The new Schufa scoring starts on Tuesday, March 17th. Consumers can then understand much better how their creditworthiness comes about. What initially seems like a technical update actually has greater significance: the credit agency is opening up parts of its previously difficult-to-understand system and creating more transparency about which factors influence the score.

The new Schufa system: A look into the black box

Anyone who applies for access to the new Schufa account can see their own data for the first time during ongoing operations. Updated quarterly, the system shows:

• which companies have made inquiries in the past twelve months,
• which contracts and loans are stored,
• Whether there are payment defaults – open, settled or settled but still stored.

Registration for the new Schufa account is done according to Press release from the credit agency gradually via a waiting list. In order to see which contracts Schufa has saved and which companies have inquired about their creditworthiness in the past twelve months, users must first confirm their identity.

According to Schufa, this simply works online: with your ID card, provided the online ID function is activated. The same applies to a residence permit with online identification function. The EU eID card can also be used as long as an address is stored on the chip.

Important to know: All ID cards issued since 2017 can provide electronic proof of identity. You only need two things: your personal six-digit PIN and a smartphone or other mobile device that offers NFC – i.e. contactless reading.

Full view of your own Schufa data, at any time

Once identified, the path is clear: full view of your own data, at all times. Access is free. Previously, this was only possible via the data copy sent by post or the app from the Schufa subsidiary “bonify”.

The data that the new Schufa account displays is updated every three months. According to Schufa, if users notice errors while browsing, all it takes is one click: The “Contact Now” button leads directly to the Schufa help portal. There, users can clarify concerns and correct or update data digitally.

“With the Schufa account, we give consumers the opportunity to check their data at any time, report it to Schufa independently and update it if necessary. In this way, we enable consumers to exercise data control,” says Tanja Birkholz, CEO of Schufa.

• Age of oldest credit card
• Age of current address
• Number of inquiries and transactions for current accounts and credit cards in the past 12 months
• Loan with the longest remaining term
• Number of inquiries in the area of ​​telecommunications & (online) commerce in the past 12 months
• Age of oldest bank contract
• Real estate loan or guarantee
• Installment loans taken out in the past 12 months
• Loan status
• Presence of identity verification
• Most recent credit line
• Payment problems

More control and old structural boundaries

The new access nevertheless narrows the knowledge gap between consumers and companies. Data can be checked, corrected and classified more easily. The starting position is noticeably improving.

However, a structural problem remains unchanged: people with a thin financial history, such as students, continue to be rated worse, even though there may be no negative events.

Why testing is important

A representative survey by the comparison portal Verivox shows how little knowledge many consumers have about their own creditworthiness. According to a survey by the Innofact Institute among 1,002 adults in February 2026, 55.6 percent have never accessed their personal Schufa score. Only about one in ten people has a predominantly accurate idea of ​​how the credit agency calculates creditworthiness.

“The data stored by Schufa is of great importance for access to loans and important contracts in everyday life,” says Verivox managing director Oliver Maier to the German Press Agency (dpa). “Nevertheless, many people are inadequately informed about how this classification comes about.”

Regularly checking your own Schufa data is important and provides very specific protection. Because:

• Errors are detected early.
• Conditions can be compared better if you know your score.
• Negative entries are noticed before they block contracts.

With digital access, the threshold for this self-control drops significantly.