In Germany, questions have arisen about the new Schufa credit rating reform
In Germany, new questions have arisen about the Schufa credit rating reform, upon which the approval of loans, mobile phone contracts, installment purchases, and other financial services can depend. A joint investigation by NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung casts doubt on the company's claims that the new system has already made consumer evaluation fully transparent and understandable.
Schufa launched the new rating in March 2026 after years of criticism of the old system as effectively a "black box". The company reduced the number of parameters from more than 200 to 12 criteria and disclosed their weights. The new score ranges from 100 to 999 points: the more points, the higher Schufa rates a person's creditworthiness.
The problem is that the introduction of the new system for businesses is gradual. Schufa itself reports that companies have a transition period until the end of 2028. Until then, banks, telecom operators, online shops and other partners can continue to use the previous industry-specific ratings.
As a result, a consumer can already log into their Schufa account and see the new rating, whose formula is disclosed, but a specific company when making a decision on a contract can still rely on another, old score. NDR has previously pointed out that due to the long transition period, most companies will initially continue to use the old opaque models.
This has practical significance: a person can calculate the new Schufa Score themselves and consider their creditworthiness sufficient, but still not understand which score was used by the bank, telecom operator or seller when making a decision.
The new rating also showed how strongly factors not directly related to income can influence the result. For example, a person who has lived at their current address for no more than seven months receives zero points out of a possible 94 for this criterion. Maximum points are given to those who have lived at one address for at least 20 years.
A similar logic applies to bank relationships. If the oldest bank contract is less than three months old, it adds no points, while a contract of 20 years or more brings the maximum 69 points. Several recent inquiries for opening accounts or credit cards can also lower the result.
This moment can be especially relevant for people who recently moved to Germany, including Ukrainians: a new address and a short history of relationships with a German bank themselves give fewer points. At the same time, citizenship is not included in the Schufa Score calculation. The company also states that it does not use data on ethnic origin, political or religious views, or information from social networks.
Among other criteria are late payments, the number of new consumer loans, their duration, the presence of a mortgage, credit cards, inquiries from shops and telecommunications companies, and identity verification. Late payments have the greatest individual weight: if there are no such problems, a consumer receives 264 points.
Schufa insists that the new system is much more transparent: users can view their data free of charge, see all 12 criteria and independently reproduce the calculation. After the transition is completed, the company promises that consumers and businesses will see the same rating. Until this transition is completed, the claimed model does not work for all decisions in the market.
Based on materials: NDR / Tagesschau, Schufa
