Fort Worth, Texas – Financial services firm Think Finance
has announced a limited, three-state launch of a new rent-to-own (RTO) site for
consumer electronics called Presta.
The new e-commerce site, located at
,
allows shoppers to rent products for one year by paying a weekly, bi-weekly or
monthly lease-purchase fee through a credit or debit card. Customers can return
the products after three months with no penalty, own them outright after one
year, or pay off the lease-purchase agreement early at a discount. Items are
also available for immediate purchase at a “buy it now” price.
Initial product offerings include laptops, digital cameras,
TVs, Xbox 360s and Apple iPods and iPads. Think Finance holds no inventory, and
all purchases are fulfilled by distributors.
Current postings include a 16GB Apple iPad 2 in black for $21
per week or $549 if purchased immediately; a Canon EOS Rebel T3i d-SLR camera
for $38 per week or $999 if purchased immediately; and a 32-inch Toshiba SL415
LED TV for $31 per week or $800 if purchased immediately.
“Think Finance is laser-focused on meeting the needs of the
financially underserved by applying our innovative technology and underwriting
platform to develop disruptive solutions like Presta,” said CEO Ken Rees. “We
heard from our customers that they were [dissatisfied] with current purchase
financing options for electronics and we are pleased to have a totally new solution
for them just in time for the holiday shopping season.”
Presta is currently in a beta-testing period and is limited
to residents of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Privately-held Think Finance describes itself as a leading
developer of “next-generation financial products for under-banked consumers”
including next-day loans and a forthcoming “social debit card” called
Spendable. The company is backed by such Silicon Valley venture capital firms
as Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures, and maintains offices
here and in the United Kingdom.
