The Schufa collects masses of information on the financial situation of buyers, customers and borrowers. But the consumer protection minister criticized the approach of the credit agency.
Against the background of the current bidding dispute over the Schufa, Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) has called for more transparency in the credit agency.
“It is particularly important for consumers that Schufa becomes more transparent,” said Lemke of the German Press Agency in Berlin. “The board had announced this for a long time.” At the beginning of the week, the Federal Cartel Office approved two plans for possible mergers.
The Swedish investment fund EQT wants to acquire up to 100 percent of Schufa. At the same time, TeamBank AG wants to increase its existing minority stake in Schufa. TeamBank is part of the DZ Bank Group. Here are the shares of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken in the Schufa. The Schufa collects information about private individuals and companies. On this basis, it makes assessments of their creditworthiness.
Data protection standards apply to everyone
Lemke explained: “Schufa is a private company with several different shareholders.” The takeover of shares in Schufa Holding AG is currently being clarified among the shareholders and bidders. This decision has to be awaited. “Regardless of what the ownership structure looks like in the end, the European and German data protection standards apply equally to all companies,” emphasized the Green politician.
Announcements by the board of directors about more transparency must now be followed by action. “It’s not enough to be able to query what data is stored about you,” said Lemke. “Schufa should also publish what information it evaluates and how.”
Consumer and data protection advocates have been criticizing the data collection and scoring, i.e. the evaluation, by the Schufa for a long time. The exact origin of the credit ratings is unknown. Consumers with a good credit rating can get loans on more favorable terms.
“Currently, the creation of the Schufa score is still a black box,” Lemke criticized. According to the Schufa, it has data on 68 million natural persons and 6 million companies. The name of the company, which was founded in 1927, stands for “protection association for general loan security”.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
