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Schufa: Number of negative entries is increasing

2022-12-22T10:36:49.624Z


Apparently, it is becoming more difficult for consumers to get loans. According to Schufa, both the number of negative entries and the number of loan requests are increasing. The company also sees politics as responsible.


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Schufa logo: »Many people only have limited reserves«

Photo: Timon Schneider / Zoonar / IMAGO

According to the credit agency Schufa, people in Germany are no longer getting loans so easily.

At the same time, high inflation is eating away at savings.

"Many people only have limited reserves, including those from the middle class," said Schufa boss Tanja Birkholz of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".

"We are therefore registering around 30 percent more negative Schufa entries compared to the previous year."

These usually follow when invoices have not been paid even after repeated reminders.

The so-called Schufa score helps decide whether someone gets a loan.

The Schufa only gets the data that someone can no longer pay bills with a six-month delay, said Birkholz.

So the numbers from the summer are currently available.

"It attracts," she described the development.

16 percent more loan requests were registered, but at the same time there were only eight percent more contracts concluded.

"So not everyone gets a contract, but they probably need the money," Birkholz said.

Schufa boss wants special regulation for energy crisis

She doesn't expect a quick improvement.

It's likely to get even worse.

"But how much depends on the scope and effect of the government measures," said the Schufa boss.

People should not get into payment difficulties because of the high energy prices and then collect negative entries from the Schufa.

"That's why we're proposing a hardship fund." From this, the state could grant interest-free loans to people above the transfer limit, comparable to the Bafög student loan.

That would be intended for people who are not entitled to citizen benefits, but cannot put up with higher energy costs.

"Of course, the goal must be to save energy, but one or the other may not be able to save any more and need bridging help," said Birkholz.

Banks, mobile phone companies and landlords get the assessment of the Wiesbaden credit agency before signing contracts.

It collects data on the payment behavior and credit obligations of millions of citizens.

According to Birkholz, Schufa has up to a million creditworthiness inquiries a day.

Because nobody outside the company can understand exactly how Schufa comes to its assessment of creditworthiness, there is an accusation of a lack of transparency.

»That was just rubbish«

Birkholz was self-critical and promised more communication.

As an example, she cited the »CheckNow« project.

From 2020, the company had tried to gain insight into the account movements of bank and credit customers and make it part of their score.

The project was stopped.

"That was a good idea, but we communicated it poorly," said Birkholz.

“That was just rubbish.

This was an early stage product development and we underestimated the reaction.«

Schufa recently released the Score Simulator.

He asks a series of questions and uses them to calculate a simplified Schufa score.

This should give you a basic understanding of how it works.

mmq/Reuters

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-12-22

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