Online payments offer benefits for renters and site staff such as convenience and lower costs. But before you can reap the benefits, you’ve got to get residents to enroll. We’ve got a few quick tips to make the process easier. Online payments add value for residents Per the National Apartment Association, about 78% of residents prefer to pay their bills online. Renters value the convenience of 24/7/365 access to their accounts. And they can submit payments at any time, rather than working within the confines of leasing office hours. Additionally, each online method reduces the risks and data entry associated with cash as well as the hassle of ordering, writing and waiting on paper checks to process. Online payments offer a variety of payment methods to fit your residents’ preferences. Bank account, credit or debit card ACH transactions may occur on single and reoccurring basis. TextPay and voice payments via Resident Services: Alexa Skill are added conveniences. All payment options are easily accessible through your RENTCafe resident portal, which adds value for your renters. More than 92% of respondents consider online rent payment an important resident portal feature. Optimize staff hours with online payments What can your staff accomplish in a workweek without opening mail, scanning checks, trips to the bank, or data entry? Much more. They can nurture new leads and promote retention by building rapport with residents. Both skills bolster your bottom line far more than tedious and redundant tasks like data entry. When you increase adaptation to online payment processing, everyone wins! But first, you’ve got to get renters to enroll. Check out these five tips to boost online payment enrollment. Create an awareness campaign including emails, social media posts, and print posters at the leasing office (especially near the rent...

For senior living providers, collecting payments online reduces staff workload and increases cash flow. For senior living residents and their family members, it saves time and eliminates hassle. A win-win all around. So why is it then that so few residents pay online? At Validus Senior Living, the finance team understood the value of online payments, and they knew residents and their loved ones would appreciate the convenience once they got on board. They just needed a push in the right direction first. Validus Senior Living offers residences across the spectrum of care: independent living, assisted living and memory care. They have 15 current communities throughout the Southeast, and they plan on developing two to three new properties per year. Getting their residents to pay online would streamline finances as the organization continued to grow. Validus finance staff had already offered ACH as a payment option, but adoption was low. To top it off, staff had to enter a resident or family member’s bank details manually to get them in the system, which took extra time and risked errors. So Validus turned to RENTCafé Senior Living for self-service online payments and launched a variety of initiatives to make it the popular choice for bill pay. The results were clear: They achieved an average 60% adoption rate for online payments across their communities! How’d they pull it off? Here’s what Lindsey Hacker, chief financial officer at Validus, revealed: Offer a discount to current residents Old habits are hard to change, but a simple incentive can work wonders as motivation. Validus ran a promotion for existing residents, asking them to sign up for online payments. In turn, they would get a discount on their bill. Though incentives like these may seem unaffordable for senior living providers,...

Are online payments really worth the fuss? The short answer is yes! But don’t take our word for it. Check out seven reasons why online payments are a necessity for successful communities. Renters Seek Convenience Today’s residents love their smartphones. “According to recent reports, the average American checks their smartphone almost 50 times per day. For millennials, the number is even higher, at 74 times per day. With half of the renter population under the age of 30, digital technology is a game changer at apartment communities for both the residents and property managers,” said Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing at Yardi. Online banking is one of many tasks that modern renters perform on their smartphones. It offers the simplicity that renters crave: more than two-thirds of respondents to the NMHC Consumer Housing Survey said they seek technologies to make their lives easier. You Seek a Competitive Advantage Offering online rent payments gives your communities a competitive advantage. The most recent NMHC Kingsley study reveals that more than 25 percent of respondents currently pay their rent electronically. Nearly four times as many would prefer to pay their rent online. “An astounding 90 percent of respondents say that online rent payment availability is important or very important when considering their apartment community. This is the second highest rating behind online maintenance requests,” shared Bonardi. Better Security Cash in the leasing office? No, thank you. Fraudulent or lost checks? You likely want to pass on those, too. Online payments offer greater security and fewer risks than cash or checks. Flexible Payment Options When residents have access to quick, easy payment options, you will receive your payments faster and on time. With payment processing, you have several options to extend to your residents. They can pay with traditional...

