2010 (PDF, 1.1 MB) - Schufa

Annual Report 2010
We build confidence

Contents
2 Foreword from the Executive Board
4 Advantages we offer
6 Vital financial information
10 Case study: What if …?
12 New service for consumers
14 Institution reports
16 Prof Dr Winfried Hassemer, new SCHUFA Ombudsman
18 The Consumer Advisory Board
20 Topics and names in 2010
22 Facts and figures
24 Partners, subsidiaries, owners
25 Executive Board and Supervisory Board
27 Balance sheet
28 We build confidence
30 Imprint
Annual Report 2010 1

2 Forward from the Executive Board
The Executive Board of SCHUFA Holding AG (from left to right):
Peter Villa, Prof Dr Dieter Steinbauer, Dr Michael Freytag (Chairman of the Executive Board), Holger Severitt

Ladies and gentlemen,
German consumers spent more than € 1.4 trillion in 2010. This
represents 58 per cent of Gross Domestic Product or, in absolute
terms, a consumer-generated demand of € 4 billion a day. The
constantly high level of demand over recent years helped to stabilise
the economic situation during the crisis.
Consumer loans are becoming ever more popular among
consumers as an uncomplicated method of financing, in particular
durable consumer goods. Consumer credit has displayed
dramatic development over the past six decades since the foundation
of the Federal Republic of Germany. The total volume
of consumer loans has multiplied to € 225 billion since the 1950s.
The consumer loan share of domestic loans has doubled
since the 1960s. One third of consumers now use this method
of payment.
The role of consumer loans as economic growth drivers is becoming
more important, especially considering that the average
value of new loans amounted to € 7,099 in the previous year.
With ever-increasing frequency, Germans are turning to creditfinancing
for the purchase of larger, longer-lasting goods such
as automobiles, electronics and furniture.
Every day, SCHUFA receives around 250,000 requests for information.
The system works: 97.5 per cent of all consumer loans
are repaid according to contract. No other information provider
supports the economy to such an extent by providing positive
information about consumers. SCHUFA currently has 479 million
records on 66.2 million individuals. More than 91 per cent of
these records contain positive data only.
Yours sincerely,
Forward from the Executive Board 3
SCHUFA business reports allow private individuals to obtain information
on a company’s credit standing. They become informed
participants in the economy and can get a precise idea of a business’s
creditworthiness before entering into a business relationship
with the company of their choosing. With its database of
business data, SCHUFA, for the first time, has information on all
legal entities as well as private individuals in Germany.
The B2B compact report for companies provides immediate
access to creditworthiness information, even on the particularly
large number of smaller businesses in Germany. It provides an
informed basis for the provision of loans and thus the continued
business development of these companies. The information
makes it easier for lenders, in the course of a cost appropriateness
process, to enter into new business relationships. For lenders
and borrowers, information turns into trust, which in turn
turns into growth opportunities.
The past financial year saw an important institutional change.
Prof Dr Winfried Hassemer took on the position of Ombudsman
as of 1 July 2010. He was the Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional
Court of Germany and Data Protection Commissioner
in Hesse. As SCHUFA Ombudsman, he is now responsible for
representing consumer interests. He reports to SCHUFA’s Consumer
Advisory Board, whose 15 members from various fields,
such as science, politics, administration and associations, exchange
opinions with us on fundamental issues.
We would like to particularly thank our business partners, employees
and shareholders for their loyalty to SCHUFA over the
years. They support SCHUFA’s successful path and guarantee
the greatest possible benefits for everyone involved.
Dr Michael Freytag Holger Severitt Prof Dr Dieter Steinbauer Peter Villa

4 Advantages we offer
Advantages we offer: SCHUFA has over one million private customers, who can
access their data on our consumer portal: www.meineSCHUFA.de. Since 2010,
SCHUFA business reports have, for the first time, been available to portal users.
Private individuals can use them to get a more exact picture of a company’s creditworthiness
before entering into a business relationship with them. Before building
a home, for example, individuals can find a lot of helpful information about companies
they plan to give orders to.

Advantages we offer 5

6 Advantages we offer
Vital financial information
The benefits to consumers and companies increase as
loan applications and decisions become faster and more
reliable. They benefit from the decades of expertise
that SCHUFA has gained in the handling of risks that
occur when taking out or granting loans.
Lenders and borrowers should therefore have a common interest
in keeping their creditworthiness information as complete
and up to date as possible. The reliability and stability of this
information is an important factor in business decisions and
the cornerstone of a modern, credit-based economy. With its
6,000 partners, SCHUFA provides a unique basis to facilitate
this process: 479 million records on 66.2 million people, B2B
partners and business customers.
Compact SCHUFA report
With the compact SCHUFA report, a first in the market when
introduced in 2010, the B2B service range was supplemented with
a critical facility: for the first time, companies could access compact
data on the creditworthiness of customers, prospective customers
or business partners. This is of particular importance due
to the fact that the solvency of a company may depend heavily
on the private creditworthiness of the owners or shareholders.
A company is only as reliable as the people who run it. It is important
to know who the decision-makers are in the company in
order to build confidence for a beneficial cooperation. If information
is available to SCHUFA from public sources, such as from
affidavits or personal bankruptcies, information on management
is also incorporated into the company’s creditworthiness assessment,
as medium-sized enterprises are characterised by the
integration of the operation and the owner as well as the unity
of the economic existence of the owner and the existence of
the company.
For smaller companies, the credit quality of the people involved
has a significant impact on the company’s credit rating, as, of
the 1.7 million companies in Germany, around 75 per cent of
them are small businesses, i. e. no more than nine staff and
an annual turnover of € 2 million or less. 1 This means that the
1 Federal Statistical Office, as of: August 2008
medium-sized and small company is the predominant type of
company in the German economy. Consequently, fast, comprehensive
and reliable economic information is of particular importance
to this medium-sized segment.
SCHUFA’s compact report links the creditworthiness data of private
individuals from the SCHUFA database with company data.
By combining both data sources, SCHUFA has access to a total
of just under five million self-employed people, small businesses
and freelancers as well as all companies listed in the commercial
register. This means that SCHUFA is able to provide information on
all potential borrowers in Germany, be they individuals or entities.
The contents of the compact SCHUFA report
• Master data
• Creditworthiness information, including creditworthiness index
• Bank account details
• Commercial register information (depending on the legal form)
• Business figures
• Sector information
• Functionaries and their involvements
Negative indicators – such as non-contract-compliant payment
behaviour – concerning company representatives are also included
in the company’s creditworthiness rating. This enables a
more targeted credit rating, especially in the case of small businesses.
The creditworthiness index in the compact SCHUFA report
gives an indication of the probability of company failure.
Besides the daily updated creditworthiness index, the average
creditworthiness index of the previous 90 days shows the
trend in the development of the company’s solvency.
The creditworthiness index includes but is not limited to
the following data
• Balance sheets and key figures
• Past payment behaviour
• Legal form
• First management level
• Sectors
• Activities/Stability

