Fintech Stake rolls out program for landlords to help struggling tenants
Among other offerings, Stake1 is designed to track a tenant’s financial activity with the intent of using timely payments as a mechanism to improve credit rating,
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Fintech for the rental industry, Stake, has rolled out a new program to empower landlords and property managers to help tenants with their financial situation.
Among other things, Stake1 is designed to track a tenant’s financial activity with the intention of using timely payments as a mechanism to improve their credit rating, the company said in a statement. It also provides cash-back on regular purchases and free banking services. Property owners are charged $12 per year, per door, to offer Stake1 to tenants.
Stake CEO and co-founder Rowland Hobbs said in a statement that too many proptech innovators with an altruistic bent don’t consider how their fees affect the tenants who use them.
“Renters and property owners and operators share one thing in common right now: They’re overwhelmed with too many apps that charge too much,” Hobbs said. “By bringing these banking services together in one app, we increase engagement for tenants and build rental wealth, while reducing costs for property owners.”
The company’s plan is a hit list of common needs within the tenant community: access to cash when needed, credit improvement and easier banking.
Stake1 offers a Visa debit card and a tiered cash-back program that offers five percent in the first three months after moving in, two percent when the debit card is used to pay rent and one percent each time it is used in perpetuity. Users get an FDIC-insured checking account with direct deposit, paycheck and credit reporting services through Stake1’s “Credit Builder.”
The company said landlords who implement Stake1 will see a “$2.11 return on every dollar spent.”
Stake is used by tenants in 30,000 homes, according to the statement, and 65 percent of tenants have more money in their Stake account than in any other bank account.
Banking services are resold from Blue Ridge Bank NA.
Stake closed a $12 million Series A funding round in June 2022. It also became the technology partner of a national non-profit, Enterprise Community Partners, helping it roll out “a first-of-its-kind innovation designed to provide tenants with the wealth-building capabilities traditionally limited to homeowners, while preserving up to $1 billion in affordable and workforce housing,” according to the non-profit.
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