Ingram Micro today released two new partner financing programs to help Canadian and U.S. small and medium businesses (SMBs) navigate the expected cash crunch amid COVID-19.
The two new programs, KickStart Financing and Future Funds, available immediately in Canada and the U.S., will allow channel partners additional cash flow options to finance the technology, services and support needed in real-time, allowing for more complete solutions to be sold together. In addition, the new Future Funds program is being offered with interest-only payments for six months with starting payments as low as 1.5 per cent of the total purchase price. The customer can choose to pay off the balance or finance for an additional 12 to 60 months, at month seven.
“During times of uncertainty and crisis, you have to work closer and rely even more on your partners and your overall ecosystem. We’re in this together and need to continue to ask ourselves and those we serve and collaborate with: ‘What more can we do to help?'” noted Bill Brandel and Kirk Robinson, senior vice president and chief country executives of Ingram Micro, in a prepared statement.
The company announced it will also be extending $110 million in additional credit to approximately two thousand channel partners across North America. In addition, it will be offering exclusive terms to members of the Ingram Micro SMB Alliance and Trust X Alliance communities, and temporarily waiving any fees associated with the majority of its partner financing program. The X Alliance group is Ingram Micro’s premier global community for top-performing solution providers and is made up of more than 340 IT solution providers.
“We have the expertise and solutions we need to help our clients regardless of the business climate, and now we have even more flexibility on how we can manage our cash flow,” said Mark Essayian, president of KME Systems, and member of Ingram Micro Trust X Alliance, who was cited in the release.
Additional financing solutions being offered by the company to channel partners across North America include Technology as a Service, Direct Express, Manufacturer Financing, Lockbox Solutions, and End-user financing. All financing programs by Ingram Micro allow for complete solutions to be financed together versus one-off point sales that require separate financing agreements.