CHICAGO—Chicago-based The Habitat Co. recently became one of the first national property management companies to roll all of its market-rate rental properties into an electronic rental payment system. Habitat implemented its new online payment program earlier this spring across its five-state, 8,800-unit rental portfolio, and company officials say the move will benefit their residents as well as the environment.

Habitat first introduced an online payment-only system to a few properties in 2011. It began to gradually move more of its properties to electronic rental payment systems and recently revamped its payment system to make it possible for residents of all of its market-rate properties to pay from anywhere they have online access. Now, residents no longer have to spend time physically dropping off payments or waste paper writing checks.

“The Habitat Company is always looking for ways to positively impact the lives of residents, and streamlining our payment system achieved immediate benefits as well as environmental efficiencies,” says Sheila Byrne, executive vice president of property management for Habitat. “Plus, on the back end, eliminating the administrative and accounting work of processing checks helps free up time for the Habitat team to better serve the needs of our residents.”