We often hear from properties that when renters discover that additional fees may apply to certain payment type transactions, they may become hesitant or discouraged to use online payment options.  However, recent research observing the payment data of a few large RentPayment clients has brought some extremely interesting news to the forefront.  It appears that more and more renters are willing to pay for the convenience of online payment solutions regardless of the cost or associated fees.

In fact, one property management company examined, demonstrated no correlation between lower prices and higher usage.  In fact, this property management data showed quite the opposite: properties with higher convenience fees had higher usage than many properties with low convenience fees! 

Although, we cannot jump to any conclusions as to why this happened or what is driving the increases in high convenience fee usage, it is clear that times are changing.  People, particularly renters, are looking for the fastest, easiest and most effective way to get things done, despite the cost.  The multifamily housing industry is quickly evolving and becoming more receptive to online payment solutions.  It is extremely refreshing to see the hard work that goes into transitioning a community to electronic payments is showing results.  More and more residents are willing to throw their checkbooks away and pick up the plastic -who needs paper in a plastic world?