Some fincos, retailers going for bigger and better deals this Christmas

It’s the festive season, and retailers, financial institutions, and car dealers are looking to woo consumers with cost-saving deals and gift packages. But this year, some companies are digging deeper, and have come up with offerings more attractive than what they were providing pre-COVID.

The marketing of repackaged Christmas deals and cost-saving specials across sectors this year is just one of the strategies being used by companies to gin up revenue numbers, after flat or declining sales last year from the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Business is slowly recovering across sectors, but there are still worries around the new Omicron variant and what it may mean for the flow of money throughout the economy this Christmas.

Still, the deals are being rolled out fast and targeted, a telling sign that businesses are trying to get consumers in the festive spirit which typically comes with lots of spending.

From as early as November, some of the large financial institutions began advertising loans catering to different segments of the market, while players across the retail sector are trying to woo Christmas spruce-up shoppers with savings as high as 75 per cent.

Sagicor Bank came to market with a special mortgage offer that guarantees potential homeowners a line of credit of up to $2 million for any purpose, including home renovations, the purchase of new furniture or installing a solar power system. The offer includes an interest rate that is competitively priced, Sagicor said, as well as a special rate on home insurance.

JN Bank and JMMB Bank are also offering customers unsecured loans of up to $5 million for any purpose.

Those are offers that the banks would run year over year; but to get consumer spirits bubbling this Christmas, large banking institution National Commercial Bank, NCB, has introduced NCB Flexi-Pay, which offers consumers the convenience of shopping now and paying later, interest free or at reduced interest.

The offer, however, comes with conditions.

NCB is offering its credit card holders an interest-free loan on single purchases made for $50,000 or more, when payment for the item is made over three monthly instalments. Consumers wanting more time to pay for the purchase can opt for a six to 12-month instalment plan and pay a reduced interest rate.

Consumers would have to declare the purchase on which they hope to take up the offer, as well as the flexi-pay plan on NCB’s website.

The banking institution charges annual interest of 43 per cent to 48 per cent on outstanding credit card balances, which averages monthly interest of about 4.08 per cent.

The Financial Gleaner estimates that a consumer purchasing an item valued at $100,000 could avert charges of more than $12,000 over the course of the three months, if they meet the pay-off schedule. But if the payment is missed, the credit card user would be faced with a minimum monthly charge of $4,083, as would be the case if there were no arrangements in place for flexi-payment.

In the case of the home appliance and furniture retailer Singer Jamaica, customers could find themselves dipping deeper into their pockets from missed payments on the Come Home to Singer promotion now offered, a sales associate told the Financial Gleaner.

Singer Jamaica is looking to woo more customers to its stores by allowing them to pay for goods at the cash price over four months, or 120 days. Missed payments would trigger interest charges akin to hire purchase agreements over a nine-month or 24-month period, said General Manager Sharon Spence-Gibbs.

Consumers who are out and about doing their seasonal shopping are paying attention to the financing deals on offer.

“At this time of the year, I usually find myself making quite a few payments using my credit card and so I certainly welcome any interest-free deals that they have,” said a long-time holder of NCB’s credit card.

Still, not everyone is looking to get caught up in the buy-now, pay-later promotions.

“People need to be very mindful of how they go about taking up these deals. Some are not as beautiful as they seem,” said another shopper. “Also, we are still in the pandemic and there is a new, more serious COVID-19 variant out there so getting yourself into a payment plan may not be the best move right now because there is still uncertainty around jobs,” the shopper said.

The deals and giveaways also span a number of retailers: in the furniture sector, Courts Jamaica will begin its doorbuster deals this week; while in the home improvement market, Hardware & Lumber and paint companies like Berger, are also looking to get more Jamaicans sprucing up their homes this Christmas, with offers of savings as high as 60 per cent on cash purchases.

Hoteliers have also slashed prices between 10 per cent and 40 per cent to entice a larger inflow of ‘staycationers’ this Christmas.

And within the automotive industry, large dealers like ATL Automotive have partnered with the banks to offer low interest rates on specific vehicles, while smaller auto traders are offering free insurance, one-year servicing and discounts of up to $50,000 on car purchases.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com