What Schufa actually tracks
Germany's credit agency knows less than you fear and more than you think.
Schufa stores contract data: bank accounts, credit cards, loans, phone contracts, and whether you paid them as agreed. It does not see your balance, your salary, or what you buy.
The score summarizes how reliably you have paid in the past. Missed installments, collections, or many credit applications in a short time push it down; long, quietly-paid contracts push it up.
Once a year you can request your full record for free (Datenkopie under Art. 15 GDPR) at meineschufa.de. Check it — wrong entries are common and you can demand correction.
Before a big loan or a flat search, request the copy early. Fixing a wrong entry takes weeks, not days.