Samsung India has launched its digital lending platform, Samsung Finance+, that will be offering consumers finance solutions in partnership with DMI Finance to purchase its Galaxy smartphones.
The solution aims at making the finance options available to consumers who do not have credit cards, debit cards, or credit history, hence increasing the user base for the second-biggest smartphone player in the world. The move comes ahead of the festive season when handset makers are all set to lure customers with attractive offers.
According to ET, the Senior VP for Mobile Business at Samsung India, Mohandeep Singh said that their move into finance would be a step towards financial inclusion and Digital India. Samsung Finance+ will be offering assistance to customers irrespective of their credit history.
Availability & process of Samsung Finance+
The platform will be available with all kinds of retailers and large format stores, that will offer buyers finance options at 0% interest rate on monthly installments. The finance platform will be available at more than 5,000 stores in 30 cities across India, which will be extended to 10,000 outlets in 100 cities by the end of 2019.
Singh added, “In the western world, 80% of phones are financed, including cases where data, calling and phone are bundled and offered for a monthly payment. In India, about 15-18% of phones have any kind of financing.”
Customers who want to buy Samsung Galaxy smartphones can log into the in-store Samsung Finance+ app on Galaxy tab installed at the retailer outlet. After filling up their details for a basic KYC verification and credit scoring, they’ll get an offer screen on various Galaxy smartphones. The loan approval and disbursement will take around 20-25 minutes.
Singh told that their company was all geared up for the festive season and will be ahead of the market. He added that the festive time usually sees a 20-25% higher sale in comparison to the typical business days.
Samsung Finance+ was developed in India at the Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore, where engineers worked closely with Samsung India since 2018 in assessing the market requirements, designing product features, operating restricted pilots to verify the concepts and building a scalable and data-driven multi-sided lending platform which could meet the demands of a market like India. SRI Bangalore conducted the entire engineering design and development of the finance platform.
