Company: My Rent Rewards
My Rent Rewards works exactly the same as any cashback scheme. Users earn money as they shop and My Rent Rewards ring-fences this money towards tenants rent. The more users shop, the more they earn. It’s a great way for tenants to save a bit of money, for brands to secure customer loyalty and for housing associations to receive a guaranteed ring-fenced income.
Due to the recent ongoing events, My Rent Rewards has adapted their app to help landlords, see at a glance, the impact of COVID-19 on their residents.
“More and more people are struggling to meet their monthly bills such as rent. It’s a stressful time for everyone involved; from tenants, who struggle to pay their rent to landlords and housing associations who suffer from missed payments. We are hopeful that our app will provide a solution which helps everyone,” said Nichola Fahey of My Rent Rewards.
The adjustments to the app mean that My Rent Rewards will use its notification platform to send a message to all users, asking if they are struggling. A list of reasons to choose from is provided, and this information is presented to landlords on a secure portal for them to access.
On the portal landlords can see at a snapshot the impact of COVID-19 on their residents, with the submitted reasons, if they are struggling to pay their rent. The response comes from users in real-time. In addition, landlords will be able to contact residents directly, via the portal, using push notifications and email.
The developers are passionate about social housing. Between them they have more than 20 years’ experience and have witnessed many of the challenges of social housing first-hand.
“We are passionate about what we do,” adds Nichola. “The UK is currently facing a crisis with Covid-19 and we are trying to do our bit to help. We have already had responses* from some of our users and it is clear to see that they are struggling. We are hoping that the portal will reduce some of the communication pressures tenants and landlords are facing and that landlords will be able to allocate their staff resources much more efficiently.”
My Rent Rewards has met with a warm reception from housing associations who have already signed up to pilot the app. Tenants who regularly use the app can expect to see an annual cashback return of £60. Across the whole housing association, that amounts to a considerable amount of ring-fenced money at the end of the year. 500 tenants, for example, would yield £30,000 a year based on an average weekly shop.
Brands benefit from customer retention and loyalty. To date, My Rent Rewards has signed agreements with some of the biggest brands on the market including B&Q, SKY, Tesco, Iceland and Wilko.
Matt Davies, Head of Sky Homes, says, “We are delighted to launch our Sky Property Partnership with My Rent Rewards, bringing better Sky content and innovation to a new audience in new ways. Sky Property Partnerships is our first dedicated programme designed to add value in the property sector, as we recognise the importance of better connecting people to more of what they love, when they need it most. We look forward to a big year ahead with My Rent Rewards.”
