Sunrise Bank partners with Zego to open the doors to growth for their clients
The Challenge
Sunrise Bank continually strives to meet the changing needs of their local businesses. “When I started reaching out to our local property management companies I saw that many of them were not being served,” shared Lizbeth Mandeville, Vice President of Association Banking “Self-managed, smaller associations were not big enough to be able to afford working with the larger banks. At the same time it was tedious for them to manage their own payments.”
The Sunrise Bank team began offering payments services for these associations. “We were processing the ACH files manually. I had to build and run the files, upload everything, and keep the paperwork.”
As the Association Banking business grew, Sunrise Bank’s largest client introduced them to Zego (PayLease at the time) as an option for accepting online payments. “I wanted to go with someone our client knew, that they trusted, and that integrated with their accounting software.”
Sunrise Bank + Zego Partnership Highlights
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Enabling growth:
Partnering with Zego for online payments and lockbox has opened the door to growth for Sunrise Bank, allowing them to meet the needs of larger clients and compete with bigger banks.
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Enhancing client service:
Property Managers and Community Associations receive the best of both worlds - a full suite of cutting-edge, integrated payment solutions, and unparalleled local service.
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Optimizing operations:
The efficiency and process improvements Zego brings frees up time for the Sunrise Bank team, allowing them to better serve existing clients and generate additional fee income.
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Continually improving:
Zego’s focus on property payments and continuous innovations helps Sunrise Bank and their clients stay ahead of the curve.
Partnership Details
The partnership between Sunrise Bank and Zego has grown since 2016 and now enables the support of over 170 associations. The collaboration initially started with Sunrise Bank offering Zego’s integrated online payments. “Before using Zego we didn’t have options for the owners to go in and set up payments. We had to get signed owner authorizations, which was very tedious and manual. Now with Zego, owners can set up online payments directly, it’s faster, easier and all encrypted and secure, rather than having our property managers handle those manually.”
The product offerings include multiple online payment types including online credit and debit, CashPay and now Lockbox. “As we’re growing our clients need solutions for checks as well. That’s why we are excited to work with Zego to offer our clients Lockbox. Our clients want a simplified and efficient system, and that’s what Zego offers.”
Zego Pay Lockbox offers a number of benefits above legacy lockbox services and Sunrise Bank’s previous processes. The combination of Sunrise Bank plus Zego provides Community Associations and Property Managers with the best of both worlds - a full suite of modern, flexible payments options for their homeowners, plus unparalleled local service from their community bank.
How Zego Pay Lockbox Benefits Sunrise Bank:
One receivables platform
“Now clients log in to one spot and it’s seamless. They see the check was received, they can view a copy, and it’s all one report. With our old system they had to go into two spots to see their deposits.”
Seamless property management system integrations
“The payments integrate with their system, whether it’s TOPS or Vantaca or VMS, and everything is seamless. There’s no manual data entry. Even if you’re using Quickbooks you don’t have to manually post every payment because Zego creates download files that integrate.”
Robust data validation and exception handling
“Zego works with the property to create validation files. If a check doesn’t match, it goes into an exception portal and the Property Manager is notified so they can view and match it online. If we’re processing checks by hand, we may input a wrong number accidentally. With Zego everything is matched so it’s more accurate and you don’t have errors.”
Free up your staff and eliminate check processing
Curious about how we can help you work smarter? Give your homeowners the option to pay by check without having to receive another check in your office with Zego Pay Lockbox.
Results
Partnering with Zego has opened the door to growth for Sunrise Bank. The addition of Lockbox payments for HOA has allowed them to service larger clients. “I had a property management client come in recently that has over 100 associations. Now that I’ve outsourced checks to Zego Lockbox, I can offer this to them because checks aren’t managed manually anymore.”
In addition, the partnership allows Sunrise to continue serving clients as a community bank while competing more effectively with larger regional or national banks. “One of our clients with locations all over Florida started working with a big bank that deals with large properties all over the state. They wanted to stay with a community bank, so they could come to us if they needed a loan, or something else from a community relationship perspective. But they also needed the solutions for online payments and Lockbox. Because of the efficiency of Zego Lockbox, they decided to keep their properties in the local county with Sunrise. We could now compete and retain their relationship. And through the partnership with Zego we can offer them the best of both worlds. It’s really a great partnership.”
The partnership is also beneficial financially and operationally. Staff time is freed up so “we can focus on new accounts and marketing. We can get out there and talk to people. Zego is freeing us up to be able to grow and to service larger clients." Sunrise Bank is also able to bill and benefit from fee income by offering Zego to their Property Management clients. “We are able to not only bring in fee income, but also service larger clients better.”
Zego’s focus on property payments and continuous innovations helps Sunrise Bank and their clients stay ahead of the curve. “I’ve been working with Zego since the beginning and have seen how everything just keeps getting better. From lockbox to smaller features like linking accounts for owners that own multiple properties. It’s been nice to grow together.”
Chat with a Zego Expert
Ease the pains of manual receivables management with Zego Pay Lockbox. Outsource your paper payments handling, and free up time to grow your business with automated workflows and enhanced control.
