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DR. MICHAEL FREYTAG HOLGER SEVERITT PETER VILLA
Much is changing in our increasingly interconnected world. Communication is often more multidimensional than in the past.
Technical devices are becoming more intelligent and are perform- ing more and more functions, while transactions are increasingly
moving into the digital space. One prerequisite remains un-changed, however: we all need trust. Viable business relationships
would be impossible without trust in each other, whether in companies or between the seller and the buyer. It is the link between
us and our interactions.
As Germany's leading credit bureau, it is our responsibility to create the basis of trust for business processes. As an intermediary
between the lending industry and consumers, we have data on 66.4 million people and 5.2 million companies. We also allow
for fast and safe transactions between companies and make risk management much easier for SCHUFA customers. Every day,
we grant around 350,000 requests for information to do exactly that: build trust and prepare the basis for a business transaction.
The dynamics of the changes that are underway open up many opportunities. We will actively expand our products and services in
order to continue performing our core function for business and consumers while ensuring quality and convenience for all parties. We
invite you to take a closer look at these exciting topics and wish you informative and inspiring reading!
3
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Foreword by the Executive Board
4
30THE
B IOLOGY OF TRUST
14TRUST 2030
26REACHING
THEIR L IM ITS IN TANDEM
32MAT TER OF THE HEART
8BRIDGE BUILDER
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Contents
5
For more information: WWW.SCHUFA-WEGBEREITER.DE
Meet five SCHUFA employees who all enjoy complete trust in completely different roles.
P.32
SCHUFA in figures, data and facts – a concise overview of the last fiscal year.
P.38
Oxytocin ensures that we permit closeness and develop trust. For quite some time,
this hormone was only known in a completely different context.
THE BIOLOGY OF
TRUSTP.30
The artists Malina Kraft and Christian Möller Stern have complete confidence in each other – and thus
live their dream every day.
P.26
REACHING THEIR LIMITS IN
TANDEM
P.6
We asked experts, business people and SCHUFA customers to share their views and received some very personal answers.
WHAT IS TRUST?
P.20
Identity fraud is a growing problem, especially with online transactions, both for consumers and
for companies. Common sense and SCHUFA help to prevent it from occurring.
PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY
TRUST 2030
MATTER OF THE HEART
THE FACTS
P.8
In a conversation with the Chairman of SCHUFA’s Executive Board, Dr. Michael Freytag, Professor Hans-Jürgen
Papier reflects on his responsibilities and how important trust is in business life.
BRIDGE BUILDER
P.14
Digitalization is revolutionizing many markets and exerting an ever greater influence on our lives.
Experts, unconventional thinkers and pioneers explain why one feeling remains crucial.
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Contents
6
WHAT
»Trust requires experience. With new customers, SCHUFA is kind of a confidence catalyst for us. We
trust the company and its data, and our relation- ships with our customers can grow on the basis of
this trust.«
klaus skripalle, Managing Director, Channel21 GmbH (Teleshopping channel)
»Trust is the foundation! With designers as well
as at the hairdresser: The customer doesn’t know
how things will turn out at first. He has to trust
that I will create some-thing beautiful.«
stefanie schaffer, Graduate communication designer,
Visuelle Logik – Agentur für Gestaltung
»Trust is important for consumers at the very latest when it has been
breached, for instance, when an online order has been delivered too late or
not at all. We are then willing to pay a bit more for it.«
bernd skiera, Professor of Electronic Commerce, Goethe University, Frankfurt / Main
»Trust is formed when you work together on a project and realize how your
own goals match the goals of others.«susanne goy, Consultant in the field of construction involving existing buildings
and ecological surfaces, wand & form DEKOR
»Trust means being able to rely on someone. This depends on facts
but also requires a certain basic trust and interpersonal sense so that
something can take place that we call “personal creditworthiness” in
our business.«
petra schad, Product Management Payments, Private Customers,
Commerzbank AG
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What is Trust?
7
IS TRUST?
7
»We build trust«: That is the objective of SCHUFA. But what does trust really mean?
We asked experts, business people and SCHUFA customers to share their views.
»You can’t earn trust. Trust is a gift. And receiving it
is anything but self-evident. For this reason, the saying
should read: control is good, trust is better.«
mechthild heil, Consumer Ombudsman for
the CDU / CSU Parliamentary Group
»By performing a credit check, we create the basis for the credit
decision: trust in the creditworthiness of the borrower.«
susanne golz, Team Leader Credit Evaluation and Risk Detection, Oldenburgische Landesbank AG
»When we speak of consumer confidence, many of us only think of trust in brands and products. This is one-sided! For example, con-
sumers also need trust in the overall economic situation and that they will still have a job tomorrow that brings in enough earnings to be
able to meet their daily needs before they are willing to make purchases.«
arved lüth, Managing Owner,:response – Consultancy for sustainability
and corporate social responsibility
»If we lack experience in dealing with someone, a company or something, trust can
only develop on the basis of evaluations by a reliable third party.«
jürgen taeger, Professor of Law, Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg
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What is Trust?
