An offer from Schufa to assess the solvency of consumers in the future based on their account statements is causing a stir. In cooperation with the cell phone company Telefónica / O2, the credit agency tested whether consumers are willing to have the account data relevant for the assessment stored by Schufa for twelve months. “There is currently no data flowing,” said Schufa board member Ole Schröder on Friday the German press agency. Consumer advocates and politicians criticized the project, which the group declared ended on Friday evening.

Let Schufa look at the account “Unfortunately, the results of this test did not meet our expectations,” said Telefónica / O2 to the dpa. “That is why Telefónica / O2 decided today to end the test and to no longer use the Schufa” CheckNow “procedure.”

During the test, possible new customers who, due to their poor rating would normally not get a mobile phone contract, let the Schufa look at their account. “Because at Telefónica there are a few potential customers whose contract request had to be rejected due to missing or inadequate or older negative credit information, although their current financial situation was completely unproblematic,” says the group.

“Account snooping” for scoring purposes Accordingly, approximately 100 people participate voluntarily. To do this, they had to expressly give the Schufa an order. The group emphasized: “Schufa offers the process to consumers under its own responsibility under data protection law.” The account information used had not been saved.

Klaus Müller, board member of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, accused Schufa of “account snooping”. “Such a deep data analysis of the account movements for scoring purposes allows conclusions to be drawn about the personality, economic status and even political orientations of the customers and thus ultimately leads to a completely screened consumer.” Check legal steps in the event that the credit agency implements these plans.

Advantages in a Schufa credit rating Schufa board member Schröder emphasized: “Sensitive data such as the payment of a doctor’s bill are automatically filtered out and must not be processed.” According to the company, the stored account data is limited to relevant data for credit rating and fraud prevention.

With the voluntary data storage, the consumer can avoid further future account access by third parties and still use his data in an advantageous manner for him include a Schufa credit rating. The account analysis takes place only once at the Schufa. “The aim is that consumers can benefit from current, positive account information for future transactions and credit checks,” said Schröder. “This means that the data is more up-to-date, and we also meet the requirements of consumer advocates.”

“Schufa as a neutral authority” For consumers who have not given an order to view the account, the classic credit check remains, said Schröder. “If the evaluation according to the account data turns out negative, the consumer can revoke his consent.” The classic credit check then remains. “From our point of view, it is better for consumers that Schufa collects the data in trust as a neutral entity than companies that do business with it directly.”

Since the introduction of the Second EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) it is possible that third-party providers such as financial start-ups can gain insight into accounts. The prerequisite is that the customer agrees to this. Schufa bought the Munich account information service Finapi GmbH at the end of December 2018.

“Current procedure” According to Schröder, the project is now a procedure that is now common in Europe and “which other credit agencies have been using for some time”. The Schufa is constantly in close coordination with the data protection authorities. “You were informed before the test, the data protection officers do not have to agree.”

A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Justice said that this new business model raises legal questions. Therefore, the ministry, which has only now learned about it, will “look closely” at it. After all, this is about “particularly sensitive data” and consumers must always be able to understand what they are giving their consent for.

The power of Schufa The Green politicians Tabea Rößner and Konstantin von Notz criticized that Schufa already has access to extensive information about consumers, “which they still do not understand how and in what way this data is weighted for the personal score “.

The deputy FDP parliamentary group chairman Stephan Thomae said that it is alarming that the Schufa wants to screen bank statements of consumers. “Citizens should pay with their data for lower prices and more opportunities in legal traffic.” If citizens were ultimately only able to conclude a mobile phone or rental contract with the consent to this data processing by Schufa, they would in fact no longer have a free choice.

(bme)