On this basis, a credit-limit recommendation is also possible,
which indicates objectively the maximum amount of goods and/
or services loan that can be granted,
The multi-stage professional address determination of
private individuals
Banks, savings banks, insurance companies, telecommunication
companies, retailers and e-commerce companies provide creditrelated
data under contract to SCHUFA. Without SCHUFA, which
provides relevant information in seconds, partners would face
additional processing costs. This becomes even more important,
the more mobile the society and customer groups become.
Almost every company is familiar with this problem: customers
move home, address records become outdated. There is a need
for efficient update options. SCHUFA has therefore introduced
two innovative products this reporting year, AdressAktualiserung
Plus and AdressAktualisierung Plus EMA, which prevent post
from being returned when customers move house or address
details are outdated.
Advantages we offer 7
‘Consumers are increasingly turning to consumer product financing.
More than one third of consumer households use loans for private consumer
purchases, from cars to mobile phones. According to a survey
by GfK Financial Market Research, which the German Credit Bank Association
commissions on an annual basis, consumers financed more retail
goods in particular in 2010. Nearly one in ten consumers completed an
instalment loan for these purchases. This represents an increase of two
percentage points compared to the previous year. Loans were taken out
primarily for consumer electronics, IT, furniture and kitchens. The willingness
to pay by credit at the point of sale continues to increase. Nearly 40
per cent of households intending to buy a kitchen or furniture in the
next two years would also finance this purchase. The German Credit Bank
Association is therefore optimistic that private borrowing will increase.’
Peter Wacket, Managing Director of the Bankenfachverband e. V.
With AdressAktualisierung Plus and AdressAktualisierung
Plus EMA, addresses are compared in a multi-stage process
with the current SCHUFA databases and, if necessary, with
the Deutsche Post’s (German postal service) databases, and
then validated using a delivery check. As soon as the vali-
dation process and delivery check have been completed successfully,
each address is then delivered immediately to the
partners concerned.
The advantages of reports
Using SCHUFA’s products, customer managers are able to
take advantage of special decision-making tools when carrying
out creditworthiness checks and granting loans to new and
existing clients.
Speed and high data quality are particularly important when
making initial business contacts with new customers. Since
requesting and checking individual records is time-consuming
both for customers and partners, integrating SCHUFA information
is in the interest of consumers and lending companies.

8 Advantages we offer
Without the SCHUFA report, loan applications from so-called
risk customers would be more likely to be turned down, or the
proportion of high-risk loans in the portfolio would increase.
Losses of growth and earnings and dissatisfaction of the customer
base would be the inevitable consequences.
Credit bureaus, which operate between borrower and lend-
er independently and on a competitively neutral basis, build
confidence. In the reporting year, SCHUFA issued over 100
million reports to partners. In addition, more than 739,000
reports were issued to private customers.
In order to facilitate this reliable exchange of information,
SCHUFA invests considerable funds in IT infrastructure, in providing
resources for record processing and consumer services.
This infrastructure and SCHUFA’s more than 750 employees
guarantee fast and direct communication channels to partners
and consumers.
More and more consumers expect to be able to buy their
retail purchases on credit. One in three consumer households
now pay for consumer goods not in cash but instead via
credit financing.
SCHUFA’s consumer products
• Credit reports
• Monitoring reports
• Identity products
• Address products
• Information products
• Score
SCHUFA’s corporate products
• Business reports
• Analysis products
• Data management
• Commercial register products
• Score
The costs of procuring the information would increase considerably
if there were no service provider such as SCHUFA delivering
the creditworthiness information relevant for lending quickly
and reliably. Particularly in the case of borrowers, who are less tied
to particular locations, either lenders would have to collect more
detailed information or borrowers would have to provide more
information. If neither action takes place, the risks increase as
well as the costs for consumers.
Stable private credit market
The development of private lending during the financial crisis
shows that SCHUFA makes an important contribution towards
enabling unproblematic lending and furthermore that it plays
a key role in stabilising the credit market in Germany.
The German consumer has proven to be a reliable and increasingly
important factor in the German domestic market. In this
regard, consumer loans have doubled their share of domestic
loans to twelve per cent since the 1960s. Although ten per cent
more instalment loans were granted from 2008 to 2010, the
proportion of loans executed in accordance with contract, at
97.5 per cent for 2010, only fell by 0.1 percentage points compared
to the previous year. This figure is therefore at the same
positive level as 2009. This shows that interaction between the
lending industry, consumers and credit bureaus functions excellently
even in turbulent economic times and ensures stable relationships
and, as a result, planning security for the economy
over the long term.
The reason for the reliable payment of instalments by borrowers
is the robust German employment market. However, careful,
thorough checking of loan applications by banks also plays an
important role. Credit-financed private consumption safeguarded
by reliable information thus proves itself to be an important
pillar for the economy.
The value of positive information
For more than 91 per cent of people, the information stored
in SCHUFA’s database is exclusively positive, and it documents
the contract-compliant behaviour of consumers. With positive
information, lenders can assess potential borrowers’ creditworthiness
much more precisely than they can in a data landscape
based exclusively on negative information, as positive informa-

