According to an FDIC study nearly 30% of Americans are unbanked or underbanked. Which breaks down to 7.7% of US households, approximately 9 million are unbanked and 17.9% of US households, approximately 21 million are underbanked. Unbanked households are those that don’t have any bank account and underbanked households are those that have a bank account but are not active in using the financial resources of their bank accounts. Another 4.1% are listed as having a bank account but their usage status is unknown. These numbers also drastically differ across regions of the country and different demographics.

These facts are especially interesting for all of the new growth opportunities in the US which these underbanked consumers represent. According to an independent Business Wire article it is estimated that there are more than 100 million unbanked consumers living in the United States today.

So you might ask how are these underbanked consumers navigating the mainstream financial world?

The study found that 66% of unbanked households utilize alternative financial services such as non-bank money orders, non-bank check cashing, pawn shops, and payday loans which can all be very expensive services. Another 25% of underbanked households don’t use any alternative financial services and rely heavily on cash.

These unbanked or underbanked populations represent a large portion of renters in the multi-family housing industry and can be a challenge for property managers. But they also represent a huge opportunity for growth. Finding ways to market your property to these potential residents and offering them a safe and secure way to pay their rent is crucial to attracting residents in certain markets. How many of your renters could take advantage of a safer and easier way to collect rent?

For more information on the unbanked population in the US visit FDIC’s National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households .

RentPayment’s Promotion Team has been offering residents a variety of promotional incentives and giveaways this holiday season. Last month, we launched our First 50 Promotion where the First 50 residents to pay their rent online had the opportunity to win a $50 MasterCard Gift Card courtesy of RentPayment. So who were the lucky winners?
Check out a few of them below!

This month we are offering residents the chance to participate in our Holiday Giveaway Spree where one resident has the chance to win a $1,000 MasterCard Gift Card to kick off 2012 and five additional residents will each receive a $100 MasterCard Gift Card for participating. The promotion has been a great success generating an extra 42,000 electronic rent payments from the select communities.

We asked these residents: Why do you use RentPayment?

• “It’s so much easier to not have to worry about writing a rent check and finding a stamp to mail it in. With the holidays it just gets too hectic!”
  Rick M. – Chicago, IL
• “I can pay from my iPhone anywhere in the world. You can’t beat that.”
  Julie T. – Gainesville, FL 
• “The 1st always seems to sneak up on me, especially around New Year’s. The rent reminder emails are perfect because I can click one link and then pay with my credit card.”
  Prasad K. – Houston, TX 

Congratulations to all our First 50 Promotion and Holiday Giveaway Spree winners and a big thanks to the property managers for all their efforts! If you’re interested in running a promotion for the residents at your property, email us at Marketing@RentPayment.com for more information.

If you aren’t currently using social media to communicate with your residents I think you will be surprised to find how beneficial it can be. You can use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to maximize your community awareness, attract renters, and stay ahead of the marketing game. An easy way to encourage residents to pay their rent online is to post a link on your Facebook or Twitter page!

Tips for Rent Reminder Facebook Posts and Tweets

• Providing a link to take residents directly to your payment page will make it as easy as possible for them to pay instantly. 
• If you post a link to your properties login page, automatically generated text will appear.  Feel free to change this text and customize your message.
• When posting, point out the benefits of paying with a credit card or eCheck.  This can include: payment security, good for the environment, fast safe and easy, etc… 
• This is also a great place to remind residents of their payment options (eCheck, Credit Card, AutoPay, etc…)  and any payment fees that may apply at your property. 

For more information on social media tips email us at Marketing@RentPayment.com for a social media guide and a social media consultation. 

Ever forget your wallet and wish you could use your cell phone to pay for your daily cup of coffee? Those days have arrived. It’s 2012 and mobile payment technologies are booming, making payment transactions for residents faster and easier than ever. According to a Juniper Research study, it’s predicted that mobile payment users will grow by 40% to reach 2.5 billion globally by 2015. Payment transactions made through text messages continue to grow rapidly while other new mobile payment technologies and smartphone applications gain in popularity every month. Other mobile technologies, such as near field communication (NFC), allow people to make payments in stores, directly from their mobile phones quickly and securely.

