Fairown launched its sustainable payment plan in the micromobility sector for Nordic consumers.
The partnership with Sirqel, a Norwegian e-bike and bicycle retailer, and Resurs Bank, a leading bank in the Nordics, helps tackle overconsumption and waste through the circular economy.
Sustainable Payment Plans Are Key in the Circular Economy
Endorsing sustainable payment plans and enabling consumers to buy products as a service is crucial in striving towards the circular economy.
Fairown’s products-as-a-service solution allows brands, retailers, and banks to participate in the circular economy, centred around producing, consuming, and reusing products. Thereby, it reduces excessive waste and the need for raw materials by extending products’ lifetime value.
Hendrik Roosna, CEO at Fairown, explained, “It’s all about maximising the value we get out of products during their lifetime. By offering products as a service, we can endorse reuse and give bicycles and e-bikes a new life over multiple consumption rounds. We need to incentivise this model in a professional way to extract maximum value from products by defining reasonable usage cycles and refurbishing bikes before handing them over to the next consumer.”
Launching Sustainable Payment Plans Is Easier Than You Think
Fairown provides a complete suite of software and services to offer products for low monthly payments and manage the entire product life cycle from purchase to periodic renewals and recycling.
It's remarkable how quickly Sirqel launched this sustainable payment plan. Roosna added, "It took just a bit over two weeks from idea to start offering bikes as a service. That is possible for all merchants despite the industry they operate in, either consumer electronics, gardening, home or children's products, sporting goods, or even optical products. The micromobility sector is only the beginning of this success story."
The Sirqel Eie programme enables consumers to access e-bikes and children’s bikes in a sustainable way, without any additional interest or downpayment. More value is added with bike bundles that include maintenance, winter tires and storage.
Partnership That Strives for Sustainability
Under the partnership, Fairown provides the payment platform; Resurs Bank takes care of product financing; and Sirqel provides bikes to consumers and manages product renewals.
Vanessa Lagerkvist, Co-Founder and COO at Sirqel said, “Our primary goal is to reduce car traffic by democratising access to high-quality bikes, making them readily available to our customers at an affordable monthly fee. Fairown has been instrumental in this journey, offering an innovative solution that seamlessly integrates financing into the equation, making the transition to a circular economy smooth and efficient. This partnership is more than just a business venture; it is a step towards a sustainable future, aligning perfectly with our values and commitment in promoting a smarter way for mobility.”
Solveig Gorset, Commercial Director Corporate at Resurs Bank, commented, “This collaboration is strategically important for us, and we are excited to get into the micromobility sector to enable affordable and sustainable financing to consumers.”
Sustainable Payment Plans Reduce Environmental Impact
Thanks to this circular payment plan, all participants win:
brands and retailers get higher revenues and loyal customers;
banks benefit from predictable, recurring payment flows;
consumers get lower price points, better value for money, and sustainable offerings.
Implementing sustainable payment plans enables us to lead the shift to environmentally-friendly production and consumption, and move closer to the circular economy, together.
Roosna emphasised environmental gains of this cooperation, “Our goal with the partnership is to reduce waste through bike renewals by reselling, repurposing, or recycling them. There’s no better way to maximise the benefits for the environment than through product reuse."
According to our sustainability research, the carbon footprint of reused products is 4-5%, compared to 95% for new products. This is due to manufacturing making up the majority of the ecological footprint. That's a huge achievement in sustainability as we minimise the need for producing new products from scratch.