Breaking News—Condo Boards discover online payment processing. Property management companies are educating their condo clients in online payment processing, and finding it highly efficient, according to the following article.
In an age when many young people have never signed a paper check in their lives, property managers are starting to follow the lead of commercial banks by handling transactions digitally. Just as one example, Concord Management of NY adopted ClickPay, a new fast-growing online processor, and so far the management firm has found the promises of faster, more streamlined transactions to be holding up.
“It’s all about volume,” says Maryann Marty, director of management. “When you automate, it speeds up processes, makes us more efficient, and allows our payments to be processed faster.”
Mary Pat Landa, accounts receivable representative with Mastercare Building Services, Inc, in the Chicagoland area, says Mastercare’s owner, Bill Planek, is always trying to go as paperless as possible. “Having an online payment processing option for our clients is nice because it takes out the middleman in the situation,” says Landa. “There’s less room for error.” Mastercare, which manages 54 condo associations, chose Yardi Payment Processing as their online payment service before paperless was part of the lexicon.
“We’ve been with Yardi for all of our property management needs for over 20 years, starting with a DOS system, and now in the cloud,” remarks Landa. “Their system is quite comprehensive and integrates well with the way we run things.”Both Concord and Mastecare have presented the online payment processing tool as one of many payment options available to clients, and both say that about half of their owners have switched over to electronic payments. Even with only 50 percent of their users adopting the online option, Landa has noticed a significant reduction in her workload.
Surprisingly, some payment transactions still use paper checks even though the alternatives save time and money, plus increase accuracy. Property managers and condo associations are finding out that unlike maintenance costs, there are some services that become less expensive over time.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group
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