (maximum 10 days, but this number is customized, for instance, to cater to the varying settlement speeds the issuer bank applies). In that case, Klarna will reverse the settlement, and Adyen will book the payment to Chargeback and inform you through the CHARGEBACK webhook notification.

  8. Will payments still be subject to “chargeback” (non-settlement) risks?
    Yes, the non-settlement risks associated with Sofort will continue to apply to Klarna Debit Risk. These risks are expected to be slightly lower on Klarna Debit Risk than on Sofort due to the improvements Klarna made to their risk engine.

  9. What remains the same?
    As part of this seamless migration, the following remains similar: 

  • The technical name of the payment method (in field paymentMethod.type) remains the same (directEbanking)
  • The payments are subject to the same non-settlement risks as on Sofort
  • The integration with Adyen remains essentially the same. There is a redirect to a Klarna page instead of a Sofort page. 
  • Tokenization continues to be supported in the same way, with recurring payments being processed over SEPA Direct Debit. You will be able to continue charging your tokens created on Sofort as well as future tokens created on Klarna Debit Risk.

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