tion gives lenders a better overview of borrowers’ overall financial
situation and allows them to help avoid over-indebtedness risks.
An international study has shown that the introduction of
positive information by credit bureaus allowed lenders to fulfil
considerably more loan applications from credit applicants.
Borrowers also benefit by providing positive information on their
business activities to credit bureaus or partners of credit bureaus,
and thereby bolster their financial reputation.
Advantages we offer 9
‘The European domestic market for private customers is still a long way off.
Private banks in Germany support the European policy attempts to grad -
ually create an integrated retail-banking market in Europe. This would increase
competition in national markets and give consumers a larger product
range at more favourable conditions. In order to bring about these advantages,
the European Commission has initiated several measures, such as
the “Access to basic payment accounts” and the “Planned regulations on
responsible granting of mortgages”. Both in the case of opening accounts
as well as the creditworthiness assessment in the context of granting mortgages,
SCHUFA’s services are playing an increasingly important role – in
the future this will also apply to cross-border business.’
Dr Ibrahim Karasu, Member of the Management Board, Bundesverband deutscher Banken
(Association of German Banks)

10 Advantages we offer
Case study: What if …?
Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen calculated the value
added from its cooperation with SCHUFA. Our ‘credit
report’ and ‘monitoring report’ products were put to
the test in terms of lending and creditworthiness assessments
within new and existing customer business.
What if there were no SCHUFA? The Esslingen-Nürtingen regional
savings bank (Kreissparkasse) addressed this question in
detail. After migrating to Finanz Informatik’s (the data centre
for German savings banks) OSPlus, the regional savings bank
wanted to investigate the added value of SCHUFA’s ‘credit report’
and ‘monitoring report’ products. The results up front:
each euro invested in SCHUFA services saved approx. € 13 in
company spending.
Reducing process costs with SCHUFA
To take into account the various scenarios, the first step was
to determine the process costs if the SCHUFA credit report were
not included. This would have delayed the final decision on a
loan by seven to ten days including receiving the bank report
by post. The immediate consequence: customers become less
accessible for further consultation and financial discussions as a
result of the delayed loan decision. The cross-selling business
would also be significantly impeded. Furthermore, the situation
Initial situation: Management and optimisation of business
processes at the Esslingen-Nürtingen regional savings bank
Goal: Increased revenue for products offered to new and
existing customers
Solution: Determination of information and reporting costs.
Simulation of the costs that result when SCHUFA’s ‘credit
reports’ and ‘monitoring reports’ are not involved
Result: Cooperation with SCHUFA contributes to the reduction
of risk as well as to time and cost savings. One euro
spent on SCHUFA results in savings of € 13 at the regional
savings bank
would result in additional personnel costs: if 60 minutes are
allowed for the manual processing of each loan application,
2,000 loan applications per year would result in additional
annual personnel costs of € 50,000.
Also, if it is assumed that ten per cent of the customers would
go to a competitor due to the long waiting periods, internal calculations
at the regional savings bank show that this would
burden revenue by an additional € 83,000 per year. In addition,
it could be expected that interest rates would be considerably
affected and would increase as a result of a deficit of information
and increased risk. If an estimated five per cent of customers
then chose another bank, this would result in an additional annual
earnings loss of € 40,000. Finally, the regional savings
bank simulated the potential loss of customers for instalment
loans and the closing of savings accounts.
The scenarios demonstrate: SCHUFA credit reports reduce manual
work to a minimum. At 60 minutes per loan application, the
time savings alone result in cost reductions of at least € 50,000
annually. Added to this is the significant value added from optimised
customer service with quick response times and more
time for consultation.
Customer service in focus
In addition to the SCHUFA credit report, SCHUFA monitoring
reports also play an important role in loan decisions. The monitoring
report service at SCHUFA provides contractual partners
with automatically updated information about their clients so
that they can immediately react to any potential change in
creditworthiness.
SCHUFA monitoring reports are based on information provided
by our contractual partners and information from public registers
or official notifications. Thanks to SCHUFA monitoring reports
and their storage in the OSP-integrated partner database,
the regional savings bank is kept up to date and is thus flexible
and independent. In addition, address changes reported by
SCHUFA give information as to the whereabouts of customers
with unknown addresses.
Without SCHUFA’s monitoring reports, financial advisors would
have to take on the time-consuming task of going through

