DURBAN - There are rewards programmes for health care, shopping and banking and now there is one for tenants.
Flow - a new mobile app - is offering tenants up to 20% of their rent back in rewards every month.
With the app, which is available for download from the Apple and Android app stores, tenants in South Africa get rewarded for registering, adding their property details, paying their rent on time and looking after their homes.
Tenants can use the app and be rewarded for good rental behaviour even if their landlord isn’t active on the app (although there are benefits for landlords too).
The developers said good tenants could earn thousands of points every month, increasing their Flow score and eligibility for rewards.
For these rewards, Flow has struck partnerships with a number of brands in the lifestyle, entertainment, homeware, fashion and travel sectors, plus a selection of airtime and electricity providers.
Long-term rental is one of the fastest growing markets in the world due to a social shift in which millennials are putting off buying property, preferring to rent.
Gil Sperling, chief executive Flow, said: “We call this group of millennial renters ‘Generation Rent’. The older generation may attach a social status to renting, but millennials don’t see it that way. For one thing, the property market has changed, meaning that the price of property has put home ownership out of most millennials’ reach.
“By renting a property, they have extra money available to see the world, start up a business or study. After all, the world is more connected than ever before, so a lot of millennials are looking for opportunities to work and travel.
“Millennials are seeking flexibility in most aspects of their lives, and it was this trend that resulted in the creation of Flow - the first app, globally, to reward good tenants,” said Sperling.