As a property manager, you’re responsible for making sure your renters’ homes are safe. Whether you’re relying on tried-and-true methods like deadbolts, or sophisticated measures like smart doorbells, you make every effort to keep their physical homes secure.

But are you giving as much attention to your tenants’ digital payment data? Or, are you leaving it wide open to whoever might walk through the virtual door? 

If you’re not safeguarding renters’ payment details, their data and your business could be at risk. Monthly rents are at an all-time high of $1,659, presenting the most lucrative target ever for cyberattack. 

“Given recent increases in rent price, demand and trends, property management is an increasingly vulnerable area for cyberattack,” Jeff Kump, President of Payments at CSG Forte. “And unfortunately, without the right protections, digital payment channels can be just as susceptible to risk as traditional ones.” 

For example, last fall, a Chicago-based property management company suffered a ransomware attack, with hackers accessing information like tenants’ financial account numbers or credit and debit card numbers, along with passwords or PINs for the account. 

Beyond the obvious financial and security strain of payment data breaches, there’s also the human impact. In the situation above, a Yelp user identifying themself as a tenant left a one-star review of the property management company, saying it was “the identity theft, not [the] unauthorized credit card purchase that I am worried about!!!”

If property managers don’t properly secure payment data, they may jeopardize their relationships with tenants. And with some monthly rents spiking as much as 40% since this time last year, any financial friction could drive tenants to move to another location.

“The payments experience is one of the most regular interactions tenants have with property management,” said Kump. “Getting that experience right can make or break retention rates, as well as tenants’ trust.”

Part of getting the experience right is making it as easy as possible for tenants to pay (while making it as hard as possible for hackers to access that data). While some renters still prefer sending paper checks, property managers are rolling out more digital payment options like mobile apps, which require only a few clicks on a smartphone to pay their rent.

Online ACH payments are another equally convenient and secure option for both recurring and one-time payments. Because ACH requires validation per updated Nacha security and validation standards, property managers often feel more secure processing rental payments this way. Additionally, ACH payments avoid the hefty fees that are associated with credit card processing while offering an alternative digital payment option.

For tenants that still prefer to use credit and debit cards, give them an option to keep a card on file and let them set up recurring payments. Better still, property managers can ensure that card payment experience remains secure and seamless through an account updater service that updates the payment details against the card issuers’ databases. That way, if a renter experiences credit card fraud, gets a replacement card or has their card on file expire, the new card details will update automatically, ensuring their rent is on time and your cashflow is safe.

Property managers can also shore up their payment security infrastructure with technologies like tokenization and end-to-end encryption. These technologies disguise payment data with random codes as it passes across a network, then decrypt the data upon reaching its final destination. Even if hackers accessed tenants’ payment data, it wouldn’t have any value to them, because the decryption keys and tokens would not be in the compromised system.

While there is no one-size fits all solution for digital payments, using proven technologies and methods can help you build tenant loyalty and keep your cashflow as secure as the properties you manage.

Learn the three steps you can take to ensure payments security in this exclusive guide from CSG Forte.