88
BRIDGE BUILDER
SCHUFA is the only credit bureau in Germany that has established the position of an Ombudsman. In a conver-
sation with the Chairman of SCHUFA’s Executive Board, Dr. Michael Freytag, Professor Hans-Jürgen Papier reflects
on his responsibilities and how important trust is in business life.
photography_ Matthias Haslauer
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LOW MISTAKE RATE: THE OMBUDSMAN ONLY
CONSIDERS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE COMPLAINTS
HE RECEIVES TO BE LEGITIMATE.
Valid applications Legitimate consumer concerns
Number of applications in 2015
741329
39
THE OMBUDSMANN
10
Professor Papier, as Ombudsman for SCHUFA, it is your job to settle disputes between consumers and SCHUFA and its contractual partners. How do you go about doing this?
prof. hans-jürgen papier_ If, despite being given careful attention, a consumer’s matter could not be resolved by SCHUFA’s ServiceCenter, he then has the right to contact me or the arbitration body. This often involves deleting negative entries right away, but sometimes erroneous entries or the lack of or late entry of characteristics.
What happens if the matter is justified?
prof. papier_ Then I see to it that the matter is resolved promptly by passing my arbitration ruling. For example, I can arrange for an entry that has been denied to be rechecked by the respective SCHUFA contractual partner and possibly for this entry to be corrected.
But how do you handle unjustified complaints?
prof. papier_ I explain the facts to the consumer as clearly and comprehensibly as possible. If he does not agree with my decision, he is still able to take the matter to court.
How independent are you from SCHUFA?
prof. papier_ SCHUFA has explicitly defined my role as being inde-pendent. I am not subject to any instructions either as provided for in the Rules of Procedure for the Ombudsman. Consequently, SCHUFA does not influence my assessments and reviews in any way. The Federal Data Protection Act is the central legal basis for an Ombudsman. Its rules are defined in great detail and I follow them closely.
Dr. Freytag, the number of complaints and petitions from con-sumers submitted to the arbitration body increased in 2015. How do you explain that?
dr. michael freytag_ The number reflects the increased consumer awareness and I consider this to be very positive. Of the 329 admissible inquiries to the Ombudsman, only 39 proved to be justified. I con-sider this number quite low, given the 130 million credit inquiries per year. It clearly shows that SCHUFA handles personal consumer infor-mation in a responsible manner.
Accessible
Information can be shared with the Ombudsman online, by email, mail or fax, provided that a matter could not be resolved by the SCHUFA ServiceCenter. SCHUFA even bears the costs of the proceedings.
Binding
A decision by the Ombudsman is binding for SCHUFA up to a dispute value of 2,500 euros. The consumer does not have to accept it and can have the matter tried before an ordinary court.
Independent
The Ombudsman must be quali-fied to work as a judge. He is not allowed to have worked for SCHUFA before and is not bound by any instructions.
TransparentEvery year, the Ombudsman publishes an activity report on the development of case numbers, processing errors made by SCHUFA and the types of complaints received.
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PROFESSOR HANS-JÜRGEN PAPIER
Born in 1943, Professor Hans-Jürgen Papier was a judge on the Federal Consti-tutional Court from 1998 to 2010 and its president starting in 2002. He taught public law and constitutional law, in par-ticular, at the Universities of Bielefeld and Munich. He has been emeritus since 2011. Professor Papier was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (Grand Cross), the Bavarian Order of Merit and two honorary doc-torate degrees. He succeeded Professor Winfried Hassemer as the Ombudsman for SCHUFA in 2014.
For further information, activity reports and contact details: www.schufa-ombudsmann.de
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How is your opinion on this, Professor Papier?
prof. papier_ Individual mistakes are made and can never be avoided completely. Nevertheless, it is important that they do not reflect any fundamental deficiencies in inter-nal processes at SCHUFA. And I have never been able to find any evidence of this in my year and a half as an Ombudsman. In my experience, SCHUFA is a well-managed company that handles the data it is entrusted with very carefully. Much more carefully than some companies of the digital economy that not only collect more data than SCHUFA, but also analyze it more comprehensively and less transparently.
Why does SCHUFA actually have an Ombudsman, Dr. Freytag?
dr. freytag_ This expresses our respect for consumers who are thus given a chance to contact an objective, neutral and independent body outside of judicial instances. We thus build a bridge for an amicable solution. At the same time, this is also a statement. We lay our cards on the table for a recognized authority with advanced legal expertise because we have confidence in our own processes, precisely because we reflect them at every turn. This ultimately increases the quality of our data.
» In my experience, SCHUFA is a well-managed company that handles the data it is entrusted with very carefully. Much more carefully than some companies of the digital economy.« professor hans-jürgen papier, SCHUFA-Ombudsmann
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What else does SCHUFA do to create trust?
dr. freytag_ The Ombudsman is an essential part of our approach and an expression of our attitude. The process of critical reflection is also facilitated by our Consumer Advisory Board, which consists of representatives of politics, science, business and society. This body gets a very close look at our service. We then receive thorough and independent feedback in return.
Consumers sometimes ask why we need credit bureaus like SCHUFA.
prof. papier_ Without SCHUFA or credit bureaus in general, most of the transactions that are based on credit would not be feasible without taking a very high risk. Credit bureaus are essential for a flourishing economy.
dr. freytag_ Exactly, because a functioning credit system is an important cornerstone for private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the gross domestic product in Germany. In general, 97.6 percent of all consumer loans are paid back properly. This clearly shows that consumers can manage their money and that SCHUFA’s forecasts are accurate. Ultimately everyone benefits from this: manufacturers, retailers, banks, and the government, which usually collects 19 percent VAT on the goods that are financed.
