Page 32 - Pay Magazine s2014

30
companies & people
Innovators’ Spotlight: The Problem Solvers
GEttiNG tO KNOw
YapStone
Locations
Walnut Creek and Santa Monica, Calif., and Drogheda, Ireland
Organized/Open for Business
1999
Line of Business
Leading provider of Web and mo- bile payment solutions powering payments for large vertical markets (multifamily, vacation rentals, HOA communities, bed & breakfast, self-storage facilities and faith- based donations) and global
online marketplaces.
Founders
Thomas Villante and Matt Golis
Funding
$110 million outside capital ($60 million in 2015, $50 million in 2011)
Something You Might
Not Expect
YapStone is named after the stones used as an early form
of currency by the people of Yap Island in the western Pacific.
Taking aim at paper checks in property rental and beyond.
SEcrEt SaucE
Powering online and mobile payments with a sophisti- cated platform, YapStone delivers a tailored payment solution supported by proprietary functionality, deep vertical expertise and high-touch customer service.
While paper checks are passé for most types of consumer payments, property rental is one area in which checks have stub- bornly stuck around. But property payments specialist YapStone has set its sights on delivering the go-to payments solution
for that sector—and ending
the dominance of checks in one of its last strongholds.
Founded in 1999 by Tom Villante and Matt Golis, YapStone offers a processing platform that powers payments for large vertical mar- kets, including apartment rentals, vacation rentals and homeowner associations, offering a specially designed solution for each vertical. The company also provides pay- ment services for global online marketplaces, including HomeAway and VRBO. For the apartment
rental industry, the company markets its RentPayment platform to large-scale property manage- ment firms, offering increased efficiency and saving compared with the cost and time needed to process paper checks.
Along with the increased efficiency for managers, YapStone offers property renters the convenience of paying how they want—via payment card or ACH transfer. This flexibility is especially important to younger renters—many of whom rarely, if ever, write paper checks, notes Troy Scarlott, vice president, marketing, YapStone. “Millennials are changing rent payments because they want to pay with a mobile app and credit card. They want a convenient, easy payment option for rent, and we’re enabling landlords of all sizes to meet those needs,” Scarlott says.
With benefits for renters and prop- erty owners, YapStone is finding plenty of interest in its services.
The company handles payments for more than 3 million rental units and sees ample room for growth. “There are 40 million rental units in the U.S. and 18 million of those are in small properties with four units or fewer, so there are millions of small landlords still accepting paper checks,” Scarlott observes. “Apart- ment rental is a $400 billion market and remains a significant growth opportunity for our company.”