“Going green,” seems to be the current trend for consumers and business owners to claim they are following. Despite the obvious perks for adopting more nature-friendly practices, many have their doubts of whether or not the costs of applying these practices outweigh the benefits. However, by switching to a paperless ePayment system you can dramatically cut down your carbon footprint while also increasing efficiency and convenience for your company.

Javelin Strategy and Research reported that if every American household viewed and paid bills online, solid waste could be reduced in U.S. landfills by more than 800,000 tons a year and save an estimated 18.5 million trees a year. According to The Federal Reserve, over 170 million pounds of greenhouse gases are used on printing checks and bills each year.  Take a moment to think about how each document not only uses the paper it was printed on but also the gas consumed by the mail carriers to deliver it to you and your renters.

Reducing the use of paper provides benefits beyond saving the environment when using a full service ePayment solution to keep track of all your books and payment history.  Without the endless amounts of paper books and bills adding up, you can save thousands of pieces of paper as well as increase your property’s efficiency and accuracy.  Online payment systems increase accuracy by reducing the risk of human error involved with manual entry and recordkeeping.

Offering ePayment services also saves your business money and time. Electronic payment lowers costs for businesses who spend money on postage and check processing. For example, according to RentPayment.com, an eCheck costs approximately $1 to process whereas a paper-check can cost anywhere from $6 to $12 to process. In addition, the processing time for an eCheck is only a few days whereas a paper check can take up to 2 weeks to clear. The American Forest and Paper Association reports that every ton of paper costs an office roughly $1000 and can add 3.3 cubic yards of waste to a landfill.

Paperless billing is catching on as consumers become more aware of the conveniences and environmental benefits of electronic billing and payment. Surveys have shown that users not only like helping the environment, but they also like the timeliness and practicality of ePayment. Renters enjoy the assurance of securing an always on time rent payment every month without having to worry about physically dropping off a check.  Debit and credit cards are also processed by these same services. This is another benefit for the renter and helps ensure they can always make their rent payment. Renters also avoid being charged late fees while the property managers enjoy the guarantee of receiving rent every month with an automated withdrawal from bank accounts.

The Nature Conservancy sites that half of the world’s original forests are gone and each year 36 million more acres of deforestation are added to that list.  In one 24 hour period, one tree can provide oxygen for up to four people and discharge up to 100 gallons of water from the ground into the air. It’s critical that we preserve our trees to maintain our planet’s livelihood.

“Obviously, businesses and consumers won’t ever stop needing paper, but technology is helping make an impact to reduce unnecessary paper usage and waste. Electronic bill payment is a key element in that quest,” said Kevin Sander, director of corporate partnerships at the National Arbor Day Foundation

Finally, there is a way to save your property from superfluous costs and decrease unnecessary stress for you and your renters while also giving Mother Nature a much needed break too. It’s a win-win situation. Let’s all do our best to save the environment while saving our businesses money by switching to ePayment services today.

About Author:
Krista Norsworthy is a recent print journalism graduate from the Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State University and currently working as marketing intern at RentPayment.com in San Francisco.

To many, the thought of paying your rent or bills online may include hesitation and concerns about security. Since the Internet has become so pervasive and fast, it can be hard to know which online services to trust with your money.

However, RentPayment makes the transition to ePayments easy and comfortable.  With the quality services RentPayment offers, you can relax knowing your money is always transferred securely and on time.

Some may think paper checks and billing are still the safest way to go.  However, there are huge risks associated with paper payments compared to online payment. According to American Banker Magazine, more than 1.2 million fraudulent checks are written each day. That equals more than 13 per second! By utilizing e-Payments, the chance of lost, misplaced or stolen checks is no longer a concern.

The truth is, problems with electronic payments are extremely rare.  Due to accelerated processing times and instant return notification to the payee, the electronic check conversion process has proven effective in fewer returns, earlier fraud detection, and fewer errors.

Paying your rent and bills online can actually be safer than taking them to a bank or writing checks. According to NACHA (The Electronic Payments Association), almost 85 percent of identity theft occurs with offline transactions. In addition, RentPayment’s ePayment platform has received the highest level of security the federal government can award to a business processing ePayments, including PCI compliance and SAS 70 certifications.  Personal data remains safe and secure on a private network that is only accessible by RentPayment security-screened employees.  Furthermore, payer information is never released to third parties or banks.

