Ajar Online Makes Paying the Rent (Almost) Hassle-Free

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Alexis Baghdadi
Mar 17 2016
Startups
Ajar Online Makes Paying the Rent (Almost) Hassle-Free
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Ok, so paying the rent is definitely not the highlight of the month for anyone - even landlords - but it can at least be simplified to reduce the inconvenience and guarantee .

Enter Ajar Online and its promises to end waiting in line at the bank or playing hide-and-seek with the landlord or tenants.

Founded in early 2015 by three Kuwaitis, Shaheen Alkhudhari, Talal Alyaseen, and Ali Taqi, this cloud-based platform aims to establish itself as a quick and efficient way to manage the rent collection process. Tenants can conveniently pay their rent via mobile, which in turn ensures on-time payments and more satisfaction for landlords.

In November 2015, Ajar Online won the first-ever KIPCO Tmkeen Award for Young Entrepreneurs worth $100,000 in services from the KIPCO Group, including financial, strategic and operational consultation sessions, market studies, insurance coverage, and advertising services. The startup is among the finalists of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition,

Get It Over Quickly and Painlessly

Through the platform, the administrative work is cut down and the cash flow is improved.

The process is straightforward. Tenants automatically receive an SMS or email notification when their rent is due, with a link to a dedicated payment page managed by the shared electronic banking services company (K-net). There, they can pay the rent directly - even if they are traveling - and get an instant receipt by SMS or email. The process should not take longer than a minute, according to the founders.

At the other end of the equation, landlords register their tenants and set payment due dates then sit back and let Ajar do the work for them. They can also view live updates of their tenants’ payment, status, history, and collection reports at any time.

The platform is available for smartphones as well as for tablets, laptops, and desktops.

Taking Care of Business

The company generates revenues by charging transaction fees on rent payments. They recently signed a partnership with Warba Bank who will run Ajar Online’s back office financial operations and promote Ajar Online’s services to its corporate clients. This will allow the company to lower their transaction fees and facilitate their penetration into the market.

“The partnership will increase tenants and landlords’ trust in the service and make payments more secure,” said Alkhudhari.

This partnership is nonexclusive allowing landlords, real estate companies, and tenants to have accounts with other banks and still benefit from the services.

The founders are expecting to have 3,500 active tenants paying their rent via their platform by end 2016. Currently operating in Kuwait only, the team plans on extending their services to the GCC and in different countries in the Middle East soon.