How Does the SCHUFA Work for Newcomers in Germany? (2026)

What Is the SCHUFA and What Does It Record?

The SCHUFA Holding AG in Wiesbaden is Germany's main private credit bureau. Banks, phone companies and online shops report contracts and payment problems to it, and ask it for a score before they lend. It stores no data on nationality and none from social networks, according to its own FAQ. A score of 100 to 999 replaced the old percentage score on 17 March 2026. Companies have until the end of 2028 to switch, so lenders may still use the old industry scores today.

At launch, about 25% of the companies that used the old scores had moved to the new one, and SCHUFA expects about 50% by the end of 2026 (SCHUFA press release, 17 March 2026). The terms below come up in every German credit and account decision.

SCHUFA-Score

The 100 to 999 point score, built from 12 criteria that each carry a published point range.

Datenkopie nach Art. 15 DSGVO

Your free copy of everything the SCHUFA stores about you, sent by post, meant for your own information.

SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck / BonitätsAuskunft

The paid certificate you hand to a landlord. It shows contract-relevant data and no scores.

Basiskonto

A current account with basic functions that any bank selling accounts to consumers must open on request, under §31 ZKG.

Kontenwechselhilfe

The statutory account-switching service of §§20 to 26 ZKG, in which the new bank moves standing orders and payers for you.

IBAN-Diskriminierung

Refusing an account because its IBAN is from another EU country. Unlawful under Article 9 of SEPA Regulation 260/2012.

Why Does a New Arrival Have No SCHUFA Score?

Because the SCHUFA refuses to guess. Its FAQ states that where no or very little information exists, it deliberately calculates no score. A bank asking about you then reads "no data", not "good risk". That is the catch-22: a full bank wants a score before it opens an account, and the account is what creates the score (SCHUFA FAQ, 2026).

The rules are precise, and they show the way out. Time alone does not help much. A bank contract does, and it counts from day one.

The SCHUFA names current accounts, credit cards, leasing contracts, guarantees and loans as the bank contracts that count. So the first German account matters more than the first payslip. That is why the account guide starts with an account you can open without any history, and why credit card approval comes later.

How Does the New SCHUFA Score Work?

The new score adds up points from 12 criteria to a total between 100 and 999. 776 points or more is rated excellent. Open payment problems mean no score at all until the debt is settled. The heaviest single criterion is payment disruptions, worth up to 264 points. The SCHUFA publishes the point range of each criterion, so you can recalculate your own score (SCHUFA, 2026).

Six of the 12 criteria decide where a newcomer starts. The other six cover loans, property finance and enquiries outside banking, which matter less in the first year.

Two details surprise most readers. A new credit card lowers the score at first: with no card you hold 24 points, and a fresh card scores 0 for six months. And debit and prepaid cards never count for that criterion, however long you hold them.

How Do You See Your SCHUFA Data for Free?

You have two free routes and one paid one. The Datenkopie under Article 15 GDPR is free and comes by post. The new SCHUFA Account at app.schufa.de is free and shows the new score online. The paid BonitätsCheck costs EUR 29.95 once and is the only one meant for a landlord. SCHUFA states that the free copy is for personal information only (meineSCHUFA, October 2026).

The same certificate is also part of the meineSCHUFA kompakt subscription at EUR 4.95 a month. That plan runs for at least 12 months, so one flat search rarely justifies it. A newcomer without a German eID card can still open the free account, because SCHUFA can send a PIN letter by post instead.

How Do You Build a SCHUFA Record From Zero?

You build it with one German bank contract, a registered address and no missed payments. The published points reward those three things, plus patience. Clustering applications inside 28 days stops the enquiries from stacking. Six steps, in the order the criteria reward them:

1. 1

   Step 1: Register your address

   Do the Anmeldung at the Bürgeramt. The SCHUFA criterion for your current address awards 0 points until the seventh month and 6 points from then, so the clock should start early.

2. 2

   Step 2: Open a German current account with an identity check

   A bank contract is what turns 'no data' into a full score, and the identity check the bank reports adds 38 points once it reaches the SCHUFA.

3. 3

   Step 3: Bundle your applications inside 28 days

   The SCHUFA counts several current-account and credit-card enquiries within 28 days only once. Spread over a year, one enquiry costs 35 points and two cost 73.

