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The Review

A year of growth: inside Chexy’s impact on rental payments

Growth

Tag Archives: renting

A year of growth: inside Chexy’s impact on rental payments

How a DMZ startup processed $30 million in rent and helped users earn $1 million in cashback and rewards. 


Rent is easily one of the heftiest expenses we all endure. Month after month, an eye-watering sum is removed from our bank accounts. 

In the past year, Canada has seen rent jump 10.5% on average, and Canada’s housing affordability crisis has left renters with no choice but to swallow costs. 

Canada is becoming a nation of renters, and Co-founder and CEO of DMZ startup Chexy, Liza Akhvledziani, decided to take matters into her own hands by giving Canadians something to show for their largest monthly expense.

“I had been a renter in Canada for way too long and was fed up with landlords asking for cheques and not being able to benefit from paying my largest expense on time every month,” said Liza Akhvledziani Co-Founder and CEO of Chexy. “So I thought, what the hell. If nobody else wants to try this — I will.” 

The first tenant-facing payments platform that allows renters to earn rewards and build credit on rent, Chexy has empowered Canadians to no longer look at rent as just another budget line but an opportunity to earn rewards and cashback.

And spoiler alert, people are loving it. In their first year, Chexy processed an outstanding $30 million in rent, and users earned an estimated $1 million in cashback and rewards.

Getting to where they are today hasn’t been a total walk in the park, Akhvledziani explains. “We’ve had our fair share of “oh shit” moments like any startup, but it’s incredible to see the true value we are delivering to our users,” said Akhvledziani

By empowering renters to pay via credit card, Chexy users can unlock credit card loyalty points, cashback and rewards faster. But don’t just take our word for it; here’s what a few Chexy users had to say. 

Chexy user Samir Patel has earned $600 in cashback in just five months by paying rent on the platform.

“Using Chexy has given me the financial freedom to buy extra things or cover my rent partially for a month.”

 

Since joining Chexy, Brayden Dobson has earned enough points to cover most of his vacations in Mexico, Spain, and Vancouver.

“I am saving 90% off the cost of flights compared to if I paid cash.”

 

After landing in Canada 5 years ago, Andrew Royal struggled to pay rent via e-transfers due to the maximum daily limits on his account. With Chexy, Andrew doesn’t stress about transfers and is racking up points for an upcoming trip.

“Being able to use my credit card has been a game changer. For the past year, I have been able to make payments on time, every month and get rewards — just for paying my rent.”

 

Chexy stayed true to its mission: to make rent payments easier and more rewarding for everyone involved. They saw how outdated rent payments were and decided to do something about it.

Looking ahead, Chexy plans to expand its offerings to offer rewards for additional household expenses and, eventually, empower tenants to become homeowners. “Rent is just the beginning; we plan to help users earn rewards on expenses like utilities, tenant insurance and wifi. But, beyond that, another major goal at Chexy is to help our tenants become homeowners with fewer hurdles at a better rate,” said Akhvledziani

With big plans for the future, Chexy is proving that startups can change the game, one rent check at a time.

For those eager to maximize rewards on their largest monthly expense, Chexy is awarding a sign-up bonus of up to $500 CAD that new users can put towards their first month of rent paid on the platform.


Those who are new to Chexy and sign up for an account between March 18 and March 31 will qualify to receive the bonus. Sign up at Chexy.co.

24 hours with real estate startup Casalova

The real estate startup is located in downtown, Toronto — one of Canada’s most competitive real estate markets — which means employees have to always be on their toes since local listings can change in the blink of an eye.

Unlike some of its competitors, Casalova is a one-stop shop that brings together prospective renters, landlords and agents all in one place. Users who sign up get access to new homes and a certified agent, while landlords have their properties listed and also get a $100,000 insurance package so they can rest easy knowing that if a tenant damages their homes they won’t go into debt to fix it.

Here’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of Casalova’s team and their founder.

The agent: Jennifer Meade (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.)

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Jennifer Meade, one of the company’s newest agents, knows all too well how volatile Toronto’s real estate market is these days. She’s seen up-close-and-personal the city’s property market jump more than 20 per cent in the last year, and more importantly, the impact it’s had on prospective renters and buyers.

“Everything moves so fast now,” she explains. “If you want something in this market you have to be ready to move quickly because property can go just like that,” she says while snapping her fingers for added effect.

