Sofortüberweisung, aka DIRECTebanking, is a payment processing system owned by the German company, Payment Network AG, which was founded in 2006 by Cristoph Klein and Markus Neun to provide an easy and fast solution for payment of online goods and services without the use of a credit or debit card.

Having earned a reputation for being fast, reliable, and easy to use, the company has grown quickly since 2006. It now provides services to over 10,000 online casino and merchant websites in six European countries, including Austria, Belgium, the UK, and Switzerland, and is used in millions of gambling transactions online. The company also offers full-service support to banks, handling such things as language barriers and exchange rates.

The platform created by DIRECTebanking has been certified by the German Federal Department for Information Technology and Security, ensuring high standards of security in its banking transactions. It’s also certified by consumer protection agencies, such as RGA, Alderney, and TIA.

If you’re already using your financial institutions online banking services, setting up a DIRECTebanking account is a relatively easy process.

Upon selecting your item of purchase at a click and buy site using DIRECTebanking, you are transferred to a secure Payment Network AG form, where you choose your online financial institution. You are then transferred to the online account via a secure network connection.

DIRECTebanking does not access your account information until you’ve entered your personal PIN. And money is not transferred from your account until you’ve authorized the transaction with a TAN.

TAN is an acronym for “Transaction Authentication Number” and is a one-time use password provided by financial institutions as a second layer of online security beyond that of the PIN. Your bank may use a different type of payment confirmation, such as iTAN, SmartTAN, and mTAN. Prior to using DIRECTebanking, you should obtain a list of one-time use TANs from your financial institution.

Upon entering the TAN, DIRECTebanking instantly transfers the purchase amount from your bank account and deposits it with the vendor. Neither the Payment Network AG payment form nor your online bank account is accessible to the vendor.