debtor listings. Recovering the information in public registries –
once or twice a month – would result in about an additional
day’s work. Added to this would then be the setting up and
maintenance of an in-house system for the monitoring of
accounts and payment transactions, which would mean several
months’ work for the project team and generate costs of approximately
€ 50,000 per year. And since updates to public registries
are, for the most part, not made when the customer
requests a loan, customers themselves would have to regularly
make updates. Frequent requests for information from financial
advisors would therefore be more than just time-consuming;
they would work against ideal customer service.
Making good use of SCHUFA information
In order to take advantage of the benefits of SCHUFA credit
reports and SCHUFA monitoring reports, the product has to be
interpreted and put to use correctly. The regional savings bank
in Esslingen-Nürtingen achieved seamless integration of the processes.
To this end, the optimal integration of SCHUFA services
in Finanz Informatik’s OSPlus provided an excellent foundation.
The results: the inclusion of SCHUFA information reduces
defaults at the regional savings bank in Esslingen-Nürtingen
to a minimum of 0.26 per cent. Especially when it
comes to new customers, speed, in addition to high
quality information, is the deciding factor in the loan
application process. Manual processing times are cut and
Advantages we offer 11
‘The customer benefits from fair conditions. The integration of information
from SCHUFA reduces defaults at the regional savings bank in
Esslingen-Nürtingen to a minimum of 0.26 per cent. Financial advisors
can rely on SCHUFA when making loan decisions and quickly provide
customers with a positive answer. Customers at the regional savings
bank also benefit from fair and reasonable conditions and do not need
to provide additional proof of creditworthiness.’
Frank Dierolf, Deputy Member of the Executive Board and Head of the Private Customer division
at the Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen (Esslingen-Nürtingen regional savings bank)
a reliable, risk-adjusted formulation of conditions is
made possible. Savings banks benefit from the optimal
setup and conditions provided by the Finanz Informatik
data centre. The management of the business process is
optimised and cost advantages are thus achieved, resulting
in increased revenue as well as an optimised product
portfolio for new and existing customers.

12 Advantages we offer
New service for consumers
SCHUFA expanded its services even further in 2010: via its
service centre and the Internet, SCHUFA is available at all
times for background information and enquiries. Consumers
can now access their data quickly and easily. The
business reports developed by SCHUFA for consumers
are an innovation in the field of credit reports.
Consumers have been able to obtain information on the creditworthiness
of companies using SCHUFA’s innovative business
reports since November 2010. Is a potential employer well positioned
to pay salaries on time and as agreed? What is the financial
situation, for example, of the construction company hired
to build their new home? For such crucial questions, a SCHUFA
business report is a reliable and impartial tool that consumers
can use to better estimate their risks in advance of important
financial decisions.
SCHUFA business report
Part of the SCHUFA business report contains information on
a company’s payment history. It also contains any potential negative
payment experience with the company. An easy-to-understand
traffic light symbol indicates a company’s risk of insolvency
as well as the likely development of its ability to make payments
over the following twelve months: a ‘green light’ means that
positive payment behaviour can be expected. A ‘red light’, on
the other hand, warns of the possibility of insolvency. Consumers
can thus obtain a compact impression of a company’s creditworthiness
before they enter into a business relationship.
SCHUFA business reports for private individuals with
1.5 million company records
• Exact name and legal form
• Current location of company headquarters
• Owners, management, date founded
• Business sector
• Share capital
• Payment history
• Number of employees
Those who are interested need to register on our consumer
portal at www.meineSCHUFA.de in order to gain easy access
to the business reports. There is a one-time registration charge
of € 18.50; after registering, each report costs € 28.50.
Before requesting a report, the users must confirm that they
have a legitimate interest in the information requested, such as
an economic risk stemming from a business relationship with
the company in question.
‘In addition to the usual bank account and savings products, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe
has been increasing its activities since 2009 to be
able to offer its customers a wider range of consumer financing from
a single competent source. In their role as quality service providers, the
Sparkassen (regional savings banks) place a great deal of importance on
service, reliability and flexibility. Without our comprehensive cooperation
with SCHUFA, these activities and future challenges, such as regional
demographic developments, would be implemented only with great difficulty
in the context of responsible lending.’
Werner Netzel, Chief Executive Officer of the Deutsche Sparkassen- und Giroverband e. V.
(German Savings Banks and Giro Association)

Quick access to the SCHUFA credit report
The revised Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (Federal Data Protection
Act) came into effect as of 1 April 2010. The goal of the amendment
was to create more transparency for consumers and make
it easier for them to find out which personal information credit
bureaus had stored on them. Within the first month after the
law was amended, approximately 240,000 consumers requested
a report on their personal information as stored by SCHUFA. The
figure was double that of the same month of the previous year.
Despite the increase in the volume of requests, the number of
resulting queries was relatively low. For the most part, consumers
submitted updated information. Only a very small quantity of
stored data was incorrect as a result of processing errors. SCHUFA
welcomes the increased interest of consumers in their own information.
Accurate and up-to-date financial information provides
the foundation of business relationships for all those involved.
The service hotline and the consumer portal
In addition, as of 1 April 2010, SCHUFA also made it easier for
people throughout Germany to gain access to personal information
stored by SCHUFA. Approximately 750,000 people used the
service hotline in 2010. SCHUFA expanded this service to ensure
optimal accessibility nationwide. This channel of communication
shall also be improved and expanded in the future while maintaining
the same level of accessibility.
SCHUFA’s service number as well as the consumer portal
www.meineSCHUFA.de were again very well accepted by citizens
in the reporting year. They can view their SCHUFA information
directly online or request to receive it by post. Ever since
the Internet portal went live in 2005, the number of registrations
has continually increased to more than 880,000 users by
the end of the reporting period.
SCHUFA’s update service also offers consumers an additional
measure to protect against identity theft by providing information
on updates to their data records. Furthermore, registered
users are offered a WebCode. This allows authorised third parties
to access brief information regarding identity or the ability
to make payments. The service offers extra added value particularly
in situations in which consumers wish to present their
financial reputation at short notice, like when they are asked
Advantages we offer 13
to prove their creditworthiness during an apartment viewing
for example.
To contact SCHUFA, consumers can use the Internet portal
www.meineSCHUFA.de or SCHUFA’s service centre at the service
number (+ 49 (0) 1805 - SCHUFA or + 49 (0) 1805 - 724832).
SCHUFA creditworthiness report
On 30 March 2010, SCHUFA set up an additional service for
consumers that went above and beyond the requirements of the
new Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (Federal Data Protection Act):
the SCHUFA creditworthiness report which, like the SCHUFA
business report, provides valuable support for private business
transactions. Its unique feature is that it is divided into two service
components. The first part was specially designed to be submitted
to third parties such as landlords or employers. This part contains
only the information specifically relevant for business agreements
without providing unnecessary details. Furthermore it is
secured against forgery and printed on special paper with a
watermark. The second component of the new creditworthiness
report is intended for consumers only and displays all of their
personal information stored by SCHUFA.