So, this means that SCHUFA also has a social responsibility?
dr. freytag_ Yes, we process around 350,000 credit inquiries every day. The information we provide is an essential basis for building trust between two business parties, and it ensures that contracts can be signed without any difficulties. SCHUFA is thus of great eco-nomic importance to both businesses and consumers.
What does SCHUFA do to assume responsibility outside its core business?
dr. freytag_ We are active both socially and culturally, especially on behalf of young people. Our award winning program “SCHUFA macht Schule” with which we make teaching materials available to teachers so that they can practice the responsible use of money and consumption with their students has been well received for many years now. So far, we have sent out approximately 14,000 information packets.
Can you give us another example?
dr. freytag_ We have reached more than 4.3 million young people through different chan-nels over the Internet through our education initiative “WirtschaftsWerkstatt” and 450,000 young people have visited our online portal to interactively strengthen their financial exper-tise there. Last year, this initiative was recognized with the prestigious Comenius EduMedia Seal. We are committed to taking responsibility and instilling trust in many different ways.
Thank you very much for this interesting conversation!
BUCHHEIM MUSEUM
Professor Hans-Jürgen Papier and Dr. Michael Freytag met at Buchheim Museum in Bernried. The museum is named after its founder, the painter, photographer, publisher, author and collector Lothar-Günther Buchheim († 2007). It was built in 1999 and is designed to look like a ship; a jetty leads out onto Lake Starnberg. It is known for its expressionist collection of works by Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Pechstein and others.
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Cars that can drive autonomously, personalized consumer products, telemedicine:
digitalization is revolutionizing many markets and exerting an ever greater influence
on our lives. Trust remains crucial, however, as the following statements show.
photography_ Uwe Fischer, Georg Roske, Roman Walczyna, Urban Zintel
TRUST
2030
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Trust 2030
1515 15
TRUST
2030
E-commerce is completely changing our buying behavior. After all, in the digital age, we look for products and services, not just for one particular vendor. And our loyalty to him is volatile. In the past, it was usually the other way around. We selected a number of products from the catalog of a mail order company that we trusted. The merchant was at least as important as the products themselves. Today, however, the price of course plays a very important role. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for retailers to stand out from the com-petition with their prices on the Internet. Trust, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly important. A retailer can stand out with his reputation in the digital sphere of other vendors. But he also needs to be active in order to do so. Consumers will only reward comprehensive and transparent handling of data protection and security, compliance, sustainability and service quality – both today and even more so in the future. Omis-sions or inconsistencies, on the other hand, are punished. And as they say, the Internet rarely forgets anything.
SEBASTIAN SCHULZhead of legal policy and data protection,
bevh – the e-commerce association
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Trust 2030
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We are facing a paradigm shift. Ever since the anti-lock braking system (ABS), assistance systems have been taking over parts of driving, but so far the driver has always remained the master over the system. Future cars, on the other hand, will be able to make decisions. This places high demands on digital technology. Sensors, data process-ing, decision algorithms: every link in the chain needs to be very reliable. Only then will the customer and society ac-cept this type of technology. We must also proceed step by step and continue to develop the technology even further for the customer to be able to understand it. Experience has shown that customers expect innovation, but in digest-ible steps. Today you can buy a BMW that drives into the garage by itself. Five years from now, the first cars will take over the responsibility for driving completely – first in a traffic jam on the highway, for example, or when following a car in front of it. Once this situation is over with, the vehicle will return the responsibility back to the driver. In other words, we are still practicing and learning how to gradually expand the functional limits so that trust can grow step by step.
DR. WERNER HUBERhead of the research group driver assistance
and perception, bmw group
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1717
Cash and credit cards have been the dominant means of payment in retail stores for some time. But the smartphone is now taking over this role. Not overnight, but rather more gradually. But, nevertheless, quite persistently. It will account for a dominant share of payment transactions by the year 2030. There is a crucial linchpin here, however: consumer con-fidence in the safety and security of their payment data. This is also confirmed by our latest surveys on the topic, by the way. If it is possible to generate and maintain this con-fidence, many more people will be willing to make mobile payments with their smartphones. All kinds of beneficial additional processes will be possible then. Gift certificates and bonus programs can then be integrated into the purchase process seamlessly because all of the data will be in digital form. Account information can then be displayed for us in real time so that we can check immediately whether or under which credit conditions we can afford a particular product. Finally, we will be able to analyze our spending patterns with only a few clicks and include it in our next purchase deci- sion – if we want to do so.
DR. NATALIE PARVIS-TREVISANYhead of business development and innovation,
pricewaterhousecoopers
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The American physician and author Eric Topol recently published a book titled “The Patient Will See You Now.” He describes in it a role reversal that is currently taking place in medicine due to digitalization. The times when patients spent hours in the waiting room until the doctor had time for them, only to do most of the talking themselves, are coming to an end. Patients are becoming more active and more confident. They inform themselves about their disease on the Internet, record their own health data via mobile devices and want to be involved in de-ciding on the type of treatment. This trend will continue too. The future belongs to telemedicine: in other words, physician to patient contact via information superhighways. The fact that specialists do not live in the same city as their patients will soon no longer be unusual at all. And why should it be? Physical proximity is not necessarily a prerequisite for trust and empa- thy – but expertise is. And a capable doctor can also convey this quite well via online consultation.
