In 1927, the Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung (SCHUFA) was founded by the Berlin electricity supplier BEWAG in order to facilitate a balanced and economical demand for electricity and to promote the sale of electrical household appliances such as refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. In cooperation with Berlin's retailers, BEWAG created a call-back system based on a positive list of customers who pay regularly. This allowed retailers to enquire whether a potential customer's payment history was already available before signing a contract. The installments were collected by the electricity meter readers together with the electricity bill. The idea proved successful: just two years after the start of operations, the Berlin stock exchange newspaper reported that SCHUFA had 1.5 million index cards.

The business idea soon caught on nationwide. In 1952, the 13 SCHUFA companies with 34 branches founded Bundes-Schufa e.V., which moved its headquarters to Wiesbaden in 1957. At the time of the economic miracle, the sharp rise in the granting of consumer loans required an increasingly systematic credit check. In the 1970s, SCHUFA converted its files to electronic data processing.

In 2000, SCHUFA was given a new structure and orientation: SCHUFA Holding AG was founded in Wiesbaden and the regional companies and BUNDES-SCHUFA e.V. were merged. Today, SCHUFA Holding AG is Germany's leading information and service partner for the lending industry and for private customers, to whom the company provides information on creditworthiness and identity and thus important decision-making aids.

SCHUFA Holding AG is involved in regional initiatives such as "Wiesbaden Engagiert" and is a "WiesPate". It also founded the educational initiative "WirtschaftsWerkstatt", which imparts financial knowledge to young people.