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.

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.

The RentPayment marketing department would like to give a special thank you to all the property managers and amazing management staffs, who put in extra time and effort to spread the word about our Love at First Click Promotion.  We know fall move-ins can be extremely hectic and busy, yet every one of you did an amazing job! Without the help of such great management staff, our promotion could not have been such a success! 

Two communities in particular really stood out this year. Not only did they go above and beyond by handing out and displaying RentPayment marketing materials around their property, posting on Facebook and sending us pictures, but they also increased RentPayment usage, immensely.

Therefore, we would like to award their hardworking management staff with a small prize. 

The Reveille Ranch Staff

Our first place student housing community and the winner of a $300 MasterCard gift card is, Reveille Ranch, a Jamespoint Management property. Reveille Ranch increased usage at their property by about 75% throughout our Love at First Click promotion!

Here is what Property Manager Travis had to say when we asked him a few questions about RentPayment.

Q: How did your property convert residents to ePayments? What is your advice to fellow property managers to help increase RentPayment usage?

A: The primary thing we do is encourage residents to make their payments online. It all starts with the lease application.  As a property with a lot of students, we close a lot leases via email, fax, and phone.  We find that if a future resident pays the application fees on-line they’re very likely to make their rent payments online.  We also make a point to hand out RentPayment flyers during move-in day.  With many parents making their payments for their son/daughter the ability to pay from their computer without having to mail a check in is a big convenience.

Q: What would you say are some of the benefits Reveille Ranch receives from high RentPayment usage?

A: The primary benefits are the amount of time we save from not having to process checks and the added security of payments being handled by RentPayment rather than employees.  Not to mention, there’s a money trail with RentPayment. No more dealing with “check lost in the mail” or “I dropped it in the drop box last night, you must have lost it” excuses!

The Gateway at College Station Staff

Our second place community and the winner of a $100 MasterCard gift card is Gateway at College Station, a DMC SUH Management property! Gateway at College Station took social media to another level!  We saw constant Facebook posts reminding residents to pay rent online for a chance to win, as well as reminders in their monthly newsletter. Gateway did an amazing job of keeping us updated and displaying their efforts by sending several pictures throughout the entire promotion.  Lastly, by this year’s student housing promotion’s conclusion, Gateway at College Station had over 35% of their residents making online payments!

RentPayment’s Love at First Click Student Housing Promotion officially came to an end on September 15th, 2011, after an amazing turnout, thanks to all 111 student housing communities that participated. For anyone that may not already know, our “Love at First Click” Promotion, gave all residents from the participating student housing communities the opportunity to win 1 of 3 amazing prizes for making a payment online with RentPayment and simply entering the coupon code “LoveAtFirstClick!”

Without further ado, the RentPayment Marketing Team is delighted to introduce our 3 Grand Prize Student Winners! These lucky ladies will be taking home a $1000 MasterCard gift card!

Desiree Waters from The Woodlands of Tuscaloosa, a Dovetail Companies Property!

Kayla Smith from The Gateway at Tucson, an Asset Campus Property!

Fan Yang, from The Stratum at Indiana, an Asset Campus Property!

With September right around the corner, the RentPayment marketing department wanted to remind all the properties participating in our Love At First Click Student Housing Promotion, that there are several ways to increase your residents’ awareness of electronic payment options! RentPayment’s Love At First Click Promo is nearing it’s end and we want to help your property benefit from electronic payments, and help your residents, earn 1 of 3 AMAZING prizes. Don’t forget, any of your residents who make a payment and enter the promotion code “LoveAtFirstClick” on their payment page from now until September 25th, are automatically entered to win an iPad, $1000 MasterCard Gift Card or a trip for two anywhere in the United States!

Here are some quick tips on how to spread the word (and the love) about RentPayment’s Love At First Click Promotion and the availability of electronic payment options at your community:

• Have a Community Facebook or Twitter? Make a quick status update reminding your renters to pay their rent online with RentPayment and tag @RentPayment on your Facebook or Twitter.
• Have a Community web or print Newsletter? Include RentPayment in your monthly newsletter. Email Marketing@RentPayment.com a copy or link to your newsletter to be included on our blog!
• Have RentPayment Marketing Materials displayed at your property? If you don’t, email us and we would be more than happy to send some. If you do, we’d love to see some pictures and share them on Facebook! Send your pictures to Marketing@RentPayment.com.
• Have Resident Email Lists? RentPayment can create customized eBlasts that match the look and feel of your property, to send to your residents. Let us help you remind them that rent is due and that they have the option to pay online.
• Have a Move-In Party or Event? Request promotional giveaway items for move-in parties and events and send pictures to Marketing@RentPayment.com.
• Have Creativity? Make a quick and fun video about RentPayment and share it with your residents via social media! Get creative and have fun! Check out our YouTube Channel for past video submission ideas.

With these easy tips, we guarantee RentPayment awareness will increase and your property will begin experiencing lower operating expenses, improved cash flows, more on time payments and happier residents, in no time! Feel free to contact Marketing@RentPayment.com for further assistance in transitioning your residents to electronic payments.

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?

RentPayment is proud and delighted to announce that we are a recipient of the Multi-Housing News’ Award for Best Resident Payment System.  According to Multi-Housing News, the winners of these awards were chosen based on four parameters: “companies who provide flexible customization, competitive pricing and the most innovative solutions, all backed by superior customer support.” 

MHN recognizes the importance of technology in the Multifamily and Apartment Industry.  Technology can not only improve day-to-day operational practices, but can help save time and money.  In particular, electronic payment technologies by RentPayment have helped to advance the industry as a whole.  As technology continues to evolve and meet industry demands, we certainly appreciate the recognition from MHN.

Read the full article HERE>> 

The advent of mobile rent payment options with services such as RentPayment’s iPhone app, RentByText™, and online payments from anywhere, are only a few of the many factors that may lead to the number of eCheck and ACH transactions surpassing paper check transactions soon!  According to NACHA’s President and CEO, Janet O. Estep, eCheck usage is slated to surpass the number of paper checks used by the end of 2011.

Here are a few interesting statistics about recent ACH and eCheck usage growth according to the publication, “The Green Sheet”:

• ACH was used to move 19.4 billion payment transactions in 2010
• In 2010, there was a 3.44% overall growth in ACH usage over 2009
• Those 19.4 billion transactions in 2010 represented $31.74 trillion in value
• eCommerce ACH and eCheck transactions grew by 7.4% in 2010 over 2009
• Consumer-to-business paper check transactions fell 10% between 2006 and 2009

To read the full article on ACH and eCheck growth, please CLICK HERE>>

To learn more about how you can increase adoption of eCheck and ACH payments at your property, please email Sales@RentPayment.com.