Paying Rent Online and Why it is the Best Option
Nearly everything we pay for in our day-to-day life now is done with a digital transaction. According to usnews.com, a whopping 93% of Americans receive their paychecks through direct deposit to their bank. With our money already deposited into our bank, it makes it easier than ever to set up bill payments directly from your bank account. With the click of a button, your paycheck is there and ready to pay for your necessities.
One of these necessities is your rent! Arguably, the most important, and most expensive bill on your monthly list, some still find it hard to adjust to paying online versus your standard check or money order. According to forbes.com, 60% of Americans pay rent online currently, and 69% would prefer that option over paying with a check.
Most landlords already have made the switch from not accepting cash and only accepting checks or money orders as a valid payment option. This change was largely because cash can be a liability. It is hard to track cash when you have such large payments. It is a safer and more easily recorded option to not accept cash payments. Like this transition, there is another one brewing. With the above-mentioned boom in technology that has allowed paying online as easy as clicking a button, many property managers are moving to a digital-only payment system.
Moving away from accepting checks and money orders saves not only the leasing company time for processing but also takes away from human error of mistakes that could be made. Paying online allows for instant payments, that way you do not have to wait for the mail delivery system to deliver the payment or risk it getting lost. It also saves the tenant money on the cost of paper checks and money orders. It saves them time in writing out a check, picking up a money order, and dropping it off.
Having the tenants pay online also puts the control of their money back into their hands. They can make a payment and not have to play the waiting game called “When is my landlord going to cash my check?” With larger companies that have property management companies, this is not a real issue. But with landlords that only have one or two properties, they may not cash the check immediately and leave you wondering when it is going to get cashed.
Paying rent online allows you to have control over your payment method, when you post the payment (literally in the middle of the night if you wanted), and you can easily track your payments and your balance due right from an app on a smartphone. There are so many benefits to paying online!
Now I understand that some of us are not as tech-savvy or who do not trust online payments because there are so many frauds and scams floating around the internet. There are typically other options, however. If you talk to your leasing manager or your landlord, they will likely be able to provide you with a credit card authorization form or an ACH form, that way you can have trust in the leasing company to be able to withdraw your payment each month.
Technology is changing every day. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming, but in most cases, it is there to help us and make our lives easier and less stressful. Reach out to your leasing managers to see how you make your payments free! It will be a weight off your shoulders and one less thing you will have to worry about each month.