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How do automated rent payments work?

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMar 20232 min read

Are you still managing and tracking rent through Excel? Perhaps you’re using dedicated accounting software like Xero to collect rent? Either way, it may be time to think about upgrading to a purpose-built landlord online payment system which provides you with specific tools to track and collect rental payments each month. But more importantly, you can stop chasing rent and start seeing the benefits of automated rent payments. But what are automated rent payments, and what’s the best online rent payment system anyway? Find out everything you need to know with our simple guide.

What is automated rent payment?

When transactions move money from one account to another electronically, it’s referred to as an EFT (electronic fund transfer). There are lots of different types of EFTs, but they all essentially fall into one of two camps: push payments and pull payments. Push payments are initiated by the payer, while pull payments are initiated by the payee. For businesses, it’s much more reliable to have payments arrive in your account automatically on the date when they’re scheduled, rather than having to rely on customers (or in this case, tenants) to actively make the payment.

Automated rent payment or automated rent collection is exactly what it sounds like – software that enables you to take rent payment from your tenants automatically on the day that it’s due. Automated payments provide a convenient solution for tenants, as they won’t have to set up a standing order with their bank or make rent payments manually each month. However, it also offers clear advantages to the landlord, giving you the ability to streamline rent collection and minimize the risk of rent not being paid on time. In order to access automatic rent payments, you’ll need to invest in a system that handles online rent payment for landlords.

What are the best online rent payment systems?

There is a range of different landlord online payment systems on the market. The best online rent payment system is dependent on your needs, and it’s definitely worth thinking about whether you need a full-service property management software solution that includes a feature allowing you to collect rent, or just a rental collection software solution. In any case, here’s our guide to three of the best online rent payment systems:

Buildium

Buildium is an all-round landlord online payment system that provides online rent payments, expense tracking, reporting, and integrations with sites like Apartments.com and Zillow. There’s a 14-day free trial, and their lowest-tier price plan kicks off at $52/month.

Avail

Avail is a rental property payment system that offers a wide range of features, including online rent collection, tenant screening, digital leasing, maintenance order management, and automated listings. There’s a free option, but in order to access most of the features, you’ll need to upgrade to one of Avail’s higher-tier plans, which start from $5/unit.

TenantCloud

TenantCloud, like Avail, offers a free, feature-limited plan for up to 75 units. However, if you move up to the paid tier, you can take advantage of a much wider range of features, including maintenance order management and insurance reminders. TenantCloud’s price plans start at $12/month.

How can GoCardless help with automated rent collection?

If you don’t want to invest in a full-service landlord online payment system, GoCardless could be a great option for collecting rent payments. GoCardless enables you to enjoy the benefits of automated rent collection by setting up a bank debit with your tenants. You can handle this directly with the recurring payments feature, or integrate it into your existing accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks. In short, if you’re still on the fence about splashing out on a rental property payment system, you can still take advantage of automated rent payments with GoCardless.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.