For decades, homeowner association (HOA) dues and rent were collected the same old way: coupon books and paper checks mailed to an office, or in-person drop-offs. Those voucher books — little stapled booklets with a payment coupon for each month — were reliable, low-tech, and familiar. But they’re also slowly, steadily becoming a legacy process. Today, the payments landscape for community associations and rental managers is changing fast: the industry is moving toward online portals, ACH/autopay, card and instant push-to-debit rails that are faster, more secure, and more convenient for both residents and managers.
In 2014, 68% of property-management firms reported they offered online payment options to residents. That was an early sign that managers were building digital payment capability into the stack. (Source: Zego)
The Boston Fed’s consumer payments diary in 2016 showed that electronic payments accounted for 43% of payment value across U.S. consumer payments — a broad, national signal that paper-based instruments (including checks) were losing share in overall payment value. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)
At the platform level, quarterly reports show digital payments dominate. For example: TenantCloud reported 81.7% of transactions were online in Q1 2025. That confirms the very high online penetration we now see among software users and tech-forward managers. (Source: TenantCloud)
Corroborating industry reporting and surveys (e.g., PYMNTS, MultifamilyDive, Entrata/RealPage commentary) repeatedly find that more than half of renters now pay online and that tenant satisfaction is higher among online payers. These independent datapoints together point to a clear direction: online payments are mainstream and still growing. (Source: PYMNTS.com)
Voucher books served two main functions: they gave homeowners an on-hand physical reminder and a structured way to mail checks with a pre-printed coupon for accounting. But compared with modern options they carry several disadvantages:
Cost — printing and mailing coupon books (plus processing incoming paper checks) is significantly more expensive than ACH and automated reconciliation through software.
Speed / timeliness — mailed checks can take days to arrive and clear; online payments (ACH, card, push-to-debit) can post the same day or faster, improving cash flow.
Error proneness — physical checks require manual posting, scanning, and reconciliation; human error and lost mail are real operational costs.
Poor resident experience — many residents today expect online self-service: see your statement, pay in-app, set autopay, or split charges. Coupon books don’t deliver that.
Security and compliance — modern payment platforms offer tokenization, PCI compliance, and fraud monitoring that paper checks and coupon boxes simply can’t match.
Because of these gaps, coupon books are increasingly relegated to legacy households or to associations that need to accommodate older residents who prefer mail. Even there, many associations choose a hybrid approach — continue to accept mailed checks but strongly encourage or incentivize online payments.
Digital platforms excel on the three big dimensions property managers and homeowners care about:
Convenience: resident portals and mobile apps let people pay from a phone, set autopay, store payment methods, and view statements. That convenience increases on-time payments and reduces queries to the management office. Studies show online payers report much higher satisfaction than check-writers. (source: PYMNTS.com)
Security: modern platforms use encryption, PCI-compliant processors, tokenization, and fraud detection. ACH and card rails have robust dispute/resolution processes (and consumers can get protections from banks); check payments are more exposed to theft, check alteration, or mail interception. Entrata, RealPage, AppFolio and others emphasize built-in protections as a selling point. (Source: Entrata)
Timeliness / cash flow: electronic receipts and automated posting mean you know faster whether a payment arrived. Features like autopay dramatically reduce late payments; faster pay rails (push-to-debit) and instant disbursements are increasingly available to speed fund movement. The NMHC trackers and platform reports showed how critical timely payments became during the pandemic and in stressed markets. (Source: National Multifamily Housing Council)
Over the last decade, property management software matured from basic accounting backends to full resident-facing platforms that bundle listing, leasing, maintenance, communications, accounting, and payments. That consolidation matters:
Single source of truth: when payments are tied to a management platform, statements, ledgers, and audit trails are automatically reconciled. No more manual coupon matching.
Automation & policy enforcement: late fees, grace periods, reminders, and escrow/arrears workflows can run automatically, freeing managers to focus on exceptions.
Value-adds for residents: rent reporting (build credit), auto-pay, split payments, payment scheduling, and multi-channel notifications integrate into resident experiences — increasing retention. Modern property management platforms others offer these features as standard.
Payments innovation: flexible options — ACH (often lowest cost), cards (convenient but fee-bearing), push-to-debit / real-time rails, and embedded services like buy-now/pay-later or income smoothing — are becoming available in resident portals. These can reduce arrears and increase satisfaction when implemented thoughtfully. (Source: PYMNTS.com)
Offer multiple options but nudge digital. Keep an accommodation for checks for those who need them, but prominently offer autopay and make online the path of least resistance — e.g., waive a small ACH fee or offer a rent-reporting incentive.
Watch fees and disclosure. Credit-card convenience fees can be contentious for HOA dues. Transparent fee policies and the option to use no-fee ACH for recurring dues work best.
Prioritize security & compliance. Pick vendors with PCI compliance, strong encryption, clear data-handling policies and good uptime/history.
Communicate the benefits. For residents, explain how digital payment reduces late fees, speeds refunds, and can improve financial visibility. For boards, show cost savings from reduced check processing and faster reconciliations.
Plan for transition. Expect hybrid periods. Provide printed instructions, phone support, and in-person help to enroll residents in portals — that eases adoption among less tech-savvy owners and tenants.
Measured data and platform reports both tell the same story: digital payments are no longer fringe — they’re mainstream and continuing to grow. Coupon/voucher books remain in circulation, largely as a fallback for a shrinking group of residents, but their role is fading. Most forward-looking community associations and property management firms are moving to modern, secure resident portals and payment platforms that improve convenience, reduce costs, and tighten security.