14 Institution reports

Institution reports 15
Institution reports: SCHUFA is the only credit bureau in Germany that is supervised
by an independent consumer advisory board. Another core element of consumer
protection is the SCHUFA ombudsman. This person mediates between consumers,
SCHUFA and contractual partners in a neutral and independent manner. In addition
to the independent bodies, SCHUFA provides the public and consumers with many
opportunities to gather information and ask questions easily and quickly about the
sources of the financial information.

16 Institution reports
Prof Dr Winfried Hassemer,
new SCHUFA Ombudsman
The SCHUFA ombudsman represents a core element of consumer
protection and SCHUFA consumer communications.
As a neutral arbitrator, this person mediates between consumers,
SCHUFA and their contractual partners.
Prof Dr Winfried Hassemer has been the SCHUFA ombudsman
since July 2010. With the former Vice-President of the Federal
Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe and the State Commissioner
for Data Protection in Hesse, SCHUFA has hired an internationally
renowned jurist for its consumers.
Half-year results
The ombudsman regularly informs SCHUFA and the SCHUFA Consumer
Advisory Board about the latest entries and arbitral awards.
In the first six months of his term of office, from July to the end of
December 2010, 143 consumers approached Prof Dr Hassemer
with their concerns. Of these, 50 cases were inadmissible, i. e.
no attempt at clarification took place with the SCHUFA consumer
service. Of the remaining 93 permissible contentions, twelve of
the ombudsman’s arbitral awards were made in favour of the consumer.
Six cases involved erroneous reports by contractual partners,
and the remaining six cases were due to processing errors
by SCHUFA causing the disagreement. Overall, in 81 concerns
the ombudsman found in favour of the former SCHUFA decision
and explained his reasoning to the consumers concerned.
The experience of the first six months shows: when processing
the cases, the ombudsman has a more informative function and
less of a corrective role. Despite the complex legal relationships,
the challenge here is to keep a clear and equally legal communication
with the consumer. The ombudsman also takes into
account the opinions and suggestions of the SCHUFA Consumer
Advisory Board.
Unlike tribunals in many other sectors, there is little room for different
interpretations of the comment content in SCHUFA ombudsman
cases. The reason for this is that the regulations under
which SCHUFA works are defined in great detail by the Federal
Data Protection Act, leaving little room for free interpretation.
In Prof Dr Hassemer’s opinion, one of the ombudsman’s principle
tasks is to give an understandable explanation of the SCHUFA
procedure and its consumer-friendly design.
Win over consumers through independence
The main goal of the ombudsman process is to reach an amicable
and comprehensible solution with the consumer. If Prof Dr
Hassemer comes to the conclusion that SCHUFA or a partner has
not processed a concern correctly, he grants an arbitration award
in favour of the consumer, which allows him to quickly and efficiently
settle disputes out of court.
The arbitration is governed by rules of procedure. Initially, consumers
should contact the SCHUFA Consumer Service Centre
regarding queries or complaints. This attempt at clarification is
a prerequisite for admission to the ombudsman process. If no
agreement can be reached with SCHUFA, despite careful handling,
consumers can make a request to open an ombudsman
process by sending their complaint in writing with a description
of the facts by e-mail, fax or letter.
If, after a detailed examination of the factual and legal situation,
the ombudsman believes that the consumer has been disadvantaged
by a processing error, he may, for example, request a correction
to the data record. If, however, he finds that SCHUFA’s
method was correct, he explains to the consumer the facts of this
case in an understandable and comprehensible manner.

Prof Dr Winfried Hassemer
was State Commissioner for
Data Protection in Hesse
from 1991 to 1996, and was
appointed as a judge in the
Second Division of the Federal
Constitutional Court
in Karlsruhe in May 1996.
From 2002 to 2008, he
served as Chairman of the
Second Senate and was
Vice-President of the Federal
Constitutional Court. He
has been the ombudsman
of SCHUFA Holding AG
since 1 July 2010.
SCHUFA doesn’t create data, consumers do
Institution reports 17
Professor Hassemer, as SCHUFA’s ombudsman, what is your overall
impression of their activities?
The conversations and correspondence I am involved in clearly show that
many people do not understand what SCHUFA does. They know that our
economy needs reliable and fast information about creditworthiness in
individual cases, and agree with it, but the specific calculations are still
incomprehensible to many, and some believe the retention periods are
too long. Also the fact that it is not SCHUFA that creates the data, but
consumers themselves, is not always clear. There’s still a long way to go.
In your opinion, what needs to be done?
In my role as ombudsman, I want to bring clarity to the SCHUFA process
and refute the misconceptions people have about the legal situation.
SCHUFA cannot, for example, verify the extent to which contracts between
consumers and contractors have been legally closed. It can only determine
whether the conditions are right for transmitting their information
to SCHUFA.
Do you have a recommendation for consumers?
Recently, SCHUFA has greatly increased the consumers’ ability to access
information easily and quickly so that they can request and find out more
information on the nature and details of SCHUFA’s work as well as the
results of individual cases. Consumers should take greater advantage of
these opportunities in order to obtain better insight – particularly in the
case of complex relationships and transactions.

