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...

Based in the heart of Texas, Yardi client Churchill Residential is an affordable housing provider with a focus on senior housing that works to provide exceptional customer service for its residents. We recently caught up with Michelle Bless, director of accounting, to learn how the company has benefited from its use of the Yardi affordable platform and how the Walk In Payment System (WIPS) is truly a game-changer for affordable housing providers. Michelle, tell us about Churchill Residential? We were founded in 2002, and pride ourselves on developing and operating high-quality, 100% affordable housing communities, most of which are for seniors. We’ve leveraged Low Income Housing Tax Credit funds to build 17 communities and more than 2,700 units across the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. What does Churchill do best? Customer service is at the forefront of Churchill’s mission. Our guiding principles focus on enhancing the lives of residents, onsite staff and office employees. When we see an opportunity to make a change towards improving service, we take it. What changes have you gone through recently? We’ve achieved improvements in staff efficiency and resident services by implementing the Yardi integrated software platform. That change has helped us improve performance by simplifying many processes and improving data transparency across our organization. How does having an integrated accounting software translate to happier residents? Time savings for our onsite staff definitely benefits our residents, as the staff now has more time for personal interactions every day. As far as resident-facing technology goes, electronic payment processing is a nice perk for our residents because they can log in at any time to check their up-to-date ledger. We couldn’t offer residents that type of real time information prior to adopting the Yardi integrated software platform. Churchill just went live with...

Cash and money order payments are not ideal for property managers. Susceptible to fraud and inconvenient compared to electronic funds transfers or online payments, just about all property management firms will tell you that they don’t want rent remitted this way. But sometimes, that’s how residents want to pay. Now there’s an alternative. a new service that eliminates the risk of money order fraud or the hassle of taking cash and is efficient and convenient for residents and property managers alike. It’s called the Walk-in Payment System (WIPS™), and it’s available as part of Yardi Payment Processing™. Here’s how it works: Using the Walk-in Payment System (WIPS), residents can pay rent in cash at over 18,000 participating convenience stores or big box retail locations. Payments are seamlessly transferred to the property management companies’ Yardi Voyager® system. “Residents get the convenience of a one-stop experience. Property management companies gain efficiencies, increase the likelihood of collecting rent on time and reduce money order fraud,” said David Kessler, vice president, affordable housing for Yardi. Property managers who prefer not to process cash or money order transactions will find WIPS to be a secure and reliable alternative for collecting rent payments. Find out more about it and other ways that Yardi Payment Processing makes collecting rent easier on Yardi.com....