DR. FRANZ BARTMANNsurgeon and telematics expert for the german
medical association
18
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19
When we think about trust, we inevitably think of feelings. This is only right too within a family or a romantic rela-tionship, for example. Quite often, however, trust is not about emotions but rather about simply seeing to it that our expectations are met. If I stop at a red traffic light when driving, I trust the signal and expect everyone behind me to also stop. The more reliable this type of information is in achieving a certain result and the more often it is repeated, the more we rely on the informant. The digital transformation has revolutionized this mechanism. I sus-pect that we will rely more on the information generated by smartphones in 2030 than on the instructions and re-commendations we receive from most people. We are sup-ported by Big Data in nearly all areas of our lives and have access to powerful software and hardware in order to be kept informed and thus receive trustworthy informa-tion for making decisions. The digital realm thus becomes a powerful intelligent assistant. This makes me optimis- tic, because the digital transformation will make our lives more comfortable and a bit better in the process.
SVEN GÁBOR JÁNSZKYfuturologist, founder of the think tank 2b ahead
19
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Trust 2030
2020
PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY
Just a few bits of personal information in the wrong hands can be enough. Identity fraud
is a growing problem, especially with online transactions – both for consumers as well as
companies. Common sense and SCHUFA can help prevent it.
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Protect Your Identity
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Protect Your Identity
22
the tip of the iceberg
The latest police crime statistics (PCS) show approximately 46,000 cases of “cybercrime in the strictest sense.”
Nevertheless, this category includes only certain offenses. This figure climbs to almost 250,000 if we look at all
cases involving the “Internet as the weapon” that include offenses from fraud to extortion. In addition, the PCS
only include cases registered by the police, although victims often do not report cybercrimes. Companies don’t, for
instance, because they fear for their reputation; individuals don’t because they haven’t yet noticed the damage or
consider it to be insignificant.
22
CYBER CRIME IN GERMANY
Spying / intercepting data
Fraud with access permissions to communication
services
Forging of legally relevant data, deception in legal data processing
4%
Data changes, computer sabotage
Computer fraud
8%
51%
16%
21%
45,793 cases in 2015
Source: PKS Bundeskriminalamt 2015 (PCS, Federal Criminal Investigation Office 2015)
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If the Internet was a country, its economic growth would break all records. Consumers increasingly do their shopping and financial transactions online. The virtual marketplace knows no closing times and presents no parking problems. Convenience is the order of the day. The consumer is to be able to attend to his own affairs easily at any time of day or night. While many people like to make use of the op-portunities that the digital world offers, they are also con - cerned about protection and the security of their data. Their concern is essentially justified. Cybercrime and identity theft are risks that cannot be dismissed. According to the DsiN Security Index of the initiative “Deutschland sicher im Netz” produced for the second time in 2015, six percent of Inter- net users have already become victims of fraud during the checkout process on the Internet. A study conducted by the German Institute for Economic Research, which is based on a broad survey, estimates the financial losses that indi-viduals suffered in the four major areas of cybercrime – phish-ing, identity fraud, goods and services fraud and malicious software – to be 3.4 billion euros per year. And a Bitkom study from the same year estimates the damage suffered by the German economy due to industrial espionage, sabo- tage or data theft to be 51 billion euros per year.
victims usually recognize the misuse of data too late
The protection of personal data is therefore an issue that should concern everyone. Deliberate precautions, starting with the sparing use of our own data and choosing passwords that are difficult to guess, are essential, but do not necessarily suffice. Moreover, even experienced computer users who recognize phishing emails and protect their computers against spying programs as effectively as possible are helpless when their data is hacked. And even those who do not leave any data online are not automatically safe.
After all, identity theft can also take place in an old-fash-ioned analog manner. The lost identity card or a letter with personal data that is carelessly thrown into the waste-paper basket can be enough. Illegal activities are made pos-sible, both online and offline, by a stolen identity card, in particular, starting with applying for loans and credit cards by providing a false identity. Word of this has spread to criminals, Peter Hessel, First Chief Inspector with the Hessian police and an expert on identity crime and iden tity fraud, explains (see interview on page 25). “With burglaries, for instance, the ID card used to be left behind even if was stored in a drawer together with money and jewelry. This is no longer the case today. In fact, there is a real market for ID cards,” he adds.
