O2 Offers Loans For SMBs To Get Latest Smartphones

O2 is to offer financing to small businesses so they can give employees the latest smartphones for work.

The operator’s ‘Business Essentials’ service separates the cost of purchasing handsets from the tariff, just like O2 Refresh for consumers, allowing SMBs to buy hardware outright with the cost spread over a two year period.

O2 finance

Once the loan has been paid off, businesses only pay for data, calls and texts, and if an employee wants to upgrade to the latest model immediately, the balance can be paid early. Old handsets can even be recycled to offset the device cost and up to ten devices can be added to a single contract.

The payment platform has been built using Equiniti Pancredit’s technology, which handles loan application, administration and collection, offers e-signature support and is integrated with O2 Business’ customer services.

O2 says the use of this technology makes it easy for companies to apply for and manage loans.

“When developing Business Essentials, we needed a solution that could provide the best customer experience,” explained Paul Lawton, general manager for SMB at O2. “We wanted to ensure that the process was user-friendly for our customer service team.”

“Business loan provision is expanding as more organisations look to offer it to their clients, and therefore need the support of a dedicated loan management system,” said Graham Donald, managing director of Equiniti Pancredit. “For O2 this allows them to offer more options to their business customers including the ability to spread the cost of device upgrades with an affordable loan.”

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