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Cutting the complexity of financing

With financing of security projects a growing market in a declining economy, Hi-Tech Security Solutions spoke to Jessica Muller from Security & Communication Warehouse’s finance department about the company’s financing operations and how they go about ensuring its customers have the funds for large-scale projects.

SCW launched its financing arm as part of its customer service agenda specifically because of the increased amount of enquiries it received. Muller says SCW is contacted by vendors and integrators alike for finance (rental) solutions to security projects.

“SCW Finance offers a streamlined service from beginning to end and plays a strategic role by interfacing between clients and financing facilities. As we use several facilities, we are able to obtain finance for clients at the most competitive rates and beneficial approval criteria,” explains Muller. “With our highly trained technical department and training facilities, we are able to provide an exclusive service. If a customer wants to consider SCW Finance for a secur­ity project, the electronic security equipment required for the installation has to be purchased through Security Warehouse and the company seeking finance needs to have been operational for at least three years.”

Going beyond the SCW part in the financing deal, she says finance houses look mainly at how long the company has been in business (must be more than three years) and that the company’s latest financials is in order. They also require other documentation, such as copies of the owners’ ID and company registration documents for an application to be approved.

Pros and cons of financing

As with any business decision, offering finance has its benefits and drawbacks. The benefits, according to Muller, include:

• We are able to create an all-inclusive ­solution to any security project that comes our way.

• We have a relationship with the finance houses and are thus aware of the status of the finance application at all times, instead of having to request feedback from an end-user trying to get financing from their personal bank.

• Payment in full is made to SCW Finance by the finance house once the project has been signed off by the end-user, thus we do not have the end user loaded as a debtor on our system improving our cash flow and bad debts.

As far as drawbacks are concerned, she says the finance application can take a long time if the end-user’s required documents or financials are not in order. The user could then become frustrated with SCW Finance if their application is not approved.

To potential customers looking at ­financing a deal, Muller says they should look for a company that can give them the most competitive rates at a repayment period that will suit their individual budget. This includes the ability to lease products to own or to upgrade.

SCW financing is a rental agreement. At the end of the repayment period the end-user has one of the following three options:

• They can upgrade the security equipment and continue paying the monthly rental fee for the upgraded stock.

• They can pay one month’s extra instalment and take ownership of the equipment.

• They can choose to not keep the equipment, in which case SCW Finance will then come and remove the equipment from their premises.

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