HPE Launches Corporate IT Payment Deferral Program

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is turning to its financial services unit to extend over $2 billion in financing and programs to assist business customers with cash management issues amid the global pandemic.

“Customers and partners are looking to preserve cash right now,” Brad Shapiro, managing director of HPE Financial Services Americas, told ZNet in a report on Wednesday (April 8). “But while they are looking to preserve cash, they also have technology needs due to work from home and online business expansion.”

HPE’s financial services unit and asset management division is part of its 2019 goal to offer everything-as-a-service (EaaS). The financing options and cash management programs are intended to help its business customers of all sizes improve cash flow and liquidity. The assistance is part of HPE’s overall COVID-19 outreach efforts.

Michael Swan, global director of business for HPE Financial Services, said the payment deferment programs can be used for leases from 24 to 60 months. There is also a program that lets customers buy pre-owned HPE technology such as components, parts and systems. With the current supply chain problems, Swan said pre-owned HPE technology is becoming a popular option.

Another program gives businesses the opportunity to monetize IT infrastructure by exchanging assets for capital that can be used for new purchases. HPE said the aggregate program gave $642 million to customers over the last two years.

Businesses can get the technology they need right away and pay 1 percent of the total contract value each month for the first eight months, pushing 90 percent of the cost into 2021. In 2021, the payments would amount to 3.3 percent of the contract.

“While we don’t yet know the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do know that it is a challenge unlike any we have faced in recent memory. I’ve learned that in volatile and uncertain times, we must focus on and prioritize the things that are within our control. This mindset is driving HPE’s response to COVID-19,” Antonio Neri, chief executive officer, said in a blog post last month.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week it could be years before the U.S. economy rebounds from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.