SCHUFA data copy: is it really free, and what is it good for?

Data copy, subscription or paid certificate — which paper you need

The data copy under Article 15 GDPR is free and shows everything stored about you. The online subscription and the BonitätsAuskunft are paid, and for a mortgage you need neither.

• Does Article 15 GDPR make the copy free? Yes. Article 15 GDPR gives you the right to a copy of the data held about you, at no charge. A fee may be charged only where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
• Only once a year? No — that was the rule in the German data protection act before 2018. The GDPR sets no fixed annual limit. After a correction you can request it again.
• What is it you pay for, then? The paid products: the online subscription with ongoing access, and the BonitätsAuskunft that many landlords want to see. For a mortgage you need neither.
• Who arranges the financing? Perini Finance & Property — licensed under §34i GewO, 650+ banks compared. we know the lenders whose credit policy works with a thin German file, and we tell you what your record means before a bank reads it.

SCHUFA offers several records and only one of them is the free one. That is why so many people pay: the paid product sits high on the start page, the data copy further down.

Data copy under Article 15 GDPR — free — everything stored about you, where each entry came from, and the score values. This is the paper you check your own file with. Online access by subscription — paid — continuous access and notification when something changes. Convenient, but not needed for a one-off check before a financing request. SCHUFA BonitätsAuskunft — paid — the shortened version made for showing to someone else, usual for rental applications. It shows less than the data copy.

The data copy is requested directly from SCHUFA. Third-party services that obtain the free record for a fee are selling you a route you can walk yourself in a few minutes.

What the copy shows

The copy lists which contracts and accounts were reported, who has made an enquiry in recent months, and for each entry the date on which it will be deleted. It also carries the score values SCHUFA passes to banks, retailers and landlords, together with the features that fed into them.

Two things regularly surprise people. First, settled contracts that were repaid cleanly stay on file for a while — that is normal and no disadvantage. Second, a bank's conditions enquiry is not the same as a credit enquiry: only the latter is visible to other lenders and can move the score.

No SCHUFA because you live abroad — and still buying in Germany

Anyone who has lived in Switzerland, Singapore or the United States for years often has no SCHUFA file at all, or only old entries from before the move. The data copy then shows little or nothing. That is not a blemish; it follows from the bureau recording only what German contract partners report.

For a German bank it is still a hurdle: its standard process expects a record. Some lenders decline at this point because their process provides no alternative. Others replace the missing record with what is actually meaningful — account statements, employment contract, a creditworthiness reference from the bank where you live, evidence of where the income comes from. The work is finding, among 650+ banks, the one whose credit policy provides for that route.

No SCHUFA record — how German banks assess you →  ·  Financing with a residence abroad →

What the bank asks for on top: The record says what others have reported about you. It says nothing about your income, your assets and your running costs — and that is exactly what the bank needs for the creditworthiness assessment. The full list is in the checklist: non-resident mortgage checklist.

Frequently asked questions