Following the award of a full bank license by the Central Bank of Ireland at the end of June, the establishment of Dell Bank International Limited, and the acquisition of CIT Vendor Finance’s Dell-related assets, sales and servicing functions in Europe, Dell is now able to provide direct financing programmes to customers in selected countries across Europe.
Dell Financial Services (DFS) is now available in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Through DFS we will be able to provide customers with financing for leases and loans to support all their IT solutions so that they can focus more on investing in their business rather than worrying about the infrastructure to run it. And unlike the banks, DFS sees the value generated by the whole transaction, not just the lending risk, so we are much more likely to say ‘yes’ when customers come to us for financing!
The key challenge for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) today is access to funding to fuel growth. There is an increasing body of research out there, including The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness report, which shows that access to affordable financing continues to be a critical problem for customers in Europe. Many banks across Europe are continuing to hold back on lending. As a result customers, especially SMEs, are struggling to raise the finance they need to support their business and plan for future development. A recent survey by the European Central Bank found that SMEs reported an increasing need for bank loans but deterioration in availability. Unsurprisingly, in the current climate, financing for SMEs was also found to be more difficult than those of larger companies.
We are excited to be in a position to offer a real alternative to bank financing for IT investments. From today our SME and corporate customers in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will now have direct access to the same financing opportunities already enjoyed by our customers in the U.S. and Canada.
The expansion of DFS into Europe is another example of how we continue to support and contribute to the success of our customers. We believe that it’s not enough to just provide customers with end-to-end scalable solutions, we also want to offer the financing capability to enable them to invest in new technology to support business transformation and future growth. And what’s more, customers will be able to get financing for leases and loans to fund their solution, whether they purchase it direct or through the channel – the choice is yours.
Dell Financial Services will enable our customers to:
- Prevent technology obsolescence: DFS lease solutions enable customers to regularly rotate their assets so that they can have the latest technology at all times
- Increase operational efficiency: Dell provides upgrade options and will dispose of old equipment so customers can focus on their business, not IT demands
- Conserve capital, preserve credit line: By providing financing Dell allows customers to focus more on investing in their business, not on the infrastructure to run it
- Manage cash flow: Payments can be structured to budget or cash flow requirements
- Lower total cost of ownership (TCO): Leasing facilitates a three year technology rotation which reduces TCO by minimizing support costs
- Access total solution financing: Dell will finance entire solutions for the same company; this includes, for example, the software and services that a Channel Partner includes in their proposal
We will continue to expand Dell Financial Services throughout EMEA and globally so don’t forget to check back for further updates.