OAKLAND, Calif. (February 10, 2010) - PropertyBridge, Inc., a MoneyGram company and a leading provider of electronic payment services to the multi-family housing industry, today announced the results and grand prize winner of its $10,000 Resident Sweepstakes program.
• More than 250,000 entries were received during the promotion period, across thousands of apartment communities nationwide
• Sweepstakes properties saw residents nearly double their use of electronic payments on average during the six-month promotion.
• Nineteen residents awarded more than $15,000 in prizes at properties managed by AIMCO, Westdale Asset Management, McKinley Inc., Alliance Residential, E&S Ring Management, and 1st Lake Properties
• Molly Charpentier, resident of Heritage Park Senior Community in Alta Loma, Calif. won the PropertyBridge Resident Sweepstakes $10,000 grand prize
"PropertyBridge designed the Resident Sweepstakes to provide its clients an opportunity to promote and market electronic payments in a meaningful way," said Vicki Keller, PropertyBridge vice president. "We help each management company independently promote the sweepstakes, including free printed marketing materials to increase resident awareness."
Charpentier was surprised to learn she had won the grand prize for her automatic, recurring ACH payments she started in 2009. "When my property manager called with the news I almost fell to the floor! Never in my wildest dreams did I think this could happen to me, especially just for paying my rent," Charpentier said.
Charpentier's resident community, Heritage Park Senior Community, is managed by AIMCO, one of the largest owners and operators of apartment homes in the country.
"While there could only be one grand prize winner, we hope all residents who tried electronic payments found a system that is reliable and easy to use," noted Keller. "Many people have changed the way they pay bills and PropertyBridge is excited to support the growth of electronic payment options in multifamily housing. Ultimately, our commitment to helping clients achieve high resident adoption is part of what makes PropertyBridge's services so attractive to property managers and owners."
McKinley, Inc. was one of the property management companies that participated in PropertyBridge's Resident Sweepstakes. McKinley successfully transitioned 79 properties to PropertyBridge in 2009, utilizing PropertyBridge's check scanning, ACH, and credit/debit solutions. The company has aggressively promoted electronic payments, and currently boasts an adoption rate of well over 100% through a combination of online payments and electronically scanned paper checks. The adoption rate of greater than 100% is attributable to multiple payments collected per unit.
McKinley's assistant vice president of business services, Kevin Winkelmann, said "We have been extremely pleased with the service and support from PropertyBridge, including the opportunity to participate in promotional programs like the 2009 Resident Sweepstakes. Resident awareness of online payment options combined with check scanners onsite at the properties make for a winning combination to achieve high electronic payment adoption and a strong return on investment."
To Read the Full Release Visit: http://www.propertybridge.com/news_events/2009_sweeps_release.htm