Who gets your data? Cartel Office expresses itself
Is the Schufa sold abroad? The final decision on this has not yet been made. However, the Federal Cartel Office has removed a potential stumbling block. Things are only getting really exciting for German consumers now.
German consumers have been asking themselves a question for months: what happens to my data at the Schufa? The credit reporting agency is to be sold Data from around 70 million Germanswhich the Schufa collects would be affected in this case.
Green light for Schufa sale? Cartel Office sees no problems
The Federal Cartel Office has now announced that, from the authority’s point of view, there are two sales scenarios there are no objections. On the one hand, reference is made to the complete takeover of all shares in Schufa by the financial investor EQT, which has owned a larger share of the credit agency for several months.
A counter-offer would also get the green light from an antitrust point of view: The team bank, which manages the shares of the cooperative Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken in Schufa, wants it prevent purchase by EQT, is it[calledThat’swhyyouwanttoincreaseyourownshares(source:AFPviat-online).
From the bank’s point of view, it is in the interests of German consumers, if the previous owners could achieve “stable majorities”. In this way, the neutrality of the credit agency can be preserved in the long term.
However, it is still unclear what happens to the data from the Schufa file when it is sold abroad would. The dispute with the Facebook group Meta shows that neither Germany nor the EU take the sale or storage of data abroad lightly. An initiative is currently collecting votes against the sale to EQT.
How to save when shopping online:
Schufa sale still pending: no clarity for consumers
After all: EQT is a company based in Sweden. Due to the EU, the same requirements for handling sensitive data apply there as in Germany. It is still up in the air how the Schufa will continue. On the part of the Federal Cartel Office, it is now a business decision as to whether EQT will be awarded the contract or whether the current owners will buy more. In addition to the cooperative banks, this also includes the savings banks and Deutsche Bank as well as other financial institutions.
Incidentally, none of the plans are likely to change anything about the criticism that has been raised again and again about how opaque the Schufa creates its scoring for creditworthiness.