It is often difficult to determine whether sensitive and per-sonal information is being used for criminal purposes. The misuse of data is often noticed weeks or even months later, when the respective individual learns about a SCHUFA entry that exposes the fraud in the course of a new busi-ness transaction. If that person complains about this entry to SCHUFA, the matter is cleared up very quickly and the entry is deleted. In the meantime, the entry even takes on a protective function in that it prevents the fraudster from continuing to abuse the identity.
protection for companies
Nevertheless, we would still want to be made aware of identity theft, data abuse and fraud attempts early on in order to be able to minimize the damages. This is pre - cisely where SCHUFA, a company that has always stood for trust, offers solutions as a mediator between the retail trade, the banking industry and consumers. With its high-quality information and solutions in the field of
» All users need to know that their behavior in the virtual world can have very real effects, and they should therefore act prudently.«peter hessel, First Chief Inspector and Head of Central Investigations, Police Headquarters in Frankfurt / Main
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creditworthiness and identity, it supports companies and consumers with the detection and prevention of fraudulent behavior and its consequences. For instance, SCHUFA con-tract partners have been able to perform a SCHUFA Identity Check as part of their credit checks on online transactions for many years now. If the transmitted data differs, a scam can be stopped right at the moment of data misuse together with the respective company and its security instruments.
Furthermore, SCHUFA created a database specifically for preventing fraud in the credit industry in 2014, the SCHUFA FraudPool, which companies in the banking industry can participate in. The idea is that if a FraudPool contract partner develops concrete suspicion that a certain identity is being used for fraudulent purposes, other contract partners receive an appropriate warning along with their credit requests. And this occurs in time, before they enter into a business re-lationship with this person or the person who claims to be this person. This protects the participating banks from defaults, and it protects the consumers affected by identity fraud from addi tional fraud attempts.
Since 2016, SCHUFA has also been a member of the G4C German Competence Centre against Cyber Crime e.V., an in-dependent association active in the fight against cybercrime. G4C serves as a network of those with expertise, an early warn-ing system and an information platform for existing initia- tives against cybercrime in Germany. The exchanges among G4C members make it possible to identify trends in the field of cybercrime early on and to develop new solutions to protect companies and consumers.
protection for consumers
SCHUFA has been offering consumers the opportunity to keep an eye on their data that is stored by SCHUFA in a trans-parent manner at all times for many years now. The main focus here is on the Internet platform meineSCHUFA.de with its many offerings. Here, consumers have various solutions avail-able, including meineSCHUFA packages, for example.
The SCHUFA UpdateService is included in all of these packa-ges. If information is requested from SCHUFA or reported as amended, the private customer will be notified immediately by email or text message. Once a credit check is to take place at SCHUFA as part of an (online) transaction, the customer will be informed. He can then actively check whether the data has been changed with authorization or whether a third party has used his identity to complete transactions. The private cus-tomer can react quickly with the help of SCHUFA’s information and gain valuable time.
With IdentSafe, SCHUFA has also developed an early warning system that helps private individuals to identify existing risks of identity abuse at an early stage and deal with them. This requires that the Internet be searched on a daily basis to find sensitive information on the user that has been shared with SCHUFA. In the event of more critical findings, if the name ap-pears in combination with the credit card number, for ex-ample, the customer will be alerted by email or be sent an SMS. In the event of suspicious cases, a 24-hour hotline will ad- vise on what measures can be taken to prevent consequential damages. And, if necessary, SCHUFA will help to block or delete inadvertently or improperly published personal data.
» The digital development has created many opportunities but also new ways for data to be abused. Our recognized role as a mediator and our expertise en-able us to combat this situation.«peter villa, SCHUFA Executive Board member
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WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IDENTITY THEFT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
We live from our identities so to speak. If they are correct, the chances that your contract will be signed or that you will get a proper trial are quite good. Otherwise everything is
of no value. Let me give you an example. As a young policeman, I caught a car thief who confessed and signed his testimony. That was a victory until the trial actually began and
I was asked whether the man accused of the crime was really the thief. He wasn’t. The car thief had apparently presented me with the ID of a man who was innocent and had
attached his photo to it. This only shows that identity theft is the basis for other offenses as well. The perpetrator hopes to get off the hook by doing this.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH STOLEN IDENTITIES?
Attempts are often made to open bank accounts fraudulently, to obtain multimedia devices, to rent or finance cars. These types of crimes are currently quite common.
Generally speaking, however, there are no limits to the perpetrators’ creativity. There are no reliable figures on this either because identity theft is usually an accompanying
offense and oftentimes only the main offense, such as fraud, is included in the statistics.
HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF?
When your own ID or passport is gone, report this to the police immediately! Then this document will become the subject of investigation and thus become unusable for
many purposes. Otherwise, especially considering the frequent fraud attempts online, maintain a skeptical point of view and ask yourself whether that can really be the
case. Would the bank or insurance company really ask you for sensitive information by sending you this type of email? Would someone actually offer this or that to me
without my even asking for it? In short, start using your brain!
HOW CAN WE PROTECT OURSELVES FROM CYBER CRIME,
MR. HESSEL?
THREE QUESTIONS TO PETER HESSEL, FIRST CHIEF INSPECTOR
Peter Hessel, 54, is First Chief Inspector and Head of Central Investi-gations at Police Headquarters in Frankfurt / Main. As an expert on the examination of documents, in other words, forged or falsified identity documents, he advises companies and authorities and con-ducts on-site training for employees whose responsibility it is to verify other people’s identities.
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Reaching Their Limits in Tandem
27
REACHING THEIR LIMITS IN TANDEM
Will you let me glide or fall? This question is central to the virtuoso trapeze choreography of artist duo Malina Kraft
and Christian Möller Stern, whose performances are characterized by light and shade, closeness and distance.
