Schufa

Schufa Holding AG (German: Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung; English: Protection association for general credit protection), proper spelling SCHUFA, is a German private credit bureau supported by creditors. It has its headquarters in Wiesbaden. The primary purpose of SCHUFA is to protect its business partners from credit risks by providing creditworthiness data. Additionally, it aims to prevent consumer over-indebtedness by ensuring that loans and installment plans are granted based on a reliable assessment of the borrower's ability to pay. As of 2026, SCHUFA maintains over 1.2 billion records on 69 million natural persons and 6.6 million companies. The company processes approximately 232 million credit inquiries and updates annually. SCHUFA employs over 1,000 people and reported annual sales of approximately €293 million. According to company data, over 90% of individuals in the database have exclusively positive records, contributing to a stable credit market with a 98.1% successful repayment rate for consumer loans.