According to a current survey by the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) it is the cooperative WGZ bank which at present prepares small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) in the most detailed manner for rating talks by giving a 20-pages expert opinion. To this end the bank uses a computer programme called „Mind” which helps to draw up a detailed financial status report based on a comparison with other companies from the same industrial sector.
By doing so the WGZ bank aims at sparing companies the task of handing in important documents at a later stage after the credit talks have already taken place or avoiding that entrepreneurs have to answer from the guts questions by banks. On the basis of a comprehensive questionnaire the „Mind” software generates a survey report containing about 20 pages on the company in question. In this report all the parameters relevant for the credit decision will be analyzed, e.g. the market environment of the company, financial ratios or the profit and loss account. 