AvalonBay Communities Inc. is using technology from RentPayment, a processor of credit cards and other electronic payments for property managers, across the Alexandria, Va., real estate investment trust's portfolio of about 50,000 apartments around the country.
RentPayment, a unit of San Francisco's Yapstone Inc., said Monday that AvalonBay sought to "minimize manual check processing costs, reduce check float time, automate daily rent check posting, and provide a crucial amenity to residents."
The REIT tested the technology in March of last year and then installed it over 18 months, RentPayment said.
AvalonBay now can scan checks and money orders at its apartment properties or at a central location and integrate the data with its own property-managment software.
Through a "hook-in" with "one of the largest U.S.-based financial institutions," the REIT can also get same-day funding for scanned batches of checks, RentPayment said.
"While we have been processing an increasing amount of credit/debit cards and eChecks for AvalonBay, paper checks still make up a significant portion of their payments," Matt Golis, Yapstone's chief executive, said in a press release.
