The property management sector is experiencing a significant transformation with the rise of modern payment technology, streamlining how rent and other fees are collected. Gone are the days of manual cheques and tedious bank transfers; property managers can now offer tenants a fast, secure, and convenient way to onboard and make rental payments with just a few clicks.
With considerable experience in the property management sector, VoPay provides custom solutions for providers across North America, from proptech software to large portfolio managers.
This product corner unpacks our eLinx™ payment link technology and how property managers use it to scale their financial operations.
Payment Tools For Property Managers
VoPay offers a powerful ‘proptech toolkit’ which enables real estate managers operating at any scale to modernize their onboarding and money movement activities. With this toolkit, we offer recurring payment workflows, rent payments and collection using multiple rails, using our payment link technology called eLinx™.
eLinx™ is heavily focused on the business owner and end-user experience, striving to remove friction and manual processes from the equation. No more requesting void cheques or setting up direct debits at the bank; everything is handled within the VoPay platform using eLinx. eLinx™ goes well beyond current payment link technology in its functionality:
Send and collect payments using a secure link
Connect customer bank accounts and cards to VoPay for future payments
Validate bank account details before processing a payment
Offer flexible payment options like partial payments and installment plans
White-label workflows that can be fully branded for a consistent user experience
Simplifying Bank Account Connection Technology With eLinx™
Many property managers find obtaining tenant bank account information and setting up a pre-authorized debit time-consuming and prone to errors. ELinx is so popular amongst our customers in the sector because it completely eliminates these tedious processes and replaces them with a straightforward user workflow.
Here’s how it looks in action:
The bank account connection step is incredibly powerful for property managers who want to scale their portfolios and provide a better experience for their tenants. Bank connection can be done in two ways by the tenant:
Online: The user selects their bank before being taken to their online banking login screen, where VoPay captures the credentials and uses them to authorize payments
Manual: The user manually enters their bank account information, including account and institution numbers.
Regardless of which method is used, the bank account information is tokenized and securely stored within the VoPay platform, and can be accessed through an API webhook or directly from the Contact information in the VoPay Portal.
Flexible Payment Options For Tenants
eLinx gives landlords and property managers the power to offer greater financial flexibility to their tenants with Flexible Payment Options:
Multiple Payment Methods: Great if tenants want to use several different payment methods, i.e. bank account and credit card
Partial Payments: If a landlord knows that one of their tenants can't pay the full rent amount, they can request a partial payment
Installments: Similar to Partial Payments, Installments let tenants break up payments into set amounts.
Note that the landlord or property manager has the power to enable Flexible Payments for their tenants and dictate their terms. With Partial Payments, for example, the landlord might choose to request 80% of the rent if the tenant has communicated this beforehand, and the landlord can then set the date at which the remaining amount will be automatically collected.
Flexible payments can significantly reduce the number of failed or missed payments and provide property managers with the option to receive some or all of the rent amount while being understanding to their tenants. Offering financial flexibility can enhance the rental relationship, fostering trust and collaboration within the residential space.
How Can Property Managers Use eLinx
Our customers in the property sector consistently highlight that while eLinx offers a stunning user experience and exceptional flexibility, its most significant advantage is its ease of deployment.
VoPay users emphasize that eLinx can be easily deployed in two key ways:
API: One endpoint within our API governs the entire eLinx workflow, making it incredibly simple to implement within an ERP or existing platform
Online Portal: Customize and send out payment links to customers in just a few clicks from our dedicated online Portal
This allows property managers of all shapes and sizes to access the same powerful features without settling for a lesser product. Most property managers find using the VoPay Portal intuitive and a vast improvement over traditional banking portals, and those who integrate with our API typically do so in less than 4 weeks.
Gather In-Depth Payment Data For Better Decision Making
Historical transaction data offers property managers and landlords a wealth of valuable insights. By analyzing payment patterns, customer behaviour, and financial trends over time, they can better understand their tenants' needs, preferences, and potential challenges.
Through the VoPay Portal, property managers can access detailed payment data at the individual contact level or view and download extensive reports for each payment method used. This knowledge enables them not only to tailor their services more effectively, addressing specific tenant concerns but also to identify opportunities for innovation.
For example, if they use eLinx and find that a higher percentage of payments are successful, they might make it mandatory for tenants to use the eLinx service. This will ultimately improve the overall tenant experience, leading to greater retention and better outcomes.
The Results Of Using eLinx
Property managers that use eLinx have seen huge reductions in payment failures and late rental payments and, therefore, saw fees due to non-sufficient funds almost disappear. Because of this, landlords were more likely to stick with the same property manager or agency, increasing satisfaction for all parties.
The results can be seen across numerous VoPay case studies, with customers like Plexflow using our eLinx technology to securely connect to and tokenize customer bank account details. By implementing eLinx within their software, alongside multiple payment rails such as EFT and Interac e-Transfer, Plexflow improved the rental experience for everyone involved.
They doubled retention rates and said exponential growth on their platform thanks to superior payment technology, and they are not alone in their success. Leading property agents and managers use VoPay’s eLinx daily to streamline their rental collections and ensure speedy payouts to landlords, lawyers and other beneficiaries.
Interested in putting eLinx to work for your property business? Get in touch with our team to see eLinx in action.