With our lives mostly on the go these days it just makes sense to find ways for people to easily pay their rent. RentPayment has vowed to give renters a multitude of payment options including mobile payments with RentByText and our RentPayment Mobile iPhone App. Below is a video with more information on our mobile payment options:

Mobile payments help Property Managers Bridge the gap between technology and in person payments making them fast, easy, and secure. Properties see the benefits of accepting electronic payments for rent, including more on time payments, integrated accounting and higher closing rates on leases. Email us at Marketing@RentPayment.com to find out ways we can help get residents at your community making mobile payments today!

YapStone Inc., the parent company of RentPayment, is proud to announce we are now processing over $14 Million in electronic payments every day. With the recent acquisition of our largest competitor PropertyBridge Inc., YapStone Inc. has continued to grow as the largest electronic payments-as-a-service (ePaaS) provider for the property management industry, processing significantly more payment volume than any of our payment processing competitors. This astonishing number will only continue to grow in 2012, with our international expansion into residential markets overseas and our new product RentPaymentNow! which is designed for smaller single family residential property owners in the United States.  Matt Golis, CEO of YapStone, explains: “Our significant scale is a testament to our vertical focus and software-centric approach to the market. Unlike competitors who take more of a low tech, one-size-fits-all approach, our ePaaS software is designed with the customer in mind, adhering to the specific business rules of recurring bill payment industries. We believe this approach is a significant differentiator that will continue to drive revenue growth in 2012 and beyond.”

To view the entire article, in Payments Market, click here or for a link to the Press Release, click here.

Check out this week’s issue of the San Francisco Business Times for a “Fast 100” company spotlight on YapStone, the parent company of RentPayment. The article features an interview with our CEO, Matt Golis, highlighting the growth of electronic rent payments as well as the benefits they provide property managers and residents alike.

To read the full article click here:

Imagine this: A potential resident walks into a leasing office excited and prepared to sign a new lease, only they don’t have their checkbook on them. The property manager replies, “Not to worry! We’re now accepting your gold! Do you have any watches, rings or necklaces you want to part with?”

Hard to imagine? Well it’s true! Donald Trump recently decided to begin accepting solid gold in lieu of normal rent payment transactions. One of Trump’s new residents, Apmex, recently paid their security deposit for a new office space at Trump’s 40 Wall Street building, with 3 large gold bars worth approximately $176,000. Everyone knows Trump loves gold, but accepting gold instead of some form of money that can be deposited into a bank account seems outlandish. Maybe he’s planning on melting it down to make another gold covered apartment?

Luckily for property managers, there’s no need to worry about the burden of accepting solid gold for rent payments. With RentPayment property managers can accept credit cards, debit cards and eChecks, an electronic version of a paper check, for rental payments. Also, when potential residents are ready to sign a lease, properties utilizing RentPayment can accept a resident’s credit card as payment for a security deposit and application fee. This helps property managers close leases on the spot instead of waiting for the prospects to go home and get their checkbook.

What would your business do with solid gold anyways? It’s likely your staff won’t think too highly of you if you attempt to give them solid gold instead of their paychecks.  If you use RentPayment to facilitate your payments, you won’t have to worry about the accounting nightmare of depositing a gold bar at the bank; we’ll leave that to Mr. Trump.

To hear more about how your property can benefit from RentPayment please click here.

Today marks another exciting day for RentPayment’s parent company, YapStone, Inc., who has acquired PropertyBridge, the largest competitor in the property management payment industry. PropertyBridge is an electronic payment specialist, like RentPayment, who is exclusively focused on providing innovative solutions for the multifamily industry. This exciting acquisition allows RentPayment to process payments for approximately 50% of the NMHC’s Top 50 U.S. Apartment Managers and over $5 billion of payment volume.

For current PropertyBridge customers it will be business as usual until they are transitioned over to RentPayment’s proprietary platform. RentPayment and PropertyBridge customers will now have access to these combined benefits: 

• Most comprehensive payment suite including:
  • Online, Pay by Phone, RentByText, iPhone App, and Check Scanning
• Continued support for MoneyGram cash payments
• Industry leading customer service
• Free marketing material to assist with promotions and campaigns
• Continued support of PropertyBridge accounting software integrations with added features
• Enhanced reporting for accounting and reconciliation
• Highest level of security in the industry including PCI Level 1 and SAS Type II certifications

For more information on how RentPayment combined with PropertyBridge will now offer the most powerful and best-of-breed solution in the market click here.

