IBM offers new financing to boost sales

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Zero down, zero payments and zero interest until 2003. It may resemble a car dealer's ad, but it also describes IBM's new financing programme. In an attempt to spur sales to its mid-size and large business customers, Big Blue has created a new "triple-zero" financing programme. The company said it would allow a 90-day deferral on financing payments, including the initial down payment. The company will also offer financing rates as low as 4.2 percent for some computer hardware. The latest deal applies to customers in the US, Canada and some Latin American countries, although IBM has sponsored lending programmes for years through its Global Financing division, which controls more than $40bn (£26bn) in assets. The Global Financing division saw its revenue drop 3 percent in the third quarter, down to $795m. But as companies tighten up on IT spending, offering attractive loan rates may be one way to get them to keep purchasing. In the UK, a financing deal similar to the "triple-zero" programme is offered for contracts exceeding £50,000 in value. This deal, called "Best of all Worlds" officially ends at the end of December 2002 but an IBM spokesperson said there will "probably be a very similar, if not identical, offer next year." Details of the Bets of all Worlds programme are available here. "Many companies today are faced with the challenge of needing to upgrade and expand their technology infrastructure, while at the same time they must manage to constrained capital budgets," Catherine Manion, general manager of IBM Global Financing's Americas division, said in a release. "The combination of our 'triple-zero' and low-rate financing offerings will help our customers effectively address this challenge". IBM also announced new software-related deals, including rates as low as 3.1 percent for qualified customers that purchase software such as WebSphere and DB2 database products. IBM has also lowered the minimum transaction amount to $25,000, in a bid to appeal to mid-size companies. Several other tech companies offer financing programmes to their business customers. Hewlett-Packard's Financial Services division recorded revenue of $510m in the third quarter, and Microsoft recently launched a program aimed at the small business market. ZDNet UK's Matt Loney contributed to this report.

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