Schufa's services and tasks

The Schufa report is often an important piece of information for lenders to obtain information about possible debts, outstanding invoices, etc., regarding loan applicants.

On its internet portal, Schufa offers the possibility to obtain reports for reasonable fees (or even free).

For business customers such as banks, Schufa provides various services: reports, address updates or identity checks. For companies as well as for banks it is often important to know whether applicants are actually suitable as customers.

Schufa holds data on millions of records for more than 66 million German citizens. It is therefore the number one source when it comes to querying a citizen's creditworthiness.

Free Schufa information for private customers

Private customers can also view their own data for a small fee. The question of how Schufa rates you gives important indications as to whether potential business relationships are feasible or not. Of course, it is also interesting even without further reasons to know what Schufa has collected about you. Among other things, viewing the scoring is chargeable. The raw entries recorded at Schufa, however, are free of charge.

While this right to information has applied since the DGVO to all who collect customer data, this regulation has applied to Schufa for some time. For a while now this free query has been somewhat hidden and not immediately obvious as such. Under "Datenkopie (nach Art. 15 DS-GVO)" you can still view entries at Schufa free of charge.

The benefit of Schufa information

Fundamentally, Schufa is the authority regarded as the first point of contact to check a citizen's liquidity, etc. Banks, for example, frequently decide based on the Schufa report whether to grant loans or not. Business customers also decide accordingly whether to actually sell their goods on account or whether to require advance payment.

This plays a particularly important role on the internet, as ever larger parts of business life take place online. Especially when larger sums of money are involved, business customers are increasingly cautious and obtain a Schufa report before they ship their goods.

Schufa thus becomes an authority that is becoming increasingly important in the internet age. Potential customers are increasingly checked with regard to their financial situation. If it turns out that someone has mounting dunning notices, business customers who obtained reports from Schufa will certainly not be willing to send their goods on account.