Just in time for the iPhone 17, Bell announced a new payment program for buying smartphones.
Dubbed ‘Flex Option,’ Bell’s new payment plan is effectively just 36-month financing with a twist. In short, Bell is offering customers the ability to split up their smartphone payments into separate 24-month and 12-month periods in an attempt to bypass the Wireless Code’s 24-month financing restriction.
Flex Option replaces Bell’s existing device-return-option financing program, which allows customers to pay a lower financing fee if they agree to return the phone (or pay the difference) at the end of the two-year agreement. With Flex Option, customers can choose to turn that final lump-sum payment into a 12-month financing agreement.
As an example, if someone wanted to buy the Pixel 10 Pro from Bell, they would need to pay either $40/mo for 24 months, or $25/mo if they agree to return the phone after 24 months. With the latter option, there’s a deferred amount of $360.03 — customers currently can choose to pay this at the end of the two-year agreement to keep the phone, or simply return the phone to Bell.
With Flex Option, customers now also have the choice to split that deferred amount — in the case of our Pixel 10 Pro example, $360.03 — into another 12-month financing agreement. In our example, that would work out to roughly $30/mo. This allows customers to keep a financed phone without having to pay a lump-sum to keep it.
Bell says Flex Option will be available across Canada starting Sept. 9, 2025, for both new consumer and small business customers, as well as existing customers upgrading their devices.
On one hand, the new program sounds like a decent option for customers, especially with the rising cost of phones (such as the iPhone 17, which is expected to cost more this year due to Trump’s tariffs). 24-month financing already has a high monthly price, so this program could encourage more people to opt for the device return option for cheaper financing, with more choice at the end of that initial financing period.
On the other hand, the CRTC already made it clear that the Wireless Code limits device financing to 24 months the last time Canadian carriers tried to roll out 36-month financing programs. It remains to be seen how the commission will react to Bell’s new Flex Option program, which appears to be 36-month financing with extra steps. However, when we raised this concern with Bell, it told MobileSyrup that the Flex Option is compliant with the Wireless Code.
It also remains to be seen if other wireless providers will follow Bell and launch their own extended financing options.
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