Rental software gives property managers and landlords the option to collect rent payments online via ACH or credit/debit card transactions.
A 2014 Market Survey from PayLease reveals the upward trend of property management companies embracing online payment options. Online payments for property management firms include accepting rental payments online, via ACH or credit/debit card, and paying property owners or vendors directly.
New Heights Research surveyed hundreds of US-based HOA and multifamily firms to determine the penetration rate of online payments within those industries. Since the survey’s inception in 2012, the industry has seen a 15% growth of property management firms using online payment systems, totaling 68% overall in 2014. And only 1% of respondents reported that they stopped offering online payments altogether.
The report notes that some factors might be the cause for growth in online payment use among property management companies. According to PayLease, in 2014:
- Online payment providers improved their accounting software integration and offered more features and payment types at a reasonable cost.
- Implementing an online payment solution is easy and rarely causes disruption to a company’s day-to-day business.
- Online payment providers with a smooth integration process and positive client support are seeing sizable gains in new business.
With online traffic driving more and more transactions, it is not surprising a high percentage of management firms offered online payments for the first time in 2014 (32% offered online payments for the first time). As the report reveals, Fiserv’s 6th Annual Billing Household Survey showed that 74% of American households with internet access pay at least one of their monthly bills electronically, which why property managers might be inclined to offer tenants online payment options. Furthermore, Fiserv found that the percentage of households that pay at least one bill a month by check is rapidly declining-53% of US households paid at least one monthly bill using a check in 2013, down from 61% in 2012.
PayLease makes the following predictions about online payments for property management firms for 2015:
- With 32% of HOA and multifamily companies still lacking an online payment system, the number of property management firms adding this amenity will continue to grow but at much slower rate than previous years.
Rentec Direct offers clients easy to use and secure online payment options for collecting rent payments from tenants, accepting application fees, issuing owner disbursements, and receiving one-time fees via ACH or credit or debit card. Learn more about Payment Processing with Rentec Direct.
Methodology:
For PayLease’s first annual Market Survey in 2012, New Heights Research constructed a list of 42,000 management companies within the United States. Those records were grouped based on company portfolio type (HOA, multifamily, and single family) and by the number of units under management. A statistically significant sample size of each market segment was selected, totaling 585 firms. Since 2012, that list has dropped to 566 companies, as some were acquired, or went out of business.