What is the Best Payment Platform for Landlords?

Many landlords are turning to payment platforms that make transfers quick and easy in this digital age. Platforms such as Venmo and Zelle have become a popular option for landlords who are wanting to receive rent payments via bank-to-bank transfer. Although these platforms offer quick transaction times and small fees, they lack in their ability to offer landlords industry-specific features that many rely on during the rent collection process.

We will highlight the features of each platform and clairfy how they differ from industry-specific payment platforms for landlords such as PayRent.com in this article.

1) PayRent.com and other rent specific platforms:

Transaction Limits: PayRent.com has a transaction limit of 50K, therefore, most landlords are able to accept almost all rental amounts.

Transaction Timeline: Payments generally take 2-3 business days with next-day and same-day transaction times becoming available in the very near future.

Sending restrictions: PayRent.com allows renters to make a rent payment at any time. It also allows the landlord to keep track of payments in a way that makes sense to their business. In addition, the payment platform allows Landlords to block payments and only receive payment in full from their tenants. This will come in handy for troublesome tenants and in case of eviction.

Price: The service is free to all landlords and property managers. All fees are charged to the tenants on a per transaction basis. It is $.25% per ACH transaction and credit card payments are charged at 3.5%. This is helpful for tenants who are trying to build their credit or gain points and rewards.

2) Zelle

Zelle has become an increasingly popular payment platform for landlords as it links to most large financial institutions effortlessly. However, there are also restrictions that apply when using the platform that makes accepting rent cumbersome.

Transaction limits: According to Zelle’s terms and conditions, “Transfers to established recipients from a [Large Financial Institution] Account may be made up to a daily aggregate dollar limit of $2,500 and a 30-day aggregate dollar limit of $20,000. Transfers to new recipients are subject to lower limits.” This can create problems for landlords who have higher rent amounts.

Transaction Timeline: Payments generally take up to 2 business days to complete according to Zelle.

Sending & Receiving restrictions: Zelle offers an app that allows the renter to send their rent payment with the click of a button. However, once sent, the recipient of that payment is unable to cancel the transaction. This can be an issue if the landlord is going through eviction and is attempting to block payments from their tenant.

Price: Zelle is free to all of its users at the moment. There is no cost to use the service.

3) Venmo

Like Zelle, the Venmo payment platform is similar in its functionality.

Transaction limits: “When you sign up for Venmo, your limit is $299.99. Once we have confirmed your identity, your weekly rolling limit is $2,999.99.” This limit could be problematic as some rental properties exceed that amount.

Transaction timeline: Transactions can show up in the user’s “Venmo balance” immediately. Users have two options to transfer the funds from a Venmo balance to a bank account. Funds can be transferred immediately via a debit card with a fee of 1% or can be transferred via bank-bank transfer in 1-3 business days.

Sending restrictions: Venmo was created to pay friends and family. It is specifically not to be used for business purposes or as a payment platform for landlords. According to their terms and conditions: “Venmo may not otherwise be used to receive business, commercial or merchant transactions. Meaning you CANNOT use Venmo to accept payment from (or send payment to) another user for a good or service.” Payments are not able to be canceled once they are initiated and any refunds must be settled outside of the platform, similar to Zelle.

Price: The platform’s only cost is applied when the user initiates an instant transfer at 1%.

It may seem difficult to choose the best payment platform for landlords with so many options available. All 3 options highlighted are much more convenient and cost-effective in comparison to checks. Managing property is a serious job that requires expert record-keeping and attention to detail. Although platforms such as Zelle and Venmo are convenient and readily available, they don’t compare with rent specific platforms. PayRent.com is convenient, comparable in price, and offers more features and landlord protections.