More than half of IT vendors say that finance is core to their sales, according to research by IT finance provider Syscap.
Syscap’s survey reveal that 56% make that claim, while 33% say they offer finance whenever potential customers raise objections about the cost of the IT they are considering.
The company says there’s been a growing consensus among IT vendors for the past four years that offering finance for IT purchases is essential to completing sales.
Syscap’s CEO Philip White said: “Businesses want to invest in IT but the economic uncertainty means they are reluctant to reduce their own cash balances in order to fund that investment.
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“Many businesses are finding it hard to get bank funding, so either the IT vendor helps arrange finance or the sale will not take place.
“IT vendors tell us that lack of available funds amongst their customer base is the single biggest impediment to making a sale and that makes the ability to offer their customers finance a real competitive advantage.”
Syscap’s research shows that 58% of IT vendors think that a mechanism that quotes a price for finance is the most valuable feature of an online vendor finance system, whereas 14% say that providing a credit opinion on a customer would be the most valuable feature.
Data last year from the Finance & Leasing Association shows that the amount of money provided for vendor finance jumped 24% in the six months to the end of July 2011 to £2.6bn up from £2.1bn in the same period in 2010.
