That didn't take long, did it? Just hours after Verizon CFO Fran Shammo made mention of a new "Verizon Edge" financing program on his carrier's Q2 2013 earnings call, the big red carrier has gone ahead and made the new offering official.
Launching on August 25, Verizon Edge is a program that allows consumers to spread the full cost of a new device out over 24 months and also upgrade more frequently. Upon enrolling in Verizon Edge, subscribers sign up for a month-to-month service plan and then select a new phone. The full price of that phone will be spread out over 24 months, with the first payment due at the time of purchase. Customers then have the option of upgrading again after waiting 6 months and paying off at least half of the original device's full retail cost.
Verizon says that there are no finance charges or upgrade fees associated with its Edge program. However, the big red carrier does say that the new payment plan "will be available to customers on Share Everything plans starting August 25th," so it sounds like anyone interested in Edge may first need to sign up for one of Verizon's shared data plans.
Verizon's new Edge payment plan is the latest in a string of "frequent upgrader" programs that've been springing up at the major U.S. operators lately. T-Mobile launched its "JUMP!" program earlier this month, and AT&T took the wraps off of its own "AT&T Next" plan shortly thereafter. The programs are meant to help customers upgrade to new devices more frequently rather than making them wait for the entirety of a two-year contract to do so.
It's good to see the big operators trying out new policies and giving customers new ways to upgrade, but as with any new plan, it's probably a good idea to sit down and figure out the cost of these upgrader programs before actually committing to one. Verizon Edge is slated to go live a little over a month from now, so customers on the big red carrier have plenty of time to crunch the numbers before the new program launches.
Via Verizon Wireless
