Stake Expands Rent Collections Capabilities With Circa Acquisition

Stake has acquired Circa to help reduce delinquencies and arrears in the rental economy by offering both rent incentives and collections management.

This acquisition, which was completed earlier in June, adds Circa’s free payment processing and success-based collections management to Stake’s loyalty, renter banking services and incentive optimization services, the companies said in a Thursday (June 13) press release.

With the addition of Circa, Stake not only reduces delinquencies by rewarding renters for staying current on rent, but also collects on past-due balances, Rowland Hobbs, CEO and co-founder of Stake, said in the release.

Together with the acquisition, Stake has introduced an integrated delinquency and collections management solution called Get Current. This solution includes a flexible payments system and a human-led customer relationship management (CRM) system to help renters pay past due rent and to reduce the amount of time on-site teams spend on collections, according to the release.

In addition, Circa’s payment technology has been added to Stake’s renter banking services platform, the release said. This platform enables no-fee rent payments, cash back for on-time rent payments, credit builder and reporting, and a debt-free way to access paychecks early.

Stake integrates with major property management software platforms, so rent payments and incentives are recorded in the accounting ledger, per the release.

“Renters need more options to avoid costly, and heart-breaking, evictions,” Leslie Hyman, CEO and co-founder of Circa, said in the release. “With Stake, renters are rewarded with Cash Back. With Circa, renters in arrears are empowered with the tools to get current. Together, it’s a perfect combination: performance payments meets performance rewards, with a shared mission to empower renters.”

Stake was founded in 2018 as a way to help curb pain points for building owners, boost lease-ups, cut vacancy rates, and boost maintenance and ancillary revenue.

“Renters don’t need more debt or loans,” Hobbs said in a June 2022 press release. “What renters need is money to help with everyday essentials and to establish long-term savings.”

More than half of renters pay rent online, and 77% said they do so because it is faster and easier than traditional methods, according to “From Rents to Refunds: The Push for Faster Payments in Property Management,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Payments collaboration.