With RentPayment, safety is guaranteed and convenience is promised. With our services, you’ll never forget to pay your bills again thanks to the email and text alert applications that remind you when money is due and/or withdrawn.  To add to the list of conveniences, our electronic payments typically clear your account in about two business days, whereas paper payments can take weeks. Recurring direct debit payments can also be set up using AutoPay, eliminating late fees and penalties.  In addition, keeping record of your payments and direct deposit details has never been easier thanks to our payments archive, which keeps track of your payments in an online database that you can easily access from anywhere.  Now you don’t have to worry about endless amounts of paper and books to keep track of.

It’s time for a more convenient and lower risk solution – ask your property management company today if you can pay your rent using RentPayment!

Having good web presence and accessibility to RentPayment is the best way to increase awareness and adoption.  To accomplish this, we suggest adding a “Pay Rent Online” button to your community website to directly link renters to your property’s RentPayment login page.  A second suggestion is to also upload your community’s logo to this page.  These two features will help your renters know their payment is safe and avoid them making a payment to the wrong property.  In addition, this is another great way to build your brand and help extend your community branding all the way to your electronic payment processor.

Best Practice 1: Add a Link to Your RentPayment Page on Your Community’s Website

The ability to pay rent online is an amenity you should take advantage of when promoting your community to both current and prospective renters. A direct link from your site yo your community’s RentPayment login page provides convenience for your renters as well as a feeling of security when making an online payment.  Our most successful clients place direct links to their RentPayment login page on their  management company and community websites in order to speed up the payment process.

Tip: Placing the RentPayment name and logo on your website is even more beneficial.  Co-branding your website familiarizes renters with RentPayment so that they can easily recognize it as their community’s electronic payment processor.

Best Practice 2: Add Your Logo to Your RentPayment Page

RentPayment offers customizable login pages to co-brand your account’s payment page with your company’s logo.  Co-branding your payment page helps renters recognize your management company so they are further familiarized with RentPayment.  Below is an example of where your logo will appear on the payment page.

Click here to download instructions on how to achieve custom web branding with RentPayment

RentPayment: Where Paying Rent Pays you Back!

RentPayment has hosted more promotions this year than ever and awarded several renters with cash, gift cards and even a month of free rent.  We will be ending 2010 with our biggest and best, and would like to announce the RentPayment Sweepstakes which will run for the remainder of 2010.  This exciting offer will help Property Managers get the most value out of their service by boosting RentPayment awareness and providing an incentive to convert to electronic payments.

Each month from August 1 to December 31, 2010, 10 renters that pay their rent using RentPayment will be awarded a $100 gift card and at the conclusion of  the Sweepstakes, one renter will win the $10,000 Grand Prize!   In all, RentPayment will award $15,000 in prize money over the remainder of 2010.

“It’s exciting to reward our customers for their loyalty to our service,” said Matt Golis,  CEO. “We’ve experienced tremendous growth in electronic rent payments in 2010 and look forward to continuing to provide the highest quality of  service to our customers in the future.”  The RentPayment Sweepstakes runs from August 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 and is  open to ALL individuals mte social media oaking a payment during that time period. Payments can be made online, over the phone, in-person, and via mobile devices including our exclusive RentByText technology.  Each payment is recorded as one entry towards the Grand Prize, giving users a maximum of 5 entries towards the $10,000 Grand Prize. The sweepstakes will also incorporautlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more.

Full details of the Sweepstakes are available at:
http://www.rentpayment.com/sweepstakes

As summer hits its peak and fall approaches, so does student housing season.  This is an exciting time of the year for our student housing communities as managers prepare for residents to move in before fall classes begin. Below are some tips to help Property Managers promote electronic payments to incoming student residents.

Communicate with parents prior to move in. Many parents who still pay the bills would love to put their child’s rent on a credit card or sign up for AutoPay and never write a rent check again!  Make sure to mention all available electronic payment options.

Read all about it! Mention RentPayment in your community newsletter, or we can provide you with content and our logo to make it very easy.

Welcome new residents. Do you make welcome packets for new renters?  If so, make sure to include a RentPayment brochure.

