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.

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!

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.

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.

With summer closing in on us, RentPayment is gearing up for one of the busiest times of the year—the start of a new school year.  Because many of our clients include Student Housing communities, RentPayment works closely with them to help convert their student residents to using electronic payment options. Electronic payments are particularly beneficial to such communities because they allow for more efficient and effective rent collection.  Parents no longer have to worry about their students not paying rent, or sending in late rent checks. With RentPayment, anytime is a great time for students to pay their rent with ease online or by phone with a credit card or an eCheck! 

Each year around mid to late August, student housing communities experience a huge influx of new residents.  In many cases, the biggest obstacle in transitioning residents to electronic payments is awareness. Our annual Fall Move-In Student Housing Promotion allow us to inform student residents and their parents of their electronic payment options from Day 1!

This year, RentPayment is partnering with over 100 Student Housing communities in our 2011  “Love At First Click” Promotion.  Any resident of a participating community who makes an online rent payment and enters the promotion code “LoveAtFirstClick” on their payment page from July 25^th to September 15^th, 2011, is automatically entered to win one of three AMAZING prizes!  The best part: the winners get to choose the prize that they love most! Three winners will be chosen to win an iPad, a $1000 MasterCard gift card or a trip for two anywhere in the United States*.

If your Student Housing Community is participating in RentPayment’s “Love at First Click” promotion, spread the love (and the word) about RentPayment and begin reaping the benefits of transitioning your residents to electronic payments! As a property manger you will experience lower operating expenses, faster cash flows, more on-time payments, and happier students and parents. 

Don’t let your residents miss out on the chance to experience Love at First Click! Feel free to contact Marketing@RentPayment.com for further details or to request complimentary promotional marketing materials.

*For more information, visit www.RentPayment.com/LoveAtFirstClick

The process of transitioning residents to electronic payments can sometimes be quite daunting and difficult for property managers.  RentPayment offers several great services to help market ePayment services to apartment communities and increase the usage of online payment options.  Among these great services are custom promotions designed and implemented for select Property Management Companies and Multi-Family Housing Communities.  For these management companies, we host promotions and incentivize residents to make the switch to electronic payments. 

We are currently hosting a promotion for four property management companies designed to help increase the number of residents who use AutoPay.  AutoPay is an automatic recurring monthly debit from your checking account in the form of an eCheck. An eCheck is an electronic version of a paper check used to process direct debit from residents’ bank accounts using bank routing and account numbers. With this service, residents never have to remember to write a rent check or deal with late fees ever again!   Any of the participating properties’ residents who sign up for RentPayment’s AutoPay by eCheck service between July 1^st and August 5^th, 2011 will be automatically entered to win a $200 MasterCard Gift Card!

For more information on the promotion click here.  If your property or property management company is interested in having RentPayment host a promotion to incentivize your residents to convert to electronic payments, contact Marketing@RentPayment.com to schedule a marketing consultation to further discuss the options available at your community!