Cisco announces $2.5 billion financing programme for its customers and partners

• Cisco customers can avail of a 90-day payment holiday and deferment of 95% of the cost of new products till 2021.
  
• The programme includes all Cisco solutions, including hardware, software and services.
  
• In March, Cisco donated $225 million towards global relief efforts against Covid-19. The tech firm also gave away IT equipment from its offices to hospitals and governments.
  

Cisco announced a $2.5 billion financing programme that allows its customers and partners to defer up to 95% of the cost of new products till 2021. The program is geared towards customers and partners buying hardware, software as well as services.

In March, Cisco donated $225 million towards global relief efforts against Covid-19.

“The new Business Resiliency Program offered by Cisco Capital includes an up-front 90-day payment holiday and allows a customer to defer 95% of the cost of a new product or solution until 2021, which in turn protects their business and increases their existing cash flow,” said Cisco in a statement.

From January 2021, customers who opt for this programme would make monthly payments based on the amount of financing and the financing term remaining.

“Cisco's customers and partners are under enormous pressure to keep their businesses connected while remaining productive and secure," said Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco.

Robbins also called on other large companies to contribute towards the fight against Covid-19 by holding off on job cuts. “To me, it’s just silly for those of us who have the financial wherewithal to absorb this, for us to add to the problem. It’s illogical,” he said in an interview.

According to its 2019 annual report, the California-based company currently has 75,900 employees on its rolls.

Cisco’s financing program will help customers to invest in its products

The Covid-19 pandemic forced companies to ask their employees to work from home. To facilitate this, they have had to invest in business conferencing solutions. As a result, Cisco has seen an increase in demand for Webex, its popular video conferencing solution.

According to Cisco's latest financial reports, it has cash and cash equivalents of $27 billion. Cisco is betting on financial recovery post Covid-19 to help its customers in the present.

As Cisco is digging into its healthy balance sheet to help customers continue to invest in its solutions, the customers get a line of credit to help them tide over the Covid-19 crisis and ease the new normal of social distancing while keeping up with productivity.

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