If you want to buy the Germany ticket in the corresponding app, you could fail a Schufa check.
For some, it is therefore difficult to obtain digitally.
Cologne – The long-awaited 49-euro ticket will start on May 1, 2023, but the new public transport subscription can already be pre-ordered in various ways.
Among other things, also via the so-called “Deutschlandticket App”, with which some users are now encountering a major problem: They cannot buy the ticket because their payment is rejected due to a bad Schufa score.
However, this is not always the case, because ultimately it depends on the individual transport company.
49-euro ticket: purchase often fails due to Schufa check
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When purchasing the Deutschlandticket digitally, the Schufa score is sometimes checked.
(IDZRW assembly)
© aal.photo/Imago & Political-Moments/Imago
Schufa score
If you have too much debt or don't pay bills on time, your so-called "creditworthiness" suffers.
Many companies want to protect themselves against such payment defaults.
To check this, they work together with the private credit agency "Schufa".
The so-called Schufa score is actually also used in the Deutschlandticket app.
"I tried to pre-order the Germany ticket via the app and got the answer that it wasn't possible," reports a person affected to 24RHEIN.
As a look at the reviews in the app stores shows, he is not alone.
When asked, the person concerned learned that after the check by the Schufa, it was decided not to "activate the payment method." This refers to the classic SEPA direct debit mandate, which was the only payment option when the app was launched.
You can now pay by credit card, but that only solves the problem indirectly.
Because when purchasing many credit cards, the creditworthiness of a person is also often checked, often via the Schufa.
49-euro ticket: Transport companies use the Schufa check
But the whole thing is a bit more complicated.
When paying in the Deutschlandticket app, the "Logpay" payment system is often used - on behalf of the transport company.
The financial service provider, in turn, works with Schufa.
App operator HanseCom explains to 24RHEIN: “With the Deutschlandticket app, HanseCom provides transport companies with a digital sales channel for selling Deutschlandtickets.
When purchasing tickets, our platform acts as an 'intermediary'.
This means that
customers also conclude a contract with a transport company themselves in the app for the 49-euro ticket and not with HanseCom.
Customers choose what that is beforehand - and it also depends on how strictly the Schufa score is evaluated.
How the purchase works in the Deutschlandticket app and when the Schufa score is relevant
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When purchasing the 49-euro ticket
in the Deutschlandticket app, customers select a transport company as their "contractual partner".
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The choice of transport company
determines whether and which creditworthiness hurdle is specified for the purchase via direct debit or PayPal.
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People with a bad Schufa score
who are rejected by one transport company could be admitted to another.
Deutschlandticket: App operator is planning further payment options
According to the current status, people with debts have a harder time buying the 49-euro ticket at all.
If in doubt, they must go to sales counters instead of going digital.
However, HanseCom explained that users will soon also be able to use "PayPal" in the Deutschlandticket app.
According to a Schufa spokeswoman, payments with the online payment service are not necessarily linked to a corresponding check, which is why this could be a solution - but it doesn't have to be.
Because a Logpay spokesman told 24RHEIN that it depends on "what specifications the respective transport companies make".
This means that whether the Schufa score is used for the payment - regardless of whether it is SEPA or PayPal - depends on the goodwill of the KVB, MVG and Co.
The bottom line is that it is not completely impossible for people with a bad Schufa score to buy the Deutschlandticket digitally, but it is often much more complicated.
The most important questions and answers about the 49-euro ticket
There is a lot to consider with the Deutschlandticket: Here we answer the most important questions about the 49-euro ticket.
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List of rubrics: © aal.photo/Imago & Political-Moments/Imago