18 Institution reports
The Consumer Advisory Board
In 2008 SCHUFA set up an independent advisory committee
to serve as a neutral and public authority to discuss topics
that are important for consumers.
SCHUFA is the only credit bureau in Germany that is supervised
by an independent consumer advisory board. To create a concrete
exchange of views on consumer-related issues, SCHUFA
held intensive discussions with the independent panel in 2010.
As SCHUFA has developed a significant mediating role between
the banking industry and the public during its more than 80
years of existence, members of the interdisciplinary committee
come from various institutions, associations, companies and
social institutions. The board also communicates with the independent
SCHUFA ombudsman and submits its activity report
once a year.
Topics
The opinions of the independent, expert advisory board members
are of central importance to SCHUFA so that they can continually
improve consumer service and dialogue. As part of its
advisory work on consumer related issues, in 2010 the Advisory
Board dealt with the requirements of financial management in
households, the communication on credit scoring and the
impact of the revision of the Federal Data Protection Act.
Another focal point in 2010 was the result of discussions initiated
by the Consumer Advisory Board’s 2009 study about life
as a bankrupt consumer. As part of an empirical investigation,
762 people provided their experiences about the consumer
bankruptcy process.
As an experienced professional partner, the sociologist Dr Götz
Lechner headed up the study in cooperation with the Institute
of Sociology at the Chemnitz University of Technology. ‘Finally
someone who cares about us.’ That was the most frequent
message received from the individuals who participated in the
unique study on life as a bankrupt consumer which was conducted
in Germany.
While the discussion is usually about persons ‘affected’ or
‘persons involved in the consumer bankruptcy process’, the
investigation differentiates between three types of over-indebted
people: about half of them are ‘victims of modern, biographical
risks’, who have only ended up in this situation
through everyday risks such as unemployment, failed self-em-
‘The public demands transparency, factual consumer information as well
as a quick and professional response to customer requests. The more
important the company and its products for the public’s everyday consumption,
the stronger the demand for this requirement of openness.
Without a positive SCHUFA credit report, it is no longer possible to complete
a property lease in many cities, shipping companies will not provide
goods and borrowing is difficult - or at the very least expensive. As an
independent body, the SCHUFA Consumer Advisory Board observes
and supervises SCHUFA’s work and ensures that the interests of consumers
are always taken into account.’
Prof Dr Lucia A. Reisch (Copenhagen Business School, consumer behaviour and consumer policy,
a member of the German Council for Sustainable Development)

ployment or the breakup of a relationship/marriage, prompt-
ing the start of insolvency proceedings. They have the best
chances of successfully creating a new start merely by starting
the proceedings.
‘Insolvent persons with orientation problems’ (42 per cent), however,
need a little more time and help to save them from recent
financial disasters and pave the way back into mainstream
society. The third group (eight per cent) are ‘insolvent persons
with ongoing need for advice’.
According to the study, consumer bankruptcy leads to fundamental
changes in behaviour in the vast majority of respondents:
dealing with money becomes more planned and future-oriented,
and more than a quarter of people in consumer bankruptcy
follow a household budget plan. The research also shows that
the affected persons’ dependency on transfer payments declines
during the good conduct period. The active effort to find work,
which is required by the insolvency regulations, seems to be effective
with around half of those affected.
The results of the study were presented in April 2010 at the request
of the Ministry of Justice and the Parliamentary State Secretary,
Dr Max Stadler. With SCHUFA’s support, Advisory Board member
Prof Dr Hans-W. Micklitz also organised a conference at the European
University Institute entitled ‘Private insolvencies in Europe:
Different opportunities for creditors and debtors’. The results
of the study were presented to representatives from politics,
academia, business and credit agencies from various European
countries and discussed with them.
The key areas of the Consumer Advisory Board according
to statute
• Financial and consumer expertise
• Consumer and provider behaviour regarding credit
• Removal of asymmetric information between lenders and
borrowers
• Transparency in credit rating and granting processes
• Involvement of consumers in a self-determined, safe and
responsible use of their data
The Board also discussed the principles, methods and results of
studies as part of the SCHUFA Credit Compass, recommended
Institution reports 19
academic and/or other project contracts and gave suggestions,
especially with regard to the overall social relationships concerning
SCHUFA topics.
The members of the Consumer Advisory Board
• Tarik Ahmia, Editor of the Economy and Environment section
of the daily newspaper ‘taz’
• Birgit Bürkin, rw budgetberatung
• Prof Dr Helmut Jungermann, Technical University of Berlin,
Institute for Psychology and Ergonomics
• Stephan Mayer, Member of the German Bundestag/CDU/CSU
party, CSU spokesman for domestic and legal affairs and data
protection
• Dr Rainer Metz, Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau
of the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer
Protection
• Prof Dr Hans-W. Micklitz, European University Institute,
European economic law
• Dr Ulrich Ott, ING-DiBa AG, Director of Corporate Communications
• Prof Dr Michael-B. Piorkowsky, University of Bonn, household
and consumer economics
• Prof Dr Lucia A. Reisch, Copenhagen Business School,
consumer behaviour and consumer policy, Member of the
German Council for Sustainable Development
• Uli Röhm, Economics Editor and Journalist for the German
television station ZDF
• Marius Stark, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schuldnerberatung der
Verbände (Working Group of the German Debt Counselling
Associations)
• Dirk Stein, Bundesverband deutscher Banken (Association
of German Banks), Director of the business division Retail
Banking and Bank Technology
• Christoph Wenk-Fischer, Executive Managing Director
of the Bundesverband des Deutschen Versandhandels
(German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade
Association)
• Frank Wollschläger, Department Director of the Deutsche
Sparkassen- und Giroverband (German Savings Banks
Association)
• Manfred Zöllmer, Member of the German Bundestag/SPD
party and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Food,
Agriculture and Consumer Protection

