Below is a practical guide to payment solutions for proptech companies — what to support, architecture patterns, compliance/ops considerations, common vendor types, and recommended stacks depending on company size and use case.

What proptechs typically need to handle

• Tenant payments (rent, fees, deposits) — one-time and recurring.
• Marketplace / brokerage payments — split payments, commissions, payouts to owners/agents.
• Escrow / security deposit handling — hold funds, release rules.
• Property management vendor payouts — batch disbursements to vendors/owners.
• Application and screening fees — small one-off charges.
• Refunds, chargebacks, disputes.
• Reporting and reconciliation for accounting and tax (1099s, VAT/GST where applicable).
• Integrations with bank accounts, accounting, leasing/property-management platforms.
• Identity verification, consent (ACH authorization), and fraud prevention.

Payment methods to support

• ACH / bank-to-bank (lower cost for recurring rent).
• Debit & credit cards (convenience, rewards; higher fees).
• Real-time payments (RTP, FedNow in the U.S.) and faster-bank transfers where relevant.
• Wallets (Apple Pay/Google Pay) for better UX.
• Virtual cards for vendor payouts (optional).
• Local payment methods if operating internationally.

Key functional features to look for

• Recurring billing and flexible schedules (prorations, grace periods).
• Split payments / marketplace routing (ability to take commission + route remainder).
• Escrow accounts / separate trust accounting and reporting.
• Automated reconciliation tools, exportable transactions for GL posting.
• Tenant autopay, reminders, late-fee automation and configurable grace/penalty rules.
• Dispute handling & chargeback management.
• Refunds and partial refund support.
• Retry logic for failed ACH/card payments and dunning flows.
• Bank account verification (micro-deposits, instant verification).
• Fraud detection, KYC/AML screening for payouts or marketplace sellers.
• PCI-DSS scope reduction (tokenization) and strong security controls.
• Developer-friendly APIs / SDKs and webhooks for real-time event handling.

Compliance, legal and operational considerations

• Trust/escrow rules: Many jurisdictions require deposits/escrow funds to be held in segregated trust accounts—design payment flows accordingly.
• PCI-DSS: Use tokenization and hosted payment pages to reduce your liability.
• ACH rules: Understand NACHA rules (authorization, returns, re-presentment).
• Local regulations: tenant protections, allowable late fees, and tax rules vary by locality—build configurability and legal review into workflows.
• Records retention and audit trails for disputes and compliance.
• Insurance and surety requirements for marketplace operators, if applicable.

Typical architecture patterns

• Payment processor + bank rails: Use a payments provider (cards + ACH) and partner with a bank or banking-as-a-service (BaaS) for custodial/escrow accounts and payouts.
• Payment orchestration: Abstract multiple processors behind a single layer to route by cost, region, or method.
• Connect/Marketplace model: Use a platform that supports onboarding payees, KYC, and split routing (commissions + payouts).
• Headless checkout + tokenization: Keep card/ACH fields off your servers; use tokens and webhooks for events.
• Reconciliation layer: Separate microservice that ingests webhooks and bank files (ACH returns, NSF) and posts to accounting.

Vendor categories (what to evaluate)

• Payment processors / merchant services: handle cards, wallets, often ACH (Stripe, Braintree, Adyen, PayPal).
• ACH specialists: lower-cost ACH support and features like same-day ACH (Dwolla, Plaid for instant account verification).
• Banking-as-a-Service / treasury: for holding customer funds, escrow, programmatic accounts, card issuance (Stripe Treasury, Unit, Treasury APIs from banks).
• Proptech-specific platforms: property-management–focused payment platforms that include tenant workflows, compliance with trust accounting, and integrations to PM systems (e.g., Yardi/RealPage ecosystems, PayRent-type services). These can reduce build time if aligned with your use case.
• Escrow & marketplace payout platforms: for KYC and split payments (Stripe Connect, MANGOPAY in EU, Payoneer, Tipalti for mass payouts).
• ID / AML / KYC vendors: for verifying owners/agents or payees (Jumio, Onfido, Plaid Identity).
• Reconciliation/accounting automation: built-in or third-party connectors to QuickBooks, Xero, or enterprise ERP.

Vendor selection tips

• Prioritize vendor(s) that support the payment mix you need (ACH + card + domestic/international wallets).
• Check whether escrow/trust account capabilities meet local regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate fees: interchange + processor markup; ACH vs card cost differences; chargeback fees.
• Look at payout cadence and costs (instant vs batch vs same-day).
• Confirm developer experience: API docs, SDKs, webhooks, test mode.
• Ask about bank integrations and support for returns/NSF flows.
• Confirm PCI scope reduction options (hosted fields, tokenization).
• Test reconciliation scenarios (partial refunds, chargebacks, split payouts).
• Verify SLA and operational support (fraud ops, dispute help) and availability of white-glove onboarding for enterprise landlords/owners.

Sample stacks / recommendations

• Small proptech (early-stage marketplace or SaaS landlord tool):
  • Use Stripe (or equivalent) for cards + Stripe Connect for marketplace splits.
  • Add Plaid for instant bank account verification + ACH debit where cost matters.
  • Use built-in webhook events and a lightweight reconciliation service.
  • Use Stripe Billing for recurring rent and webhooks for failed payment handling.
• Mid-size proptech (processing moderate volume, multiple owners):
  • Stripe Connect or BaaS provider + dedicated bank account for custodial/escrow.
  • Add a reconciliation tool and a property-management integration (or build connectors).
  • Implement KYC/identity checks for payees and automated 1099 generation logic.
• Enterprise property manager or vertical proptech:
  • Consider enterprise PM vendors with integrated payments (or integrate payments into Yardi/RealPage/MRI).
  • Use a treasury partner/BaaS for custodial trust accounts and complex disbursements.
  • Build or use a payment orchestration layer to lower costs and improve resilience.
  • Implement robust reconciliation, audit trails, and compliance workflows.

Operational best practices

• Offer ACH as default for recurring rent (lower fees) but support cards for convenience.
• Provide autopay signup, email/SMS reminders, and clear receipts for tenants/owners.
• Implement granular transaction metadata (property ID, unit, tenant ID) for reconciliation.
• Automate failed-payment dunning and retry strategies with configurable schedules.
• Keep funds for security deposits in segregated accounts if legally required.
• Track and store consent/authorization documents for ACH and recurring charges.
• Build dispute and refund playbooks to reduce friction and legal risk.
• Regularly audit payment flows, reconciliation, and accounting mappings.

Metrics to monitor

• Payment success rate (first-pass and after retries).
• ACH vs card mix and associated unit economics.
• Chargeback and dispute rate.
• Days to reconcile and % of manual reconciliations.
• Time to payout vendors/owners and payout failure rate.
• Average time to resolve returns/NSF.

Next steps (quick checklist you can use)

1. Define required payment methods and rails (ACH, card, wallets, RTP).
2. Decide if you need escrow/trust accounts and marketplace splits.
3. Choose primary processor + optional ACH specialist or BaaS for custodial accounts.
4. Design API/webhook event model and reconciliation pipeline.
5. Implement KYC, fraud checks, and ACH authorization capture.
6. Test end-to-end scenarios: recurring billing, proration, refunds, split payouts, returns.
7. Ensure legal compliance for deposits and local tenant rules.
8. Go to market with monitoring and scheduled audits.

If you want, I can:

• Map 3–5 specific vendor recommendations matched to your country, volume, and use case (rent collection vs marketplace vs escrow).
• Draft a sample API/webhook event model and reconciliation schema.
• Create a checklist for trust-escrow compliance by state (U.S.) if you operate in specific states.

Which follow-up would you like?