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!

Money saving web sites such as Living Social, Groupon and ShopKick, have spread through the World Wide Web like wild fire. A survey by RedPlum reported, more people are searching for coupon codes prior to making a purchase and most are members of several reward programs. Are you taking advantage of this money saving, coupon clipping, mentality at your property?

This thrifty trend has opened the doors for innovative and relatively inexpensive ways to increase renter retention and resident satisfaction in the multifamily housing industry.  Many apartment communities currently offer cash rewards if a resident refers a friend, renews a lease, etc.  Although this is a great incentive to a resident, the value of the reward is equivalent to cost to the property, denting your property’s revenue.

The latest trend in the multifamily housing industry is to utilize resident rewards programs rather than cash based incentives. These rewards programs can vary from point based systems to simply offering discounts and coupon codes.  Points or rewards can be given for anything you choose, like renewing leases, referring friends, or helping around the community. The greatest benefit of resident reward programs is you no longer have to give dollar for dollar incentives. The perceived value of a discount or reward is usually much higher than the actual cost to the property.  You can finally reward resident loyalty without “breaking the bank!” 

Although initiating a resident rewards program can seem like a daunting task, as it could take some planning , it has the ability to set your property or Property Management Company ahead of the competition. You can also reach out to local merchants and companies that would like more business from your residents about coupon and discount offers. You would be surprised how many would jump at the chance to give your residents freebies. Resident rewards can prompt renewals, increase referrals and get your residents more involved at your property; so why not give it a try?

RentPayment is always available to discuss reward programs for your renters, whether it be coupon codes, rebate offers, or gift card giveaways, we are ready to work with your property. If you’re interested in learning more about RentPayment promotions, feel free to contact us at Marketing@RentPayment.com.

Want to learn more about Resident Rewards? Read this article by Multifamily Executive.

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.

The CEO of YapStone Inc., RentPayment’s parent company, Matt Golis, was recently interviewed and featured in an article by Multifamily Executive titled, “Durbin Does Debit: Dodd Frank Amendment Saves Multifamily Some Dough.”  The article discusses the widely debated Durbin Amendment and its potential effect on the multifamily housing industry.

The Durbin Amendment is an addendum to the Dodd Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress in 2010, which calls to expand Federal Reserve powers for setting interchange fees in relation to debit card transaction processing.  In laymen terms, the Durbin Amendment, which went into effect on October 1, will lower the fees associated with processing debit card payments.

This is a great benefit for the multifamily housing industry, as it will facilitate the transition to electronic payment options for properties and their residents. Property Management Companies and individual rental property owners can now provide their residents with the luxury of paying their rent online, by phone, or by text, with a debit card, at lower prices than ever before.

To read the entire article 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:

Last month on the RentPayment blog we outlined some interesting Mult-Family Housing Industry facts. Our findings demonstrated a significant majority of rental properties happen to be smaller unit properties owned by individuals, rather than larger properties owned by property management companies. We also shared some ways we felt electronic rent acceptance could be of great benefit to individuals who own small unit properties and their residents.

RentPayment leads the electronic payment industry yet again …. Today (drum roll please), we are proud to announce a solution that will provide all U.S. renters with the rent payment flexibility they demand and provide individual property owners with an easy to use and value adding  service to accept credit, debit eCheck payments.  Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to announce this GREAT solution is RentPaymentNow!

RentPaymentNow! provides residential properties of all sizes the ability to apply online – in a couple easy steps – to process electronic payments. Within minutes these properties can begin accepting online rent payments! Prior to RentPaymentNow!, it was only feasible for large property management companies to assume the cost of transacting in the digital world. RentPaymentNow! introduces an affordable way to process credit card, debit card and eCheck for any residential rental property! 

Depending on what types of payments individual properties choose to accept, renters will have the option to pay rent with eChecks online, debit cards online, and credit cards over the phone, in-person AND via RentPayment’s innovative RentByText^TM service. RentPaymentNow! is more than your average online payment processor; it is opening the doors for individual property owners to grow their business like never before and to provide their residents with the flexibility and freedom they deserve when paying their rent each month.

So if you, or anyone you know owns or manages a property, visit RentPaymentNow! and follow our 4 easy steps to start accepting electronic payments NOW —it’s THAT easy.

Just as promised, we are excited to announce the BIG PREMIER of RentPayment’s 2011 Student Housing Promotion Wrap-Up Video!  Seeing the “Love at First Click” Promotion come to life was extremely exciting for us and we couldn’t wait to share this video with all of you.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the “show”!
 

Once again, thank you to all the property managers and their management staffs! Without your help, dedication and enthusiasm this promotion could not have been such a success.  We promise to keep the promotions and prizes coming for you and your residents.

Don’t let your community miss out on a chance to win BIG for just paying their rent online! Stay tuned to the RentPayment blog for future promotions, giveaways, coupon codes and sweepstakes.

NMHC Student Housing Conference & Exposition

October 3^rd & 4^th, 2011 | Phoenix, AZ

The National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) will host their 9^th annual Student Housing Conference & Exposition at Phoenix’s Biltmore Hotel over a two-day span.

Stop by RentPayment’s booth to learn about how we can help drive on-time payments from your student residents.  RentPayment, among many other benefits, hosts a Student Housing Promotion each year at move-in time.  This promotion incentivizes students to use your ePayment channels as well as introducing them and their parents to the ease of electronic payments.

At NMHC’s Student Housing Conference and Expo, you will meet Kris Rudeegraap, the Southwest’s Regional Sales Director, as well as Kiara Kempski, RentPayment’s Marketing Manager and Annalies VanStigt, a RentPayment Marketing Associate.  Stop by Booth #100 to discuss how to optimize your RentPayment services and have a chance to win a $200 MasterCard gift card.

Check out a live Tout from the Show!

Multifamily Executive Conference

October 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th, 2011 | Las Vegas, NV

Exciting news: RentPayment will be at the Multifamily Executive Conference (MFE) in the place of our former competitor, PropertyBridge.  This comes on the heels of the announcement that YapStone, the parent company of RentPayment, has acquired PropertyBridge.  This will be the first time that RentPayment is able to introduce itself at an industry conference in the place of PropertyBridge.

Bill Evick, RentPayment’s Vice President of Sales, will be at the show representing RentPayment and sharing news about the acquisition.  Stop by Booth #210 and learn more about the new added benefits for each client base in the wake of the acquisition. Bill will be giving away a $100 MasterCard gift card.

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.