India is one of Samsung's most lucrative markets and the company has now launched a new initiative to boost sales in the country. Developed as part of its “made in India” initiative, Samsung Finance+ is a digital lending platform which will provide customers with financing options for phones.
Some 450 million adults in India don't have a credit history which means finance options for them are very limited. Samsung's intention with this platform is to make it easier for those customers to get financing for a device that they want to purchase.
This move has the potential to significantly increase Samsung's customer base in India as Samsung Finance+ will make it easier for customers without credit or debit cards and even a credit history to get financing. The company says that almost all customers who apply for finance will receive an offer on the Galaxy device of their choice.
Samsung Finance+ will provide zero interest EMI options
Samsung has partnered with New Delhi-based DMI Finance to launch the platform and will work to bring other financial institutions onboard. Since many customers still prefer purchasing their devices at a physical retail store in India, Samsung Finance+ is being rolled out across Samsung's existing retail network. It will be initially available at 5,000 stores across 30 cities which include Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, and Surat. The company says that it plans to expand this to 10,000 retail stores across 100 cities by the end of 2019.
It's a fully digital platform and customers will be assisted by an in-store Samsung promoter through the entire process. They will fill their details in the in-store Samsung Finance+ app for simple KYC verification and will then receive an offer screen for various Galaxy smartphones with zero interest easy monthly installment options. The approval and disbursement process will take under 30 minutes.
This could turn out very well for Samsung as smartphone financing is relatively limited in the country that counts over a billion people among its citizens. Only 15-18 percent of phones in India have any kind of financing so Samsung would be filling a huge gap with this initiative which would lead people to buy more of its products. Samsung Finance+ has been launched ahead of the upcoming festive season which itself causes an uptick in sales.
Readers in India, would you be willing to purchase a smartphone on Samsung Finance+? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
