Twelve Criteria. And a Few You Do Not Need to Know About.

In March all was well with the world. Schufa, Germany's most powerful credit agency with data on more than 68 million people, stepped before the public and promised something you otherwise only hear in this country from people who have just signed up for a gym: a fresh start. "One score. Twelve instead of 100 scoring criteria." The world's first fully transparent score. Everyone would be able to work out how they are rated.

Applause. Even the consumer protection minister praised it. People were touched. Finally, they thought, we will learn why the phone contract was rejected. Maybe it was the move. Maybe the postcode. Maybe ordering from Zalando at three in the morning.

The thing about the second score

Now investigations by NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung show that alongside the one transparent score there are other, much more complex ratings. Among them a "new-generation mortgage score" that, according to the reporting, has been offered to banks since summer 2025. Asked how it works, Schufa would not say. It would explain it to the public once it becomes "relevant" for consumers. When will that be? Unclear.

Transparency, Schufa-style: you may see everything. Except what decides about you.

For consumers it is a familiar feeling. You stand in front of a glass pane, your life is being negotiated behind it, and a sticker on the glass says "We're here for you". Matthias Spielkamp of AlgorithmWatch called the transparency drive, in hindsight, "a really big con". We would have called it "a creative reading", but fine.

Why this is not a niche issue

A score is an algorithm with consequences. It helps decide who gets a flat, a loan, an insurance policy. For people whose lives do not fit standard forms, this is not abstract: anyone who has changed their name, moved often or has no conventional family with joint accounts shows up differently in the data. And nobody can say whether "different" means "risky" in the model.

That is exactly why the promise mattered so much. And exactly why the disappointment is so great. The issue is not that credit agencies do calculations. It is that you should be allowed to check them.

What you can do

Under the GDPR you have the right to a free copy of your data from Schufa. It also shows which scores were requested about you, though only after the fact. Request it. Once a year, like a dental clean for your data. And if something looks wrong: demand a correction. In writing. Politely. Firmly.

Because when a machine judges you, curiosity is not distrust. It is self-defence.