Magnets for all! If apartments are inspected or cleaned before new renters move in, place a RentPayment magnet on the refrigerators of all newly leased units.

Get Social. Community networking sites are a great source for reminding renters about their ePayment options
Facebook: Post a status update with your property’s RentPayment link, encouraging students to pay electronically.
Twitter: Tweet at the end of the month that rent is due, and include your property’s payment link.

No checkbook? Use your debit card! Many students today don’t even have a checkbook.  Instead of sending them to the bank, remind them they can pay with their debit card online.

Using email communication? Send a friendly reminder to renters to pay rent online – or let us create an email campaign for you!

Accept ePayments to close leases on the spot! When apartment-hunting students stop by your property without a checkbook for deposits and application fees, remember you can accept these payments by credit/debit card using RentPayment.

Interested in an email campaign or want marketing materials?  You can receive brochures, magnets, door hangers, and more for FREE, just email:  marketing@rentpayment.com.

Retailers and businesses know that allowing consumers to delay payment can dramatically increase their willingness to buy. National retailers such as Best Buy even have their own in-house credit card to entice users to buy their products now and pay at a later time. So why isn’t this principle applied to the multifamily industry?

Comparing the psychological purchasing behavior of buying a new television with that of where to rent is more similar than you may think. If a renter was standing at an intersection and there were two apartment communities with very similar amenities and price points, but one apartment community accepted credit cards while the other did not, then the willingness of a renter to make an immediate decision is obvious – go with the one that accepts credit cards.

The benefits of an apartment community accepting credit cards are noticeably clear; renters can move into an apartment immediately rather than waiting to save for the deposit, renters can earn airline miles which can we redeemed for traveling expenses, and best of all renters can easily make their payment online or via mobile phone – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Another principle to understand is the “mental accounting” that affects decision making. When renters pay with a paper check, which is directly withdrawn from their bank account, they associate that payment negatively, as can be proven when asking any renter if they like paying rent. Now compare that with a renter who paid by credit card who is earning airline miles and managing their money more efficiently. The time value of money comes into play which makes future payments less costly than immediate ones. Now all of a sudden they like paying their rent by credit card and the benefits that accompany it.

An additional behavioral targeting technique that is used by the most savvy property management firms is the ability to harness the power of the “default option.” The evidence is overwhelming that presenting one option as a default increases the chance it will be chosen. If you are not already accepting e-payments via credit cards and e-checks then you are far behind your competition. If you are already accepting e-payments then instead of just accepting “all forms of payment,” make the default option credit card or e-check and watch the results. Many innovative property managers are taking this one step further and requiring residents to pay their rent electronically by inking it into the lease terms on the rental agreement. Renters don’t need tons of options, and when given something by default, it becomes more valuable than just another option.

Technology is creating new opportunities that benefit both renters and property management firms. When behavioral economics is applied to electronic rent collection, the results are astounding. Employing the techniques mentioned above can produce operating efficiencies and administrative cost savings that directly benefit your bottom line. It’s a lot easier than it sounds, so get started today before your competitors do!

Our marketing and sales teams are excited about the upcoming launch of our 2010 Student Housing Promotion. We’ve been hard at work planning and designing this year’s promotion where we’ll be giving out 10 $100 MasterCard or Visa gift cards and 1 grand prize, a $1,000 gift card! The promotion runs July 25th – September 10th, 2010. To be eligible to win, students must simply pay their rent with RentPayment 1 of 3 ways: Online, RentByText, or by Phone! They’ll be automatically entered and at the end of the promotion, 11 winners will be randomly chosen.

Visit www.RentPayment.com/Students for more details.

RentPayment is the largest electronic payments processor in the multifamily industry, serving thousands of property management companies representing over 3 million apartment units.

Trusted with billions of dollars in annual transactions, RentPayment is the preferred partner to thousands of property management companies nationwide. Our integrated payment solution empowers properties to decrease vacancy rates and allow managers to focus on their core duties.

RentPayment offers a complete platform for properties to accept credit/debit cards and electronic checks, as well as convert paper checks to electronic payments. RentPayment is much more than simply a technology provider. RentPayment provides a human touch through hiring friendly people in Customer Service, delivering hands-on training, and continuously marketing electronic payments to renters.