Many providers of goods and services today offer their offers with zero-percent financing. Customers and providers alike benefit from these offers: for the provider, the "0% financing" creates a larger sales market, as even customers who do not have enough liquid funds to pay for the offer in a single sum can make use of these offers. Customers, in turn, benefit because they do not have to forgo consumption or postpone it.
To offer zero-percent financing, goods providers such as electronics retailers or automakers work with partner banks that handle the zero-percent financing. This type of financing is intended to make the purchase decision easier for the prospective buyer, especially in high-priced sectors such as the car purchase. But this form of financing has also become more common in product categories with smaller prices in recent years.
Objectively, every loan carries costs. Usually, the consumer bears the cost of financing by paying the lender interest on the borrowed amount over the term of the loan.
In the case of 0% financing, the goods provider covers the cost of financing. Usually they transfer part of their margin to the partner bank for this purpose. The cost of financing is therefore already included in the calculation of the purchase price. Conversely, this means less room to negotiate prices for the consumer compared with a cash buyer.
Attention: Too many 0% financings can affect your creditworthiness, as these are recorded by Schufa. In that case, only replacing it with a loan without Schufa helps.
Before zero-percent financing: Price comparison
A direct price comparison for the item in question is therefore worthwhile in any case. However, if the item in question cannot be obtained cheaper from any other retailer and a discount for cash buyers is also excluded, it can make sense to use the 0% financing. In this case the consumer's liquidity does not decrease. In addition, they remain financially flexible and can potentially use the deferred purchase price elsewhere in an economically sensible way.