For Meade, most days involve checking her email to see which new clients she’s been matched with through Casalova or connecting with new renters through her own personal network. Today her client, a nurse moving from Barrie to Toronto, is looking for a condo to call home in the downtown core, which Meade confesses “can be tricky” since the prospective renter’s 14-hour job makes it difficult to view properties during normal hours.

Today her day starts at 7 a.m. when she scours local listings for new condos. When she finds one that matches her client’s needs (in this case parking and access to shopping and entertainment) she calls the property manager to book an appointment and waits for her client to make the long drive downtown.

Two hours later she shows the nurse around a lovely condo near the city’s waterfront while rattling of its impressive amenities — inclusive gym, pool and hot tub, to name a few. It’s a one bedroom, 778 square feet, home that overlooks Lake Ontario. While Meade thinks she may have found her client the perfect home although she isn’t so sure and wants to look at a few other places before making a final decision.

Keen to see her client view as many places as possible she hails a taxi that will shuttle both of them to their next destination. She also informs the condo owner over the phone that her client is interested in the property but needs a little more time to make a decision. “It’s important to keep every door open,” she says with a smile while juggling two phones.

Two hours and three condo viewings later (a cancelled showing due to a lost lockbox means the day ends early) just reinforces how much her client loved the first apartment she viewed earlier in the day. Meade later makes an official offer that day with help from Casalova’s customer service team and then make plans to meet tomorrow to follow-up on signing details.

“It always feels good when you find the perfect home for someone,” Meade explains.

The front-line staff: (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.)

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Naveed Marzook, Casalova’s vice-president of customer success, loves his job. It’s easy to see that he and his team shoulder most of the face-to-face customer and agent work the company deals with on a daily basis. Any questions about properties, or payment requests go through his team.

The customer service team also helps customers navigate the website if necessary and add new homes to the company’s growing list of real estate options almost hourly.

For all intents and purposes, Marzook and his team are like the swiss army knife of the company, although he refers to his team as the startup’s “helpers”. They go “above and beyond” what they’re expected to do all the time, he explains. “Everyone pitches in and we appreciate it.”

Marzook and his team believe that the company’s success boils down to the fact the team actually like working together. In an attempt to prove his point, he holds up a golden owl, fondly named Hooter, which is given to the employee who happens to “pitch in the most.”

Today it might be him, and the next day it could be Jess Shulist — one of his colleagues whose computer is decorated with Rihanna stickers and works with agents to get client documents ready.

“It’s a fun place to work,” Shulist says while looking fondly at Hooter. “I think it’s cool how we never forget to recognize how hard each other is working.”

The co-founder: Ray Jaff (3 p.m. to 8 p.m.)

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Ray Jaff wakes up at 6 a.m. everyday to workout. He works through company problems while running on the treadmill and brainstorms new solutions while lifting weights. “It’s what gets me through the day,” he explains.

The entrepreneur is dressed in a fitted oxford shirt and pleated pants, but says he would be just as comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.

This afternoon he’s focused mostly on checking in with team members, going over the website’s latest updates and the company’s plans to move to a new office on the westside.

At a meeting with the team’s engineers, Jaff and the developers hunker down at their desk to come up with solutions and a tentative timeline for new product updates. Forty-five minutes later they’re done and the founder is already on his way to his next meeting. His phone blinks throughout the afternoon proving just how in-demand he is these days, especially now that the company has launched its services in Vancouver.

It’s a real coup for the startup, he says. “We’ve been working towards this for a while.” When asked how he manages to avoid burnout, Jaff merely laughs and shrugs. “It’s a team effort, we’re all working on this together and we aim to only hire A-players who are dedicated to the Casalova mission. It’s makes everyone’s life a lot easier.”

Later on the company’s real estate agents, front-line staff and Jaff convene to celebrate their quarterly wins at a complimentary lunch while munching on sushi, chips, cupcakes and champagne. Despite its seemingly small team, the event is an important way to show employees how much their hard work is appreciated.

“Casalova is like a family. We value everyone and just because the agents aren’t in the office with us doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be here with us to celebrate.”

The award categories include ‘Rookie of the month’, ‘hardest hustler,’ and ‘MVP of the month.’ After the awards are given out, Jaff motions for people to move to the front of the room for photos with the honourees.

Once the meeting is over, it’s back to meetups with staff, responding to more emails and later one-on-ones about Vancouver. It’s almost 8 p.m. by the time his day is finished.

As he readies his things to leave for the night the entrepreneur’s eyes are still glued to his smartphone.