Unwavering trust allows the two to live their dream.photography_ Matthias Haslauer
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“I'm the catcher, she’s the flyer.” – “If I were to start looking for his hands, he could fall into the void.” – “If she grabs first, that is bad too because she can get in my way.” “Exactly, I just have to hold out my hands. And have trust.” – “Some-times I see her hands very late. But I know they are there, so I reach for them.” Malina Kraft and Christian Möller Stern sit on bar stools and talk about their work, their training, their story. “Just letting yourself go, especially on the trapeze, takes a tremendous amount of confidence, in your partner, in your own body, in the material. And, of course, many hours of training,” says Malina Kraft.
The two have been making a living as “Duo Charisma” with their artistry since 2014. Before that, they took a three-year course at an artists’ school. But they have been a couple since 2008 when they first met during a weeklong youth circus project. “She came up to me and asked if we could try doing a partner trapeze act,” says Christian Möller Stern, who was already planning to attend the school for artists at the time, but had two years of military service ahead of him. “I really had no desire to do so and wanted to continue doing solo trapeze,” he recalls. She persuaded him, the two tried it out, it worked and he caught fire. For the partner trapeze and probably just as much for his trapeze partner. He soon asked her whether she wanted to attend the artists’ school with him. And she, who was about to graduate from high school and was fascinated with artistry, but never thought she was good enough to make it her career, said OK. Together we can do it.
The two have gotten to know each other in a special way by training together. It is not just that this unconditional trust was necessary and there from the very outset. “Training is what takes the longest,” says Christian Möller Stern. “Getting to know the other person and how she moves. Only then can you adjust to one another so that the many fine timings func-tion safely.” When they perform in front of an audience, their love helps to convey more than just an acrobatic technique, as Malina Kraft explains. “We can communicate with each other and thus show so many different emotions, which we can then
pass on to the audience. I imagine that this would be much more difficult alone.” The two practice new moves above the pit filled with foam or buckled to a safety rope. Then comes the moment when they have mastered the trick and developed trust. The safety net can then be put away. If in doubt, Malina Kraft decides what risks will be taken and what not. After all, she is the one doing the flying. They feel their way forward to new levels of difficulty, very carefully, with good knowledge of their bodies and their limitations.
They begin warming up for their show about a half an hour before it begins. First, both of them move around, bend and stretch themselves on their own mats and train their body feeling. When her balance is not right during a handstand, he helps with his sharp eye and sensitive touch, identifies and corrects the slight malposition in her hip. Then comes the big moment. Concentration and tension are written in both of their faces. They touch each other’s arms, first right, then left, then a kiss: their ritual before the appearance. A white veil hangs from the trapeze. Christian Möller Stern will soon jump up to it and shape it into a long hanging loop. Malina Kraft will stretch herself out in it and gradually roll herself up – the prelude to a stunning artistic dance in the air.
» Trust is a prerequisite. Otherwise it simply wouldn’t work. I know that he would never intentionally let me fall. I just know that.«malina kraft, trapeze artist
» When deciding on how much risk we should take, she has 51 percent of the say. I only have 49 because she always hangs on to me.«christian möller stern, trapeze artist
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Reaching Their Limits in Tandem
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DUO CHARISMA
Malina Kraft (25) and Christian Möller Stern (29) both successfully completed a training course at the State School for Acrobatic Arts in Berlin in 2014. They have been working as full-time artists since then and their repertoire includes partner acrobatics, both on the ground and on the trapeze. Past engagements have taken them to various festivals, gala performances and, most recently to the Leipziger Krystallpalast-Varieté. They will be working on a cruise ship for five months starting in the fall.
Further information: www.duocharisma.com
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Reaching Their Limits in Tandem
30
THE BIOLOGY OF TRUST
A hormone called oxytocin plays an important role whenever we allow closeness
and develop trust. For quite some time, it was known only in a different context.
midwife Oxytocin was discovered in 1906 as a substance in the brain that causes labor and milk production in expectant mothers. Hence the name that translates into “easy birth” in ancient Greek. It has been used in obstetrics, for example as a “labor stimulant” for over half a century.
motherly feelings If the hormone is administered to virgin female rats, they develop maternal behavior towards baby rats that are not their own. “Oxytocin is the crucial molecule for social closeness,” explains Professor Heinrichs. And the hormone most likely also plays a role in the bonding of the offspring with their mother.
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The Biology of Trust
31
oxytocin
pair bonding In prairie voles, the oxytocin circuits that evolution originally intended for mother-child bonding perform yet another function. They cause the ro-dents to enter into lifelong mono-gamous relationships. “This gave me the idea to investigate how oxytocin influences bonding and closeness in humans for the first time,” says Pro-fessor Heinrichs.
