In a surprise move, Microsoft has quietly stopped offering its Surface Plus financing program for consumers.

“Microsoft is ending new enrollment into the Surface Plus Program,” the Surface Plus website notes curtly. The decision came after “much thought and consideration,” the page later adds.

This is disappointing.

As I wrote when Surface Plus debuted a year ago, this financing program made Microsoft’s PC much more accessible to a wider audience. It allowed customers to pay for a Surface PC over a two-year period with 0 percent interest. So instead of having to put $1299 on a credit card, to use the example I used a year ago, you could pay $54.13 a month for two years.

It’s also strange timing, given that Microsoft just started a similar financing program for Xbox One called Xbox All Access. It seemed like Microsoft had figured out the right formula for making its expensive hardware more approachable for those in the middle class: Xbox All Access is, in many ways, a game changer.

Both Surface Plus and Xbox All Access were/are financed by third parties. Perhaps that had something to do with it.

And if you’re already using Surface Plus, be sure to check out the FAQ: Nothing is changing and Microsoft will apparently still let you move forward with a new PC when the two-year payment plan expires. (You own the Surface PC you paid for.)

Tagged with Surface Plus