4. 4

   Step 4: Add one real credit card and set repayment to 100%

   Only a card with a credit limit counts for the oldest-credit-card criterion. It scores 0 for six months, so get it early and never let Teilzahlung become the default.

5. 5

   Step 5: Check your data after the next quarter

   Open the free SCHUFA Account at app.schufa.de with an eID card or a PIN letter. The data and the score update at the start of each quarter.

6. 6

   Step 6: Pay every bill on time and keep the oldest account

   A settled payment disruption still weighs on the score for up to three years. The oldest bank contract earns 27 points at four years and 69 at twenty, so do not close it.

Which bank reports what is the bank's decision, not yours. Check your SCHUFA Account after the next quarterly update to see which contracts arrived. For the cards that approve a thin file, see the credit card requirements guide.

What If Every Bank Refuses You an Account?

You claim a Basiskonto, which needs no SCHUFA score. §31 ZKG obliges every bank that sells accounts to consumers to open one. It covers anyone lawfully resident in the EU, naming people without a fixed address, asylum seekers and people with a Duldung. The bank must make its offer within 10 business days of a complete application.

A refusal has to follow rules too. Under §34 ZKG the bank may only refuse on the grounds in §§35 to 37. These include an account you already use at another German bank, or a crime against the bank in the past three years. The refusal must come in text form, free of charge, with reasons and a pointer to your complaint routes. The account fee must be reasonable under §41 ZKG, measured against market prices.

If the bank refuses, misses the 10 days or never opens the account, §48 ZKG lets you ask BaFin for an administrative procedure. BaFin states the procedure is free of charge. Send its form to Referat VBS 12 in Bonn, or use the online form, with a copy of your application and the refusal (BaFin, Basiskonto, 2026). A consumer arbitration body or a civil court are the other two routes.

How Does the Account-Switching Service Work?

You sign one authorisation at the new bank, and the law sets the deadlines. Under §20 ZKG both banks must help when both sit in Germany and both accounts are in the same currency. The new bank asks the old one within 2 business days. The old bank sends the lists within 5 business days. The new bank sets everything up within 5 business days of receiving them.

The old bank sends the standing orders, direct-debit mandates and 13 months of incoming transfers (§22, §23 ZKG). The new bank then sets up the standing orders and tells your payers and payees the new IBAN. It can hand you template letters instead (§24 ZKG). If your chosen date is under six business days after it receives the lists, the sixth business day applies.

The lists and closing the old account are always free under §26 ZKG. Any other switching fee needs your express agreement and must reflect real costs. A bank based outside Germany on either side takes the switch out of §20. For that case, §§27 to 29 ZKG oblige your old bank to give you a free form and to help on request. Payments taken from a card are neither standing orders nor direct debits, so move those yourself.

How Safe Is Your Money in a German Bank?

Deposits are covered up to EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank, paid within 7 working days. The §8 EinSiG sets the ceiling. Under §14 EinSiG the clock starts when BaFin declares the compensation case, and you file nothing. For private banks the payer is the Entschädigungseinrichtung deutscher Banken.

The ceiling rises to EUR 500,000 for up to six months after certain one-off credits land. These include the proceeds of selling a home you lived in, and social payments tied to life events. You must claim the higher amount in writing and prove it. The Sparkassen and the cooperative banks run their own recognised schemes. An EU neobank with a foreign licence falls under its home country's EUR 100,000 scheme instead. A payment institution such as Wise Europe SA safeguards client money rather than insuring it.

What If Someone Refuses Your Foreign IBAN?

You complain, because the refusal is unlawful. Article 9 of SEPA Regulation 260/2012 bars a payer or payee from dictating which EU country your account is in. BaFin names the practice IBAN-Diskriminierung. Complaints about a bank go to BaFin. Complaints about an employer, landlord or utility go to the Wettbewerbszentrale (BaFin, 2026).

The Wettbewerbszentrale opened its SEPA complaint office in June 2017, together with BaFin and the Bundesbank. It logged more than 130 complaints in 2023, up from just over 100 the year before (Wettbewerbszentrale, June 2024). If your salary has to land this month, a German IBAN avoids the argument. The account guide lists the ones that open without a SCHUFA file.

Frequently Asked Questions