Eliminate Checks & Money Orders with Lockbox for Rent Manager 

Rent Checks Are Not Yet Obsolete

The ideal rent collection strategy involves 100% digital payments. When residents pay rent online, it’s not only convenient for them, but it also saves your staff time, reduces the risk of fraud and theft, improves cash flow, and lowers your operating expenses.

However, the reality is that checks still dominate payments in our industry. Checks and money orders account for 58% of rental payments, whereas electronic methods account for less than 17%.

Every year the number of paper check rent payments whittles down little by little. But it’s not going to completely diminish anytime soon, despite best efforts.

Three Factors Impacting Check Volume

With so many digital options available, why do residents continue to pay with a check month after month? There are three instrumental factors in keeping paper checks in play.

• Resident preference

While digital payments are second nature to most Millennial and Gen Z renters, there are less tech-savvy demographics who aren’t comfortable with the idea of entering their card or bank account information online. Long-term habits like balancing a checkbook can be hard to break.

• Regulations

Some municipalities have requirements set in place that force property management companies to continue to accept paper checks. Also, some government rental assistance programs pay property management companies directly via paper check.

• Bank “bill pay” solutions

Some residents set up an online “bill pay” through their bank. While it may seem like a digital process to the resident, these solutions generate physical checks that someone at your management office has to process. As a result, the volume of checks and money orders in the office is overwhelming, and hundreds of valuable hours are spent making deposits, reconciling manually and balancing ledgers.

A Lockbox Solution Built for Rent Manager Users

Rent Manager’s 13-year partnership with Zego has allowed thousands of our clients to streamline their rent collection processes. We are excited to continue our partnership with them by providing the final piece of the digital payments puzzle – Lockbox powered by Zego. This new offering will allow you to eliminate checks from your offices once and for all. Lose the hassle of accepting checks and money orders on-site with a modern, fully integrated Lockbox solution that was built for property management companies who use Rent Manager software. Lockbox powered by Zego gives renters the flexibility of paying by check, cashier’s check, or money order, while automating the end-to-end receivables process. 

The manual check processing burden is removed from your associates’ plate, giving them valuable time back in their day to spend on more important activities. Plus, the risk of fraud and theft associated with having stacks of checks and money orders in your office is eliminated.

How it works:

1. Zego activates conveniently located P.O. boxes to ensure you receive payments as quickly as possible.
2. Your residents mail their checks and money orders directly to the P.O. box nearest them.
3. Checks are scanned daily, and matched to the resident accounts as soon as they’re received.
4. Payments are processed, integrated with Rent Manager, and visible with all of your other receivables.
5. View all your receivables, including credit, debit, ACH, CashPay and checks received via Lockbox, in your Rent Manager platform.

The Benefits of Lockbox

The Lockbox is contactless for you and your staff, and it allows residents to pay how they want to pay. Accept checks without incurring the pain points of accommodating rent checks and money orders in-office.

There are 3 major benefits management companies experience once they switch to 100% digital payments solutions with Lockbox.

1. Streamlined operations

The ability to view all your receivables, including credit, debit, ach, cashpay, and checks received via Lockbox, in your Rent Manager platform allows you to run your business more efficiently. Plus, you can easily review and reconcile exceptions online, and our conveniently located P.O. boxes across the U.S. help speed up time to cash.

2. Increased staff productivity

Give time back to your associates when you eliminate paper payments from the office. Without trips to the bank to deposit checks, and with automated reconciliation in Rent Manager, Lockbox will save your staff hours of manual work.

3. Visibility and control

Automated ledger visibility and processing allows you to keep a clear eye on your financials. Checks are processed daily, and you can view all of the check images within your web portal.

Learn more about the Lockbox Powered by Zego for Rent Manager

Make check depositing and manual reconciliation a thing of the past, and finally reach 100% digital payments with a modern Lockbox solution built for you. Request a demo of Lockbox.