Adoption of electronic payment systems for rent collection in real estate management in Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate e-payment adoption in real estate rent collection in Kenya. To achieve the objective of the study, a descriptive survey was used. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The population for this study comprised of 75 real estate firms. Out of the 75 questionnaires that were administered for data collection, 60 completed questionnaires were collected. This represents a response rate of 80% which was considered a sufficient representation of all the real estate companies in Kenya. The study concludes that adoption of electronic payments for rent collection in real estate firms in Kenya is still low. Some of the challenges that have inhibited adoption of electronic payments were as follows: lack of trust on e-payment systems service providers, transaction charges by the e-payment systems and the costs involved in adoption and implementation of electronic payments in real estate firms. The study also concludes that the drivers of adoption of electronic payments systems, for rent collection in real estate firms in Kenya were, need for accurate accounting of rent amount and flexibility in rent collection. The study recommends that the challenges inhibiting adoption of electronic payment systems to be addressed by both the service providers and real estate management firms, for a higher rate of adoption. Trust on the service providers must be attained by the real estate firms and friendly transaction costs need to be implemented by the service providers. Further research on the adoption of electronic payment systems for rent collection in Kenya, can be carried on other stakeholders in the real estate industry for example the landlords or tenants.