BNP Paribas 3stepIT

BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions and 3stepIT announce that their joint venture “BNP Paribas 3 Step IT” started trading in October. BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions’ existing branches in France and Italy now operate under the new joint venture name, with nine more countries will follow by mid-20201.

This new entity offers a complete and more sustainable way to manage technology lifecycles. It delivers a service based on circular economy principles; a service that anticipates the needs of companies looking for more flexible and sustainable “product as a service”2 financing solutions.

BNP Paribas 3 Step IT combines the strengths, expertise and geographical cover of the European leasing leader, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, and the Finnish specialist in IT life cycle management (management, refurbishment in own logistics centres and re-marketing), 3stepIT, to take the latter’s successful approach out of its Nordic stronghold and deliver it across Europe.

BNP Paribas 3 Step IT provides a complete service to companies to help them manage technology investments (mainly smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops). The service adds value at all points in the lifecycle. It helps:

• Analyse their needs to develop a lifecycle plan
• Provide the funding to select and acquire the planned equipment
• Monitor and manage equipment in use: where it is, who pays, how much it costs, when to replace it, as well as automating many routine IT administration tasks
• Return equipment at the end of the contract, for secure data destruction followed by refurbishing for resale, when the value recovered helps reduce rental costs

In practice, this approach helps clients improve their IT service level, with up to date equipment; and provide IT devices at a lower overall cost. It also helps run IT in a more sustainable way, because the devices are refurbished, rather than dumped.

We refurbish 97% of returned devices for re-use, with less than 3% being recycled. Our focus on sustainability also confers sustainability on our clients’ own use of IT. Extending the life of equipment displaces the manufacture of new product and spreads the manufacturing carbon footprint across two users. Including manufacture, transport and power costs in the calculation, this reduces the carbon footprint by 36%. Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet, and the source of 70% of landfill toxic waste. Re-use reduces clients’ e-waste contribution by around 48%.

Sustainability is a growing factor in IT planning. While 15% of organisations say it is a consideration today, a further 67% say they intend to integrate sustainability into their IT plans within the next two years3. A circular economy lifecycle approach, that delivers product life extension for over 97% of returned devices, will interest these organisations.

“Since we announced this joint venture, many international companies have wanted to learn more. The lifecycle management service meets their business needs, and aligns with their values in terms of responsibility. Becoming more sustainable is increasingly a competitive differentiator, and a consideration for clients, partners and investors. As well as serving clients’ broader needs, this alliance is in perfect sync with the BNP Paribas Group strategy to support circular economy initiatives,” said Charlotte Dennery, CEO of BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions.

“We are delighted to take our solution across Europe. BNP Paribas 3 Step IT will offer a more sustainable approach to using technology, on a large international scale – a breakthrough for a circular economy business model, and a response to our customers’ demands for a global service”, said Carmen Ene, CEO of 3stepIT.

1. European countries covered by the alliance:

Joint venture: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Commercial partnership: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden.

2. Product as a service: selling the use of the equipment rather than the equipment itself.

3. 3stepIT international market survey of 1000 organisations, carried out in February 2019