20 Institution reports
Topics and names in 2010
Credit bureaus play a supportive and stabilising role in
industry and society. SCHUFA takes up the need for discussion
with many social groups and uses it for professional
conferences and seminars. One of the hallmarks of
these events is the lively, fair and concrete discussion,
which generates ideas of all kinds.
In Germany alone, personal loans (consumer and mortgage
loans) account for over € 1 trillion. Credit bureaus are important
institutions for regaining the confidence consumers lost during
the financial crisis. Their systems need to maintain accurate and
reliable data. This means that information providers to the credit
sector are also in a conflict of priorities concerning key social
developments, such as data and consumer protection, the risk
of over-indebtedness, or the question of responsible lending.
SCHUFA has made a name for itself in Germany with its dialogue
forums. High-ranking representatives from politics, economics
and science use them for an open exchange of ideas.
The World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference
(WCCRC 2010)
On 26 – 28 September 2010, the World Consumer Credit Reporting
Conference (WCCRC), was held in Berlin for the first time.
Every two years, representatives of the credit bureaus and the
financial industry meet to discuss current issues and innovative
approaches from different (financial) perspectives.
The host of the 2010 conference was SCHUFA, which organised
the event in cooperation with the European ‘Association of Consumer
Credit Information Suppliers (ACCIS)’ and the U.S. ‘Consumer
Data Industry Association (CDIA)’.
The World Conference provides credit bureaus from North and
South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa the opportunity
to exchange experience and expertise through presentations and
personal discussions.
220 representatives from 58 countries attended the conference,
and used the WCCRC as a platform for the global communications
and information industries.
The 4th SCHUFA Parliamentary Evening
‘Data protection in a free society’: on 17 March 2010, the
4th SCHUFA Parliamentary Evening was held in Berlin, this
time at the capital’s Allianz SE offices. Opening speakers
included Dr Max Stadler, Parliamentary State Secretary at the
Ministry of Justice. The subsequent panel discussion was
‘As part of its financial inclusion agenda, the G20 announced that the
rebuilding of public trust through responsible finance was to be given the
highest priority. This gives credit bureaus a prominent position in the rebuilding
of consumer confidence and means they need to develop systems
that hold correct and reliable data and provide comprehensive information.
In addition, credit bureaus must be able to answer the concerns of
consumers regarding the protection of their personal data. These are
not new goals: nevertheless, these aspects must be emphasised if developments
in the credit-reporting landscape are to continue to move in
the right direction.’
Peer Stein, Senior Manager, International Finance Corporation (IFC)/World Bank Group

moderated by Conny Czymoch (Phoenix) in the presence of
130 guests.
Prof Dr Kurt Imhof predicted continued increases in sensitivity
regarding the issue of privacy. The Allensbach poll was presented
and showed that people react very differently to the question of
what kind of personal data should be disclosed and to whom
it should be entrusted. Whoever is dealing with privacy in the
future must therefore carefully monitor what people perceive
to be private and what they do not. State Secretary Dr Stadler
argued, among other things, that information and education
on the subject of privacy needs to be expanded, and highlighted
the role of the government to set an example: in questions regarding
respect for citizens’ privacy, the government must lead
the private sector and the public by example.
The 5th SCHUFA Data Protection Colloquium
‘Who am I in the data network and how many of me are there?’
In the recent past, the debate over privacy has gained significant
thematic depth. Several federal ministries are dealing with
the issues of privacy and changing consumer behaviour from
different angles.
The 5th SCHUFA Data Protection Colloquium on 29 September
2010 therefore addressed this highly relevant topic, under the
title ‘Who am I in the data network and how many of me are
there’, deliberately echoing the best-seller by the modern philosopher
Richard David Precht at the Palazzo Italia in Berlin. Noted
experts discussed various aspects of present and future data
protection. Federal Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger
gave an impromptu lecture from the perspective of the Federal
Ministry of Justice.
SCHUFA Credit Compass
SCHUFA has published the SCHUFA Credit Compass every year
since 2003. While share indices are used as a barometer for the
financial markets, the widely recognised Credit Compass research
platform provides facts and trends about private borrowing in Germany.
It focuses on contributions to the credit and consumption
behaviour and the development of indicators for private consumption
and indebtedness. The key questions are: how is the supply
and demand of personal loans developing? Are consumers
tending to borrow too much and are credit defaults increasing?
Institution reports 21
The Credit Compass 2010 was supplemented by a representative
survey by the Institute for Public Opinon in Allensbach. In
answer to the 2009 question about how Germans feel about
the topics of frugality, debt and borrowing, and how affected
they rate themselves to be by the financial crisis, the analysis
showed: 26 per cent said they have been influenced in their private
life by the crisis, but not very strongly. 67 per cent of respondents
felt not at all affected. The estimates were confirmed
in the current analysis of the Credit Compass 2011 as 97.5 per
cent of Germans paid back their loans on time in 2010.
Detailed reports are available online for free at:
www.SCHUFA-Kredit-Kompass.de

22 Facts and figures
Facts and figures: SCHUFA provided 102.9 million credit and monitoring reports in
the reporting year. With approximately 6,000 contractual partners, SCHUFA has more
than 479 million records on over 66.2 million private individuals. SCHUFA’s partners
consist exclusively of companies which offer financing, goods or services loans.

