Only three out of 14 banks advised test customers correctly about a loan. FINANZtest found out: In one third of all cases, the customer's creditworthiness is lowered due to mistakes made by bank employees. That harms the consumer with each further credit inquiry.
Test subjects went to the branches of 14 banks and asked for a loan of 5,000 euros in three consultations each. For FINANZtest, they wanted to know whether the institutions correctly pass on sensitive customer data to the Schutzgemeinschaft fur allgemeine Kreditsicherung (Schufa) (Protection Association for General Credit Protection). There, the data on the customer's creditworthiness is stored for years. The test subjects have before and after a credit counseling a Schufa self-disclosure and their Schufa score given. Schufa calculates the score from its collected data. It indicates the likelihood that the consumer will repay a loan on time or pay a bill in accordance with the contract. The Schufa score is a criterion for whether the bank grants the customer a loan at all and if so, at what conditions.
Dresdner Bank has learned
Competent and well in the picture were the advisors of the Dresdner Bank, Hypovereinsbank and Berliner Volksbank. They all used the feature "inquiry credit conditions" in the Schufa inquiry that does not lead to a deterioration of the Schufa score (and thus to a drop in creditworthiness). Dresdner Bank's catching up is astonishing. In the last FINANZtest investigation it landed still with one "unsatisfactory" on the penultimate place. This time the advisors informed the customers in detail about the Schufa and their inquiry there.
Harming the customer
The norisbank result is particularly bad: All three advisors made the wrong Schufa inquiry. With Citibank, Commerzbank and ready bank in each case two of three coworkers in the PC program justified the Schufa inquiry with the characteristic "inquiry credit" instead of "inquiry credit conditions. Schufa learns the customer has inquired about a loan. But she can't say why no contract was signed. So Schufa rates the consumer lower by lowering his score value. This harms the customer. But not only the query method was often the wrong one: Two employees each of norisbank and GE Money Bank obtained Schufa information without the customers' consent. This is prohibited by the Federal Data Protection Act!
Correction of the score possible
If the consumer does not know or notice that he is in a worse position, he may be offered a lower interest rate the next time he applies for a loan. This applies to construction loans as well as car financing. The customer can have his bad score corrected by Schufa in case of wrong advice. Optimal credit advice ends with the customer leaving the bank with a written offer stating the nominal and effective annual interest rate, the amount and number of monthly installments, the term, the total interest burden and the total loan amount – without changing his Schufa score. Only then can he compare different loans.
Tips:
Provider. If you want to obtain a loan offer without worrying about your Schufa entry, you are in good hands with Dresdner Bank, Hypovereinsbank and Berliner Volksbank. Schufa inquiries in the test were correct and without negative consequences for customers.
Top interest rates. The current interest rates for installment loans from over 50 banks can be found in the information document Installment Loans.
Schufa inquiry. Ask if the bank employee in the credit counseling does not address the Schufa inquiry by itself. Point out to him that he should use the feature "credit conditions" for the inquiry in the computer.
Self-disclosure. If your loan request is rejected or you only get a bad interest rate, request a credit report from Schufa. It says what Schufa has stored about you, who has requested information about you and when, and for what purpose.
Schufa service point. At the Schufa consumer service centers in 14 major cities, you can view your personal data free of charge. A printout of their data costs 7.80 euros.
Schufa data online. In the net you can request comfortably the self information for 7,80 euro and the consumer information for example for landlords for 3,90 euro. You will then receive the information by mail.
Permanent access. If you want to view your Schufa data regularly online, you pay a one-time fee of 15.60 euros for this service. You can then inspect the data as often as you like. To register, log in with user name and password and then go to the post office with your ID for the Post-Ident procedure. Schufa will then send you an access card.