Happy holiday shopping with Citibank’s Easy Buy

So, what’s on your Christmas wish list?

Dreaming of the latest gizmos/objects of desire on the market —  an iPod Touch, Nintendo DS Lite, Sony PlayStation Portable or the latest digicam model perhaps?

Dreaming of a plasma TV in your own living room? Or perhaps an air conditioner in your bedroom?

If money is no object, are you thinking of giving your mother — or your mother-in-law — a refrigerator or a gas range for Christmas? Or your child his/her own laptop or DVD player?

Now, you don’t have to wish upon a star because all your Christmas dreams can come true with the Easy Buy Easy Financing Appliance Loan of CitiFinancial.

“Easy Buy has actually been around for two years now,” says Aneth Ng Lim, Citibank vice president, marketing. “It’s part of Citibank. In the Philippines, Citibank has consumer businesses — credit cards, retail banking, and consumer finance. Our brand for consumer finance is CitiFinancial, which has several variants of the personal loan, one of which is Easy Buy Easy Financing.”

How easy is Easy Buy?

“It’s an installment loan where you do not need a credit card,” replies Sari Pascual, CitiFinancial marketing director, Global Consumer Group. “You can buy an appliance or gadget for as low as 0 percent interest even if you don’t use your credit card.”

No fuss, no muss. It’s so easy you can get this appliance installment loan directly at the store where you’re buying.

 “It’s another option for people to be able to buy appliances and much-sought-after gadgets on installment even if they don’t have or don’t use their credit cards,” notes Sari. “It really makes installment financing much more affordable.”

Among CitiFinancial’s accredited partners are Abenson, Avant, Abea, SM Appliance Center, Home Plus, Homeworld, and Electroworld (for IT products and toys for the big boys).

“It’s different from personal loans,” Aneth qualifies. “Personal loans are pretty popular now. There are actually alternative products, but most of the time, what you do is get an application form, apply directly at the bank, then you get your cash and use it to purchase whatever you need. With Easy Buy, when you visit some of the stores and you find something to your liking, you can actually apply right then and there. You can choose the item, submit an application form, and you can get the items in as quickly as three hours.”

Easy! No sweat!

Aneth tells more: “The 0 percent installment plan is pretty typical for credit card owners, but there are people who either don’t have a credit card or have a credit card but would rather not use it for these big-ticket items  because they would rather conserve the line. For example, you have a line of P60,000 or even P100,000, but you’re buying a TV set worth P80,000 and you really need your line for additional expenses. You might want not to use your card but still want to be able to pay on installment for some of the items.”

Here’s how to go about it: First, prepare your documents: ITR (income tax returns), payslip, proof of billing (like an electric bill payment), and your ID. Go to the store and get an application form that’s available there. Choose the item.

Sari adds, “They will then compute for you how much you have to pay. You can choose to pay in either 12 to 36 months.”

“For people who don’t have a credit card, they now have a very easy option,” Aneth stresses. “Previously, if you’re thinking of buying a TV set, you can do it through CitiFinancial or maybe get a personal loan if you don’t have a credit card. Now, it’s more convenient because it’s now in the store — so right then and there, you can shop. And one of the things we found out about the borrowers is that these are serious buyers. Because when they go to the appliance store, they already know what they want/like; it’s very easy for the store to prepare the necessary paperwork.”

Surely, this is an easy option for people who have maxed out their cards or are reserving their credit line for something else.

Says Aneth, “Before this, the only installment loans applicable to you were the layaway plans — you can avail of one, pay on installment, but the item is with the store.  With Easy Buy, you can bring home the item right away.”

Easy Buy already has a lot of availers, “but we just want to expand,” Aneth points out.  “And we’re expanding by making people more aware that this facility is available.  We’re lucky because one of our partners, Abenson, is helping us with that. In fact, if you visit many of the Abenson stores, you’ll see a CitiFinancial booth.  If this is the TV you want to buy, usually there are labels there. Before, it would say, get this at 0 percent from your Citibank card.  Now, there’s a flier that says you can get this at _ percent per month through the CitiFinancial loan. The promo offer now is 0 percent and there’s the option to buy on 12 to 24-month installment. Some items have as high as 1.75 percent interest, but the nice thing about it is it’s on 36-month installment.”

For the “buyingest” season of all, Easy Buy has a special holiday offer. “The promo is automatic for all purchases that are worth P65,000 up and these can be combined,” says Sari. “If your appliances or furniture are worth P65,000 and you decide to put them on Easy Buy installment at any Abenson’s, Electroworld, and Home Plus, you enjoy a reduced rate of one percent, which makes it more manageable. This promo runs from Nov. 20 until Jan. 31, 2008.”

Aneth elaborates, “You can buy up to P100,000. If you don’t have a credit card, you submit all your documents, and we guarantee that within two days, we’ll give a decision and you can get the item. If you have a credit card, but you don’t want to use it, you can present it and the store will do a downpayment swipe of about P1,000 (to assess if you have a good credit history). If you have a credit card, you can get the item in about three hours. It’s that fast.”

Aneth notes that Pinoys are more comfortable with a fixed amortization. “It’s a comfort zone, knowing how much they need to pay every month for a certain period and then working their budget around it. We’re offering them a better alternative to other non-collateralized loans on the market. It’s also part of how we’re educating our consumers on the different credit products available. You can buy anything in an appliance and furniture store, even electronic gadgets.”

Sari asserts, “Easy Buy actually targets the middle segment who would like to own their first plasma TV. Even with their modest income, these people also want the fine things in life.”

“Feedback has been good,” Sari is happy to report. “Employed individuals have taken this up.”

It’s likewise attracted a lot of single people, who have left their parents and have opted to live on their own, giving rise to today’s condo boom.

It’s easy to pay, too: through BancNet, Citibank partner banks, SM, etc. “They’ll give you all the info, places where you can pay. They’ll give you a welcome card. You open an account, they’ll put your account number, and they’ll give you a reminder card, your due date when you have to pay,” Aneth itemizes.

Indeed, installment shopping just got a lot easier.