Facts and figures 23

24 Facts and figures
Partners, subsidiaries, owners
Private customers and partners
SCHUFA Holding AG has more than one million private customers,
who can access consumer products such as the business report
at the private customer portal www.meineSCHUFA.de.
SCHUFA’s partners are exclusively companies which offer financing,
goods or services loans. Under specified usage rights, only these
companies receive information from SCHUFA. Thanks to the highly
diversified industry structure of our 6,000 partners (banks and
savings banks, telecommunications companies, retailers, etc.), who
report credit-relevant data to SCHUFA, SCHUFA is able to offer
reliable support systems for credit decisions.
Owners
The shareholders of SCHUFA Holding AG include strong, dynamic partners.
cooperative credit unions (7.9%)
retail and other (13.1%)
Subsidiaries
SCHUFA Holding AG has a 50 per cent share in Creditinfo
SCHUFA GmbH – the international joint venture with Creditinfo
Group hf. SCHUFA also owns the wholly-owned subsidiary
insiders GmbH, specialising in information management and information-based
systems, and a 25.1 per cent share in tolina
Holding GmbH. SCHUFA holds another 33.5 per cent share in
financial software specialist invest solutions GmbH.
lending banks (36.4%)
private banks (17.9%) savings banks (24.7%)

Executive Board and
Supervisory Board
Name Company Position
Executive Board
Facts and figures 25
Dr Michael Freytag SCHUFA Holding AG Chairman of the Executive Board since 1 Nov. 2010
Holger Severitt SCHUFA Holding AG Member of the Executive Board since 1 May 2009
Prof Dr Dieter Steinbauer SCHUFA Holding AG Member of the Executive Board since 1 Oct. 2001
Peter Villa SCHUFA Holding AG Member of the Executive Board since 1 May 2011
Supervisory Board
Theophil Graband 1 VR-LEASING AG Chairman of the Executive Board
Guido Heuveldop 2 Deutsche Bank Privat- Member of the Executive Board
und Geschäftskunden AG
Jürgen Brinkmann 3 Volksbank eG Spokesman for the Executive Board
Braunschweig Wolfsburg
Werner Netzel Deutscher Sparkassen- Member of the Executive Board
und Giroverband e. V.
Franz Josef Nick TARGOBANK AG Chairman of the Executive Board
& Co. KGaA
Magnus Nowotny SCHUFA Holding AG Team Leader Connection Management
Dieter Päschke SCHUFA Holding AG Head of Service Consultants and Partner
Support Department
Kay Sabirowsky SCHUFA Holding AG Head IT Expert
Jürgen Schulte-Laggenbeck OTTO (GmbH & Co. KG) Member of the Executive Board
1 Chairman of the Supervisory Board/Chairman of the Executive Board at TeamBank until 31 December 2010
2 Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board
3 Member of the Supervisory Board since 30 March 2010
As of 1 June 2011

26 Facts and figures
The year 2010
With 479 million records on more than 66.2 million private individuals,
SCHUFA Holding AG has the largest database in the
country for evaluating current payment behaviour. In the 2010
reporting year, SCHUFA generated Group revenues of € 108.4
million. Profit from ordinary business activities was just under
€ 1.9 million. The main generator of revenue was the traditional
core business of providing information services to partners. Added
to this were further developments in the scoring, B2B and B2C
product range. Around 102.9 million credit and monitoring
reports were issued to partners. At the end of 2010, SCHUFA
employed a workforce of 752 people at its twelve locations.
The amendment to the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (Federal
Data Protection Act) means a massive change to the business
environment for the credit bureau sector, because since 1 April
2010, consumers have been able to request free reports of personal
information stored by credit bureaus. On the one hand,
this is an important step towards the social acceptance of the
business model of credit bureaus. On the other hand, it is an
enormous economic challenge for credit bureaus to have to fulfil
the large number of credit report requests free of charge.
SCHUFA in figures 2010
Database: Number of people included (million) 66.2
Records stored (million) 479
Information services: Credit and monitoring reports (million) 102.9
Percentage of scores (in relation to reports) 69 %
Reports by procedure: Credit reports (§ 34 BDSG) 739,179
Business data: Sales in € thousands 108,431
* before extraordinary effects
Profit from ordinary business activities* in € thousands 1,852
Locations (including Wiesbaden) 12
Employees (as of 31 December 2010) 752

Balance sheet
Facts and figures 27
ASSETS As of 31 December 2010
EUR
A. Fixed assets 23,745,239.98
B. Current assets 22,330,138.85
C. Deferred income 5,573,618.60
TOTAL 51,648,997.43
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
A. Equity 10,956,386.11
B. Provisions 27,410,351.64
C. Liabilities 12,571,549.43
D. Deferred expenses 710,710.25
TOTAL 51,648,997.43
Key earnings figures
(for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2010)
1. Sales revenue 108,430,584.65
2. Profit from ordinary business activities 1,851,608.78

28 We build confidence

We build confidence 29
We build confidence: SCHUFA’s range of products and services is as multifaceted as
modern business life. SCHUFA answers its private and business customers’ questions
with comprehensive information services.

30 We build confidence
Imprint
SCHUFA Holding AG
Kormoranweg 5, 65201 Wiesbaden, Germany
PO Box 18 29, 65008 Wiesbaden, Germany
Phone + 49 (0) 611 - 9278-888
Fax + 49 (0) 611 - 9278-887
schufa-holding@schufa.de
Responsible: Dr Christian Seidenabel,
Head of Press and Public Relations
www.schufa.de
www.meineSCHUFA.de
www.SCHUFAmachtSchule.de
www.SCHUFA-Kredit-Kompass.de
www.SCHUFA-Verbraucherbeirat.de
www.Scoring-Wissen.de

We build confidence