Trust is essential for interpersonal interaction, whether it's everyday social contacts, your partnership, family or constructive relations between countries. For science, it is not easy to get a grip on trust, considering this diversity. The various aspects are covered by different disciplines. The psychologist and neuro - sci entist Professor Markus Heinrichs succeeded in making a break-through at a fundamental level together with the behavior econ-omist Professor Michael Kosfeld in 2005. The researchers were able to show that oxytocin increases trust. To do so, they ad-ministered a nasal spray to the participants in the study and had them play a “trust game.” The spray contained either oxytocin or an ineffective placebo without the trial participants or re-searchers knowing who got what. The result was that those who received oxytocin risked more, but only when they played to-gether with someone else. This effect disappeared when they played against a computer program. The messenger substance thus increased their willingness to take a social risk. And that is exactly how trust can be defined.
social lubricant If a dose of the hormone is administered to subjects, they will look into other people’s eyes longer or show greater will-ingness to lend them money, for exam-ple. “As a rule, oxytocin seems to promote social interaction,” Professor Heinrichs summarizes.
signal amplifier Many researchers believe that oxytocin in the brain enhances the perception of socially relevant signals. “Rats thus hear the cries of their young, mice perceive the smell of other mice better and people recognize faces and encrypted emotions on them more reliably,” Professor Heinrichs explains.
PROFESSOR MARKUS HEINRICHS
Born in 1968, Professor Markus Heinrichs is the Chair of the Biological and Differential Psychology Department at the Uni-versity of Freiburg and heads the “Social Neuroscience” re-search group at the University Hospital. He started investigat-ing the effects of oxytocin while he was writing his doctoral thesis – at a time when everyone believed that the messenger substance only plays a role in humans at birth and during breastfeeding. Today he explores various questions surround-ing oxytocin and related substances. These involve human social behavior and its neurobiological foundations, but also mental health and new therapies.
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The Biology of Trust
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TRAINEES LIKE LISA SIEBERLING (RIGHT) AND DUAL
STUDENTS HAVE A PERMANENT PERSON THEY CAN CONTACT
IN NATASCHA KUNZ (CENTER).
MATTER OF THE HEART
You need to be able to depend on those who seek to build
trust. Meet five SCHUFA employees who all enjoy complete trust – in
different contexts.photography_ Stefan Freund
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Matter of the Heart
33
NATASCHA KUNZParallel to her responsibilities as a consultant on HR Services, Natascha Kunz took on a special task a few years ago: she is the training officer at SCHUFA and therefore the first point of contact for trainees and dual students. She accompanies them on their way for the next two to three years and relies on an honest and trusting relationship. Basically, it is important to the 36-year-old to assist in the background and to encourage interaction between older and new trainee years. Developing self-reliance and a sense of responsibility are important edu-cational goals to her. Natascha Kunz also feels it is important to deal openly with the parents of the children who have often just turned 16 when they begin their training. This is why she organizes visitation times with the older students when the parents can get to know their children’s new employer. In her free time, she is quite active in playing sports – including the exercising she does with Tatjana Körner (See page 37).
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Matter of the Heart
34
BARBARA MORSCHHOVENWhen the Scoring & Consulting department was established in the area of SCHUFA Solutions in 2007, its supervisor at that time recommended Barbara Morschhoven to be its head. Her colleagues could only agree. The mathematics gradu- ate took this trust to heart and made a conscious decision to take this responsible position and fill it with a lot of warmth. After all, she herself had experienced how helping a person in difficult times and being able to rely on the support of superiors and colleagues pays off in the long term. She also appreciates a trusting relationship in how she works with customers. She sees long-term relationships between con-tract partners and SCHUFA as the best basis for working together on projects.
BARBARA MORSCHHOVEN ALWAYS HAS AN OPEN EAR
FOR HER 14 EMPLOYEES.
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Matter of the Heart
35
MICHAEL HEILHECKERIt was a real stroke of luck when Michael Heilhecker took over the canteen in 2011, for SCHUFA and for the dyed- in-the-wool Wiesbadener himself. Although he is officially not a SCHUFA employee, he completely belongs here now. He especially appreciates the fact that he works with the person whom he trusts the most: his wife. His other employees are also like family to him. And the cheerful cook knows that a good team is the lifeblood of a good canteen. Conversely, the 62-year-old is a real gain for SCHUFA. After years and a collective lack of appetite, the canteen is visited again by many – especially when deer stew is on the menu!
MICHAEL HEILHECKER HAS ROLLED UP HIS SLEAVES TOGETHER WITH HIS WIFE PETRA AND
REVAMPED THE CANTEEN – AND YOU CAN LITERALLY TASTE THE DIFFERENCE!
EXCELLENT EMPLOYER
To have employees who work wholeheartedly is of great importance to SCHUFA. Only motivated employ-ees can ensure high product quality and see to it that customers are satisfied. Two recent awards confirm SCHUFA’s commitment to having an attractive working environment: SCHUFA was certified as being a family- conscious employer under the “audit berufundfamilie” conducted by the non-profit Hertie Foundation in 2014. And SCHUFA came in first place in the 2015 “HR Excellence Award” competition for outstanding HR projects in the category career websites of small and medium-size companies. The award-winning website: www.schufa.de / karriere
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Matter of the Heart
36
MARC MARTIN LOPEZ’S MOTTO AT WORK:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION.
MARC MARTIN LOPEZSCHUFA employees are in good hands with Marc Martin Lopez whenever the computer causes problems again. He takes every IT problem seriously – even if the solution is sometimes quite banal. This open and friendly approach is a basic requirement for him. On the other hand, he attaches a lot of importance to being able to ask his colleagues just about anything. He also re-lies on having good relationships in his private life. He has been playing soccer passionately for 19 years. Marc Martin Lopez joined SCHUFA directly after his training at Telekom. At first, he worked as a PC technician in client support. Since last fall, he has been working in the area of server adminis tration. What the 23-year-old appreciates the most here is that he not only has a job that he likes. A pleasant working environment is equally important to him. He therefore likes spending time with colleagues after work and then enjoys talking about things that have nothing to do with his work.
