news release

Visa USA and PropertyBridge Collaborate on Launch of Next Generation Online Rent Payment Acceptance Program

Collaboration Results in New Level of Integration Benefiting Both Property Managers and Residents

OAKLAND, CA - April 12, 2005 - PropertyBridge™, an Oakland, California-based payment services provider, today announced a strategic alliance with Visa USA to market its data-driven online rent payment service for residential properties.

The PropertyBridge Payment Acceptance Platform is the centerpiece of a collaborative effort to establish wide acceptance for online payments among residents and property management companies.

PropertyBridge enables residents to pay rent and other lease related transactions with a payment card easier than before. Similarly, PropertyBridge provides property managers with a previously unattainable level of integration and administrative efficiency in this key area of their business.

The launch of the PropertyBridge/Visa initiative is timely. The nation's 32,000 residential property managers are actively exploring online collection of rent and related service payments. Benefits include next-day availability of funds, integrated data reporting and reduced account administration. Managers have maximum control over funds, no commingling of the collected funds occurs, and proceeds of transactions can be disbursed to deposit accounts at any banking institution.

Residents have also welcomed the convenience of Internet-based payment options. Jupiter Research estimates that of the 41 million U.S. households that currently bank online, 64% of these engage in online bill paying. The convenience of settling recurring payments with a card and participation in popular reward programs, such as bonus air miles, have made online rent payment one of the most sought after new amenities in recent surveys of residents. Prior to this alliance, payment card usage for rent payments has been limited.

"We are uniquely privileged in this emerging segment to be working with Visa," stated Jason Gardner, PropertyBridge President. "This relationship will enable us to meet the unique challenges of property management and expand acceptance of payment cards within this space."

"PropertyBridge's combination of technology and financial expertise has created a new level of data integration that is enormously attractive and productive for property managers," added Jim Eitler, VP, Merchant Relations, Visa USA . "Through this relationship, we hope to continue to grow the opportunity within the property management space, offer property managers the benefits of card acceptance, and extend added convenience to Visa cardholders."

In a recent survey conducted by the National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC), property managers ranked online rent collection as one of the primary capabilities they wish to add in their next round of software upgrades. With over 39 million U.S. rental housing units, the market for rental income is currently estimated at $269 billion, and only 1% of this total is now processed using payment cards.

The new online rent payment acceptance program is being launched to the nation's top 4,000 residential property managers through a direct marketing campaign.

About PropertyBridge, LLC

PropertyBridge develops a standard-setting online payment platform specifically for property managers. The company is focused on increasing online payments for transactions like rent payments. PropertyBridge achieves this with proprietary software and business processes jointly developed with strategic partners and vendors. The contextual environments created by the PropertyBridge Payments Platform streamline key financial functions for property managers and make it compelling for their residents to pay their rent and other real estate expenses using payment cards.

About Visa

Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives that represent $3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.7 trillion in transactions every year with virtually 100-percent reliability. Cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the United States , nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 458 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1.3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway. 

Contacts

Peter Mansfield
Vice President of Marketing
510-550-7211
pmansfield@propertybridge.com

Randa Ghnaim
Director of Corporate Relations
415-932-2163
RGhnaim@visa.com