YAPSTONE’s RentPayment ™ TO ACQUIRE PROPERTYBRIDGE

YapStone’s RentPayment ™ Extends its Leadership Position in the Property Management Payment Vertical with the Acquisition of PropertyBridge, its Largest Competitor; Combined Organization will Serve Approximately 50% of the NHMC Top 50 U.S. Apartment Managers and Process Over $5 Billion of Payment Volume

Walnut Creek, CA (September 19, 2011)

YapStone, Inc., the leading provider of Electronic Payments-as-a-Service (ePaaS) for property management and other vertical markets, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of its largest competitor, PropertyBridge, Inc. PropertyBridge is a subsidiary of MoneyGram International. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

YapStone and PropertyBridge process the highest payment card volume in the multifamily industry, and are the only two fully-compliant companies exclusively focused on payment solutions for this sector. The acquisition brings together the two leading companies in the property management ePaaS sector. The combined organization will serve the electronic payment needs of approximately 50 percent of the National Multi Housing Council Top 50 U.S. Apartment Managers and will process more than $5 billion in e-payments. Joining forces enables the two companies to leverage their shared expertise to continue to provide innovative and cost effective payment solutions to the market.

“PropertyBridge has been a formidable competitor to YapStone for several years, and we have always admired its reputation for quality and customer care,” said Matt Golis, CEO and Co-Founder of YapStone. “We look forward to leveraging the respective strengths of both organizations to deliver the high level of customer service that PropertyBridge customers have come to expect. In addition, PropertyBridge’s customers will gain YapStone’s proprietary technology pertaining to unified reporting and bank reconciliation as well as newer, innovative services including our RentByText ™ and mobile payment products.

“It has been a very busy and rewarding few months at YapStone,” said Tom Villante, Chairman and Co-Founder of YapStone. “We completed our $50 million growth capital raise in June led by Accel Partners, launched our integrated payment solution for HomeAway/VRBO, developed the soon-to-launch RentPayment NOW! ™ product geared toward small to mid-sized landlords, launched YapStone Europe, and have continued to experience rapid organic growth across all of our vertical markets. When PropertyBridge came to market, we could not pass up this high quality asset. We are excited to welcome PropertyBridge’s customers to the YapStone family and are eager to work with them, continuing to improve our best-of-breed product.”

According to Greg Waltz, Vice President and General Manager of Bill Payment at MoneyGram, “selling PropertyBridge allows MoneyGram to focus on its core business, while at the same time provides PropertyBridge’s customers with the benefit of enhanced and uninterrupted services. We appreciate the focus and dedication of our employees in building the business and now their support during this period of transition.”

The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of September 2011, subject to customary closing conditions.

About YapStone YapStone, Inc. is the largest Electronic Payments-as-a-Service (ePaaS) provider focused in property management and several other bill payment industries. YapStone’s payment service processes billions of dollars annually, with an on-demand platform that offers Web-based and mobile technology to its clients. YapStone’s technology includes a unified, real-time reporting platform for check conversion, credit/debit card processing, and electronic check processing.

About PropertyBridge

PropertyBridge is a multifamily payment specialist and leading electronic payments processor for property managers and owners in the rental housing industry. The PropertyBridge Payments Platform enables residents to pay rent and other lease-related transactions using multiple payment types, including credit and debit cards, Automated Clearing House (ACH), check scanning (Check 21) and cash payments at 35,000 MoneyGram agent locations.

The internet has changed the way we do everything. It has completely transformed the way we conduct business, updated the way we shop and reinvented the way we communicate. Just as the internet has changed how we go about our daily lives, it also has changed the way residents search for a new rental property. According to the National Multi Housing Council, “more than 70 percent of renters begin their apartment search online, and many firms now report more than 50 percent of their leasing activity is coming from online sources.” This means that in order to stay ahead of the times, property managers need to be using the latest tools the internet has to offer to market to potential residents.

