Payment Processing for Storage Facilities: Recurring Billing, Lower Costs, and Better Payment Tools

Running a self-storage facility is built around recurring revenue. Customers rent units month after month, which means payment processing is not simply about accepting an occasional credit card transaction. Storage operators need reliable recurring billing, secure payment methods, convenient ways for customers to pay, and tools that help reduce the administrative work involved in collecting monthly rent.

At the same time, payment processing fees can become a significant expense. A storage facility processing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars each month can lose a substantial amount of revenue to processing costs, gateway fees, unnecessary monthly charges, and other fees.

Cobalt Payments helps storage facilities build a payment solution around the way their business actually operates while providing competitive processing rates and the tools needed to efficiently collect recurring payments.

Storage Facilities Have Different Payment Processing Needs

Unlike many traditional retail businesses, storage facilities do not necessarily have customers standing at a checkout counter every month.

A customer might rent a unit for six months, a year, or considerably longer. Once that customer has moved their belongings into the facility, both the customer and the operator generally want the monthly payment process to be as simple as possible.

That makes several payment capabilities particularly important for storage businesses:

• Recurring monthly billing
• Secure card-on-file payments
• ACH and electronic payment options
• Online and remote payments
• Electronic invoicing
• Payment links
• Virtual terminal capabilities
• Payment authorization management
• Transaction reporting
• Refund and void capabilities
• Reliable customer support

Cobalt Payments can help storage operators combine these capabilities into a payment environment designed to make collecting monthly rental payments easier.

Automate Monthly Storage Payments

One of the most valuable payment tools for a storage facility is recurring billing.

Instead of asking customers to manually make a payment every month, an operator can establish an approved recurring payment schedule. The customer’s authorized payment method can then be charged according to the agreed billing schedule.

For the facility, this can reduce the amount of staff time spent chasing payments, taking card numbers over the phone, or manually entering the same transactions every month.

For customers, automatic payments provide convenience. They do not have to remember another monthly bill or repeatedly log into a portal simply to pay for the same storage unit.

Cobalt can help businesses implement recurring payment capabilities so monthly collections become a more automated part of their operation.

Securely Manage Card-on-File Payments

Storage facilities frequently need to keep an authorized payment method available for future transactions.

That does not mean employees should be writing down card numbers or storing sensitive payment information in spreadsheets or office documents.

Modern payment gateways can use technologies such as tokenization to help businesses process future transactions without employees repeatedly handling raw card information.

Cobalt can provide storage facilities with payment gateway solutions that support secure, convenient card-on-file and recurring-payment workflows.

Send Electronic Invoices and Payment Requests

Not every transaction fits neatly into an automatic monthly payment.

Storage facilities may need to collect:

• Initial rental charges
• Deposits
• Administrative fees
• Past-due balances
• Additional services
• Moving or packing supplies
• Other authorized charges

Electronic invoicing and payment links give operators another way to collect these payments without requiring customers to physically visit the office.

Instead of spending valuable staff time repeatedly calling a customer for payment, the facility can send an electronic payment request that allows the customer to pay remotely.

Accept Payments When the Office Is Closed

Storage facilities increasingly operate with limited staffing, remote management, or unattended access during portions of the day.

The payment system should support that operating model.

Customers may need to make payments from home, from their phone, or outside normal office hours. Combining online payment capabilities with recurring billing and electronic invoicing can reduce dependence on an employee being physically present to accept a payment.

Cobalt can help storage operators determine which payment acceptance tools make sense based on their particular business model.

Virtual Terminal Payments for Phone Transactions

There are still situations where a customer wants to call the facility and make a payment directly.

A virtual terminal can allow authorized employees to securely initiate eligible transactions through a computer rather than requiring a physical countertop terminal for every payment.

This can be especially useful for operators managing several storage locations or administrative employees working from a centralized office.

Multiple Locations Need Centralized Payment Tools

Payment processing becomes more complicated as a storage business expands.

An operator with several facilities may need to distinguish transactions by property, monitor processing activity across locations, control employee access, and reconcile deposits with individual facilities.

Cobalt can work with multi-location storage operators to develop a processing configuration that supports their organizational structure instead of forcing every facility into an isolated payment environment.

Processing Rates Matter More With Recurring Revenue

Storage facilities can process a substantial amount of card volume every month.

Consider a facility collecting $100,000 per month in electronic payments. Even relatively small differences in the facility’s effective processing cost can add up over the course of a year.

That is why storage operators should evaluate more than a processor’s advertised rate.

They should understand their total processing cost, including applicable transaction charges, monthly fees, gateway costs, equipment expenses, and other processing-related charges.

Cobalt Payments can review a storage facility’s current processing environment and help identify opportunities for a more cost-effective payment solution.

Don’t Sacrifice Payment Tools Just to Get a Lower Rate

Low processing costs are important, but the cheapest advertised rate is not particularly valuable if the payment system does not support the way a storage facility operates.

A storage business should not have to choose between competitive pricing and useful technology.

The objective should be a processing solution that provides the right combination of:

Competitive processing costs + recurring billing + convenient customer payments + useful management tools + responsive support.

That is where Cobalt Payments can help.

Payment Processing Built Around Your Storage Business

Every storage operation is different.

A single-location facility with an onsite manager may have very different requirements from a regional self-storage operator managing thousands of units across multiple properties.

Cobalt Payments can evaluate how your facility currently accepts payments and recommend a solution based on your transaction volume, customer payment methods, recurring billing requirements, locations, and existing business systems.

Depending on your requirements, Cobalt can provide access to tools for:

• Recurring and scheduled payments
• Secure card-on-file transactions
• Electronic invoicing
• Remote payment collection
• Payment links
• Virtual terminal transactions
• Online payments
• Transaction and settlement reporting
• Multi-location processing
• Competitive payment processing rates

Instead of paying for unnecessary features or discovering that your payment provider does not offer a tool you need, Cobalt can help configure a processing solution around your actual operation.

See What Your Storage Facility Could Save

If you already operate a storage facility, one of the easiest places to start is with your existing merchant processing statement.

Cobalt Payments can review your current processing costs, identify the fees you are paying, and discuss whether a different processing structure could reduce costs while providing better payment tools.

For new storage facilities, Cobalt can also help establish the payment infrastructure needed to accept payments from the beginning.

Whether you operate one storage property or multiple locations, Cobalt Payments can help you simplify recurring collections, provide customers with convenient ways to pay, and keep payment processing costs under control.