There are two groups that want you to optimize online payments: your residents and your staff. According to the National Apartment Association, about 79 percent of residents prefer to pay their bills online. It’s quick, easy, and means one less task to occupy their time each month. Your staff wants to enjoy a workweek without opening mail, scanning checks, trips to the bank, or data entry into your real estate accounting software. When you increase adaptation to online payment processing, everyone wins. Check out these six tips to boost online payment enrollment. Provide easy access to the payment portal. Consider adding a button directly on your property website or prominently displayed on the resident portal. Make enrollment easy for your residents. Consider creating a step-by-step how-to guide on enrollment that includes screenshots. The text and visual aids will help your residents, resulting in fewer calls to your office for help. Designate a tablet or computer to online payment enrollment. When a resident visits the leasing office with a rent check, agents can then offer to help them setup online payments on the spot! Inform residents of their options. Some residents may be unfamiliar with the options available or not understand the lingo. Broadcast which options they have– ACH, Text to Pay, reoccurring EFT—and well as what each payment option means. Create an awareness campaign including emails, social media posts, and print posters at the leasing office (especially near the drop box). Consider a catchy slogan and imagery for the campaign that will stick in residents’ minds. As a last resort, create an incentive program. Consider gift certificates, prizes, or small discounts off the rent. The incentives are an upfront investment with long-term payoffs. Learn more about online Payment Processing with...

Online payment processing is quickly becoming the industry standard. If you’re on the fence about making the switch, here are eight excellent reasons for you to upgrade with confidence. 8 Reasons to Upgrade to Online Payments Gain the competitive advantage. Research by the Association for Finance Professionals reveals that nearly 80 percent of organizations are transitioning to electronic payments. If you’re one of the few businesses not making that transition, you may lose clients to your competitors. Eliminate redundant data entry. Using an online payment system cuts back on data entry and subsequent errors. This is especially true when it integrates with your property management accounting software. After a payment is made, user data automatically populates in the system. Offer flexibility to your residents. Nearly 80 percent of residents prefer to pay rent electronically. With online payments, residents can easily submit payments 24/7 from their desktop or mobile device. Enjoy fewer late payments. By increasing convenience, many users have witnessed a decrease in delinquencies. Mariana Estrada, VP of Operations at Roscoe Properties says, “For the month of May, we collected 95% of payments, on time and electronically, thanks to Payment Processing. That’s massive! That’s money in the bank without any staff intervention.” Lower costs for you and the environment when you go paperless. An article in CFO Magazine explains how electronic payments work out to be 10 times cheaper than paper checks. Among the data, analysts note that the total cost of an ACH transfer is between 25 cents and 60 cents. (The range depends on several factors.) A paper check, however, sets businesses back between $1.25 and $3.00. Decrease the need for storage. Paper record storage becomes a costly battle for square footage. With electronic payments, all of your data is securely stored...

The new RentCafe Senior Living Resident App makes lets residents and families manage payments, maintenance requests and more on the go! While we are all used to seeing young adults glued to their smart phone screens, increasingly senior citizens are logging on to mobile devices and taking advantage of everything mobile apps have to offer. According to a recent study from the Pew Research Center, since 2013 the number of seniors who own smart phones has nearly doubled to roughly 40% of adults over 65. Smart Phone Freedom Smart phones have a lot to offer older adults, not the least of which is the ease with which they can connect with loved ones. With advent of online banking and one-click purchasing, seniors have begun to adapt to an era of convenience and (almost) instant gratification. In fact, the Pew Research Center found that “for Americans ages 65 and older who own a smartphone, having one in their pocket is a liberating experience.” Communities Go Mobile For senior living communities, the ubiquity of mobile devices amongst residents presents an opportunity to enhance communication and improve comfort and care. In the past, many senior living providers depended on paper forms to handle all manner of resident interactions, from account management to maintenance requests. Going digital has changed that dynamic, and with the advent of mobile apps, communities can now empower residents to take charge. RentCafe App makes it Easy Earlier this year, Yardi unveiled the latest update to its innovative Yardi Senior Living Suite with the introduction of the RentCafe Senior Living Resident app. Offering the convenience of mobile payments and maintenance requests, the RentCafe Senior Living Resident app provides residents and their families with easy, secure access to account information via iOS and Android devices....