Internet Marketing Tips to Keep you Ahead of the Competition:

• Internet Listing Services (ILS) are a cost effective way of generating leads for your property and increasing your number of closed leases. Renters’ top three criteria for choosing an ILS are the number of properties listed, the amount of detailed information on each property, and the sites ease of use and functionality.
• Property Specific Websites are extremely important since potential renters will be checking for contact info, photos, floor plans and prices. Renters generally start their search on ILS but usually rely on property specific websites for more information when they narrow their search down.
• Detailed Lease Source Tracking is imperative to testing the success of your marketing channels. This will help you better plan future promotions by tracking which methods are closing the most leases.
• Call Centers provide additional resources to satisfy renters’ queries 24/7, offering communication channels online and by phone.  They are a great way to close leases by creating appointments with residents to come view your property. Lack of timely responses to phone and email inquiries are noted as the biggest reason for renter complaints and loss of potential leases.
• Search Engine Optimization can provide long lasting results for larger property management companies as it is great for turning leads into leases. However, it can take a long time for the effects to be measured and requires constant updating to your website content.
• Online Rent Collection is a great selling point to potential renters.  Advertising on your website that you accept ePayments with RentPayment will let potential residents know that you offer a wide variety of flexible payment options and it shows that your property is up on the latest technology to meet the current rental market’s payment demands.

Using a mix of these online marketing methods will help your business grow and convert more leads into leases. For more online marketing strategies, check out the NHMC’s White Paper: Multifamily Marketing in the Internet Age.

It’s no secret that collecting rent from residents can be a tedious and time consuming endeavor, especially when property managers use outdated or inefficient methods. Landlord.com and the Tenants Screening Blog have recently profiled some of the most outlandish and outdated rent collecting methods.  Here are some examples of the extreme lengths property managers have taken to collect rent in the multifamily housing industry. Luckily for you, all of these headaches can be avoided by transitioning your residents to electronic payments with RentPayment. 

• Filling out 12 Self-Addressed Envelopes for Every Unit: It’s safe to say that no property manager enjoys opening hundreds of envelopes each month.  However, the idea of having to make 12 self-addressed envelopes for each and every unit in your community seems completely inefficient and borderline humorous.  Property Managers should be able to focus their efforts on improving their community, acquiring new leases and streamlining their workflow, not self-addressing envelopes.
• Individual Bank Accounts for Every Unit: Imagine the headache of opening up a separate banking account for each unit and asking your residents to deposit the money directly into their specified account each month. Property managers that use this method have to confirm each unit has deposited the correct rent amount and on-time and open /close accounts whenever new leases are signed or old residents move out. This increases the property manager’s workload exponentially!  Why not integrate your accounting software with RentPayment and completely automate the process? We can even keep a payment record archive for all current and previous renters forever.
• Cash or Money Order Drop Boxes: Drop boxes have been known to increase the likelihood of theft and fraud in apartment communities. Methods to make drop boxes more secure have been passed around for years in the multifamily housing industry.  But the bottom line is that no external drop box is safe, and it could be a source of payment disputes over the amount of rent paid or incurred late fees.
• Creating a Monthly Bill for Every Unit: Besides that fact that you have to create and print individual monthly bills for every unit, someone has to deliver them. Skip the printing, save some trees and utilize electronic communication with your residents.  Residents at your property are able to sign onto their RentPayment account from any internet connection, 24/7 and see their account balance* or receive click pay reminder emails (another form of an invoice).  Another example of utilizing RentPayment’s marketing resources is in the form of custom eBlasts, that can be sent to your residents as a “Rent’s Due” reminder. *Available with most property management software integrations.
• Require 12 Post Dated Checks: This method involves having residents fill out 12 postdated checks upon first signing the lease.   By allowing credit card payments, residents are able to pay their rent even when they may not have the whole rent amount in their checking accounts.  Electronic payment solutions also allow residents to sign up for services like RentPayment’s AutoPay.  AutoPay is a recurring monthly debit from your checking account in the form of an eCheck, an electronic version of a paper check.
• Collecting Rent Door-to-Door: This method is as tedious as it sounds, and not to mention, dangerous. No property manager should have to deal with the confrontation that comes with knocking door to door to collect rent. This method could also result in payment disputes as there is no paper trail or better yet, e-trail.   

The benefits of electronic payment methods are clear; they save you both time and money.  Educate your residents on the benefits of electronic payments and start to enjoy the ease and convenience of collecting with RentPayment. 

For more information about your RentPayment services please contact CustomerService@RentPayment.com. 

For assistance with promoting RentPayment at your community feel free to contact Marketing@RentPayment.com.  Or CLICK HERE to learn more about RentPayment’s marketing advantage.