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Matter of the Heart
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» Trust is based on mutual understanding. That is why we maintain a company culture of human interaction.«holger severitt, SCHUFA Executive Board member
TATJANA KÖRNER IS A HELPFUL COLLEAGUE –
NOT ONLY WHEN SHE TREATS INJURIES.
TATJANA KÖRNERTatjana Körner is the right person to contact if her col-leagues get injured or experience sudden symptoms of feeling ill. When they looked for a volunteer first aid person on her floor, the good-humored marketing assistant took advantage of the opportunity to combine work and private life in a productive manner. Körner is a bundle of energy, and in her spare time, she gives fitness classes, for which she regularly freshens up her first aid skills. This combination also works the other way around. Thanks to her positive attitude, the 31-year-old has already managed to convince one or two of her colleagues who are even self-proclaimed couch potatoes to play sports outdoors. By the way, Tatjana Körner’s missions have only involved smaller Band-Aid emergencies so far (Fingers crossed!).
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Matter of the Heart
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are issued by SCHUFA to companies every day on average. The company thus
facilitates fast and easy transactions.
350,000 REPORTS
employees work for SCHUFA – at its headquarters in Wiesbaden, five other sites
and at an office.
750 24 HOURS,
365 DAYS A YEAR
The IdentSafe hotline is available to cus-tomers around the clock, for instance when their credit card data suddenly appears on
the Internet and identity fraud is suspected.
> MORE ON MEINESCHUFA.DE
companies are stored in the SCHUFA company database.
5.2 MILLION
2010
SCHUFA became the only credit bureau in Germany that shared its scoring method not only with the responsible authority,
but also with the Federal Data Protection Commissioner and the Data Protection Of-
ficers of all German states.
DATA AT SCHUFA
CREDIT BUREAU SCHUFA
people have had their data stored by SCHUFA. Around 90 percent have
only positive data.
66.4 MILLION
»GOOD«
SCHUFA’s credit report was recognized by Stiftung Warentest as the test winner with the financial test quality
rating of “GOOD (2.3)” in accordance with Section 34 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) in February 2016. The subject of the test was how understandable the per-
sonal credit reports published by five credit bureaus were (Source: Stiftung Warentest – Finanztest, Issue 02 / 2016).
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The Facts
39
SCHUFA IN DIALOGUE
OMBUDSMANN
SCHUFA is the only credit bureau in Germany that offers a consumer- friendly ombudsman procedure. Pro-fessor Hans-Jürgen Papier, the for-mer President of the Federal Consti-tutional Court, is the Ombudsman.
SCHUFA IN FIGURES 2015*
* Figures rounded off
Volume of data
Number of data files stored on natural persons and companies 797 million
Natural persons 66.4 million
Companies 5.2 million
Customers
Number of corporate customers 9,000
Number of private customers 2 million
Products and services
Credit reports and monitoring results sent to corporate customers 128.9 million
Credit reports for consumers 1.9 million
Financial figures
Sales 145.8 million
Annual net profit 20.7 million
Employees 750
CONSUMER ADVISORY BOARD
The Consumer Advisory Board that acts as a neutral authority and maintains an objective perspective on the work of SCHUFA has a special function. Its members include academics, journalists, politicians, debt counselors and busi-ness representatives. The main focus of its work is on financial and consumer skills and topics related to consumer and vendor behavior with respect to loans. The panel engages in exchanges with SCHUFA’s Ombudsman, who is also independent.
CUSTOMER ADVISORY COUNCILS
The councils that have been established as association committees for banks and retailers, as well as five regional customer panels also make a significant contribution to the communication structure. They discuss current issues concerning corporate strategy and business development in particular. The councils made up of members from various industries also provide valuable impetus from the world of business.
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The Facts
40
PUBLISHER
SCHUFA Holding AG Kormoranweg 5 65201 WiesbadenGermany
Responsible: Dr. Astrid Kasper, Head of Public Affairs & CSR
Editing: Regina Porsch, Consultant Public Affairs & Content Management www.SCHUFA.de
CONCEP T, DES IGN AND REAL IZ AT ION
3st kommunikation GmbH, Mainz
TEX T
Ulrich Pontes, 3st kommunikation GmbHCornelia Theisen, 3st kommunikation GmbHPeter Gaide, ag text
I LLUSTR AT ION
Anna Alexander, 3st kommunikation GmbH
PHOTOGR APHY
Stefan Freund: p. 4, 32-37Uwe Fischer: p. 16Matthias Haslauer: p. 4, 8, 9, 11-13, 26, 29Georg Roske: p. 18Roman Walczyna: p. 19 Urban Zintel: p. 4, 15Gettyimages: Cover, p. 20, 21Shutterstock: p. 4, 30, 31Private: p. 17, 25 PR INT ING
Werbedruck Petzold GmbH, 64579 Gernsheim
Date of publication: June 2016
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