Reporting by Germany’s WDRpublic broadcaster last week claimed the court settlement, between the Joint Gambling Supervisory Authority of the Federal States (GGL) and multiple German-licensed sports betting operators, represented a “secret agreement”.

The matter related to a 2022 settlement in the Darmstadt Administrative Court which included a clause stating Schufa credit check data could be used to assess whether a player can afford their gambling activity.

The WDRarticle highlighted that Schufa, despite not holding any data about an individual’s income or assets, can be used to boost a player’s deposit limit allowed under the law.

The DSWV said: “The accusation is unfounded. It is true that there is no secret agreement. The responsible gambling supervisory authority and the sports betting providers have reached and recorded a settlement in public proceedings before the Darmstadt Administrative Court in accordance with the rule of law.

“The federal states have also published the contents of the settlement in their interim report on the evaluation of the Interstate Gambling Treaty. The report has been available on the website of the Conference of Interior Ministers and several state parliaments since June 2024.”

DSWV says Schufa useful indicator

The trade association argued the Schufa procedure highlighted in the article is a useful indicator of whether players are living in orderly financial circumstances, and can work to prevent people in debt from gambling.

The DSWV added: “However, this does not mean that the review process could not be improved. The German Sports Betting Association submitted proposals for improvement to the federal states in August 2024.

“In it, the legal sports betting providers advocate a lower limit level and additional financial monitoring of customers. The frequency of Schufa checks should also be significantly increased. This would make it possible to counter the risk of over-indebtedness even faster.”