Koodo has started offering a way to pay off a phone over 36 months, but it isn’t Koodo lending you the money. The Telus-owned carrier has partnered with U.S.-based Glow, and when you choose “Koodo Financing powered by Glow” you sign a loan agreement with Glow Financial Services for the cost of the phone, MobileSyrup reports, quoting Koodo’s support page. Koodo’s existing Tab, which spreads a phone over 24 months on your Koodo bill, is still available.

How it works

  • 36 monthly payments, no down payment on the phone, but you pay shipping ($25) and taxes on the full price up front.
  • It isn’t interest-free. MobileSyrup reports an APR “as low as 0.99 per cent,” depending on a credit check. Glow sets your rate when you apply.
  • Credit checks: a soft check to prequalify, then a hard check that appears on your credit file if you go ahead, iPhone in Canada reports.
  • Who can get it: new and existing customers adding an eligible line on a postpaid plan, buying an eligible phone online. Not with Bring Your Own Phone or prepaid. You need government photo ID and a Canadian Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard; payments come off that debit card automatically, and credit cards aren’t accepted.
  • Two bills: Koodo bills you for service, Glow bills you for the phone.
  • They’re separate: the loan keeps running even if your Koodo service is suspended, and a missed Glow payment doesn’t by itself affect your Koodo plan.

What it costs

At the best advertised rate of 0.99%, a $1,000 phone over 36 months works out to about $28.20 a month and roughly $15 in interest, by our math. The same $1,000 split over 24 months would be $41.67 a month before any interest. If your credit check comes back with a higher rate, the interest grows quickly, so look at the APR Glow offers before you accept.

Why now

Telus has asked the CRTC to let carriers finance phones over as long as four years. Under the current Wireless Code, early cancellation fees on a subsidized phone have to fall to $0 by month 24, and the CRTC’s public hearing on the codes starts November 30, iPhone in Canada notes. Because Glow, not Koodo, holds the loan, Koodo told MobileSyrup the terms “can be beyond 24 months.”

Why it matters: A lower monthly payment is easier on a budget, but a three-year loan runs a year longer than the Tab, adds a hard credit inquiry and keeps you paying Glow even if you leave Koodo. If you can handle the Tab’s 24-month payments, that keeps everything on one bill.