How to grow your payments app with student hostels
By SendPay Business · · 2 min read
Near many colleges and universities, private hostels rent rooms and beds to students by the term, semester or month. Owners collect deposits at the start of the year, then rent, often paid by parents from far away, and they spend a lot of time chasing late payers and keeping track of who has paid for which room. A payments app that sends rent links, lets parents pay from anywhere and shows owners who has paid can win student hostels, and every student and family who pays sees your app.
Talk to student hostel owners
Ask local student hostel owners:
- How do students or parents pay deposits and rent today?
- How often are payments late, and how do you chase them?
- Do parents pay from other towns or countries?
- How do you pay caretakers, cleaners and bills?
Take deposits when rooms are booked
Sending a payment link for the deposit as soon as a room is reserved confirms the booking before the new term starts.
Let parents pay rent from anywhere
Parents can pay rent by phone from wherever they are, and students get a record they can show when asked.
Grow through students
Students talk to each other and move between hostels, and many will soon need to pay for much more. When their first rent payment is through your app, they are likely to keep using it.
Build it
Create your own financial platform.
Pick a template, name it, brand it, preview every page before you pay. Your brand, your users, your fees.
Build my platform →Questions people ask
What about small landlords?
The small landlords guide covers landlords who collect rent every month, often by cash or scattered bank transfers.
Small landlords →What about hostels for travellers?
The hostels and campsites guide covers deposits for bookings and payments at check-in from travellers from many countries.
Hostels and campsites →Can I call it a bank?
In most countries "bank" is a protected word you can only use with a banking licence. Call it an account, a wallet, an app or a platform. The accounts and payments behind a SendPay Business platform are powered by licensed partners.
Is there a step-by-step plan I can follow?
Yes. The free launch checklist takes you from picking your people and naming your app to setting fees, going live and winning your first ten customers.
Digital bank app launch checklist →How do I start?
Pick a template, name it and preview every page before you pay. Your platform can be live on your own domain within 24 hours of confirmation.
Build my platform →Read next
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. PayPal, Patreon and Substack are named as reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.