Rental app Flow is doing things a little differently

It's a known psychological fact, that rewarding good behavior produces better and faster results than punishing the bad. There's a new real estate rental startup has that thought in mind. Flow, run by CEO Gil Sperling, aims to reward good renters rather than punish them for things like, late payments and other issues.

Flow – which launched in South Africa earlier this year – is a free mobile app that allows tenants to get up to 20% of their rent back in rewards, whether or not their landlord has the app.

Flow rewards tenants for positive behavior, such as paying their rent on time, and looking after their homes. They also get points for registering and entering their property details.

It is the first app of its kind in the world, according to Sperling.

Its goal was to get 200 000 tenants signed up and using the platform by the end of 2020, and according to the team, its sign-up rate is on track, with promising uptake from local property agents since launch. 

Global launch is set for 2020.

Tenant focus

"South Africans are well aware of how rewards programs work. From our healthcare to our grocery shopping, we’ve all quickly cottoned on to the idea that we can be rewarded for certain types of activities and behavior. We all live for rewards. Swiping = points. Gymming = points. Driving well = points.

"But as popular as these rewards programs are, they still don’t reward us for our largest monthly expense: property rental," says Sperling.

In order to deliver the rewards, Flow partnered with brands in lifestyle, entertainment, homeware, fashion and travel sectors, as well as airtime and electricity providers.

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