If you’re looking to rent an apartment in Germany, open a German bank account, take out a loan, or buy a car on finance, you may find yourself in need of a SCHUFA report. In Germany, credit reports are issued by one company, called SCHUFA Holding AG. Here’s a guide to getting a SCHUFA in Germany, and how you can check and improve your credit score.
The SCHUFA is the German credit score, a report that indicates your creditworthiness based on your historical financial behaviour. Having a good credit score is important because it demonstrates your financial stability to people and institutions like landlords, banks and mortgage lenders. Having a bad credit score can make it difficult to rent an apartment, take out a loan, or even open a bank account.
The official name for a credit report in German is “Bonitätsauskunft”, but because all credit reports in Germany are issued by one company - SCHUFA Holdings AG, which stands for Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung - the report is colloquially known as the “SCHUFA”.
SCHUFA Holding AG collects data from over 10.000 different participating companies to put together its credit reports, including banks, credit card companies, mobile phone providers, insurance companies and utilities.
This data is collated into a score that shows other parties how reliably you have fulfilled financial obligations such as paying your utility bills, credit card bills and loan repayments. This then shows how likely you are to continue to pay your bills on time in future.
You might find yourself asked for a SCHUFA credit score - or at least have your SCHUFA score checked - in a number of different situations in Germany, most commonly:
It’s worth noting that companies need your permission before they can check your SCHUFA score themselves. Most commonly, you will be asked to sign a form to certify that you are happy for a credit check to be carried out.
Since a SCHUFA can be required in so many situations, it’s good to know that it’s fairly easy to get hold of one. Here’s what you can do if you are ever asked to provide a SCHUFA report.
You can request a SCHUFA self-assessment (SCHUFA-Datenkopie) free of charge once per year. Simply head to the SCHUFA website, fill out the form and upload copies of your ID and registration certificate. Your report will be sent to you in the post and usually arrives within one to three weeks. You can also order one by calling SCHUFA customer service.
Note that this free version can include lots of personal information that you may not wish to share with whoever you are submitting the SCHUFA report to. In that case, it’s fine to redact any information that does not need to be shared. However, this free report is not intended to be distributed to third parties. So if you are asked to provide a report, for instance as part of an application for an apartment, you will need the paid version.
The SCHUFA website also allows you to buy official copies of your report (SCHUFA-Bonitätsauskunft) for 29,95 euros. This is the version of the report that is designed to be shared with third parties like landlords. It comes more quickly (usually within one to three days), looks more like an official certificate, and doesn’t contain as much of your personal financial information.
If you need your SCHUFA more quickly than that, there are also ways you can immediately get your hands on one. Certain companies such as ImmobilienScout24, Postbank and Volksbank offer an on-the-spot SCHUFA report service, at a fee of 29,95 euros. You’ll need to provide your passport and your registration certificate.
For many expats and internationals living in Germany, the SCHUFA represents something of a hurdle as they have no financial history in the country upon arrival, and cannot rely on their credit history in their home country. This can make it difficult to rent an apartment or even open a bank account, depending on the circumstances.
The good news is that you automatically start your SCHUFA record in Germany as soon as you register your address, open a bank account and start getting utilities and phone contracts. Your employment status or income does not influence your score. So, within a few months, you should have a good enough SCHUFA score to get by.
In the meantime, some landlords and credit institutions may allow you to use other means to prove your financial stability, for example, bank statements or an employment contract. You could also apply for an apartment from a company that doesn’t require the SCHUFA. This is the case for a lot of short-term rentals, for instance. Not all banks require a SCHUFA to open an account, so it’s worth looking around for one that doesn’t.
Simply put, rather than needing to be built up over time, SCHUFA scores start at the top, and go down only if a negative credit event is registered in your name, for instance, if you neglect to pay a bill or apply for a credit card and are rejected. Everyone in principle starts with a score of 100 - which is good news for internationals who may not have a long credit history in Germany.
SCUFA itself states that these are some of the most important factors that influence your score:
Below the perfect 100, the SCHUFA score is categorised like this:
There are steps you can take and things to bear in mind to improve your SCHUFA score: