Amidst the upcoming festive season in India, Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics and smart phones brand, has flagged off its digital lending platform ‘Samsung Finance+‘ that will provide consumer finance options to buy its Galaxy mobile phones, cited Mint.
Samsung Finance+, which will connect financial institutions and dealers, will be available at over 5,000 stores in 30 cities across the country. This will be extended to 10,000 outlets in 100 cities by the end of 2019.
“In the western world, 80 per cent of phones are financed, including cases where data, calling and phone are bundled and offered for a monthly payment. In India, about 15-18 per cent phones have any kind of financing,” Mohandeep Singh, vice president at Samsung India, said.
Around 450 million adults in India don’t have a credit history and so finance options for them are minimal, Singh added.
“The intention is to make it easier for customers to get finance for a device that they want to buy,” he noted.
Singh further emphasized on the company’s strategy ahead of festive season and said that various offers will be available for users through Samsung Finance+, including zero per cent EMI, as being offered at various offline and online channels.
He explained that consumers buying a Galaxy smartphone at any one of the 5,000 stores equipped with Samsung Finance+ platform can opt for easy finance on their smartphones.
“We are starting with 5,000 stores in 30 cities, and will be extended to 10,000 outlets in 100 cities by the end of 2019,” he revealed.
Singh concluded by saying that this will also help offline retailers reach out to more customers as many prospective buyers shop online to use the financing options available.
“Festive season is always strong and we feel it will be good this year too. We are geared up for it. Our growth will be ahead of the market,” he further added.