I use QBO for billing and collections. When things get tight, making lending to cover the gap is what's typically done. It now looks like Intuit is going to go directly after their merchant's customers for lending. I can see a few tenants going for this. This could also this could ease the pain of upfront money to get in a place. (I bill the SD and initial rent via QBO also). This could be a selling feature without me having to do anything different. Here's the notice I got from Intuit this morning:

" We are writing to inform you of an upcoming update to QuickBooks Online Payments that may impact your clients’ invoicing.

Starting in the coming months, we are introducing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) as a payment option on QuickBooks Invoices through a partnership with Affirm. See press release.

How it works:

• For your clients: No setup or extra steps required by your clients. Affirm will automatically appear as a payment option on their invoices and they will be charged the same standard processing fees as credit card (2.99% per transaction), and Affirm manages the payment process with their customer. If your client’s customer selects Affirm at checkout and is approved, your client will receive the full invoice amount upfront once the customer is approved by Affirm. Your clients will get paid as fast as with other payment types (credit card, ACH). Standard processing timelines and fees apply.

• For their qualified customers: They will have the option to pay the invoice in installments over time.

• For the workflow: There is no change to how your clients create or send invoices. Reconciliation remains streamlined within QuickBooks.

Availability and Eligibility: This feature will be automatically enabled for U.S.-based customers who use QuickBooks Online Payments and have credit card payments enabled, on a rolling basis, starting in the coming months.

Next Steps: If you would like to review the technical details or the impact on reconciliation, please visit this article........"

Interesting, especially this time of year. Places like H & R have offered refund advances which were actually loans. This seems like the next step

So if they default on the payment you are still whole?

Would kind of be an odd situation if you have a tenant that catches a case for non-payment and it was on your place.

"So if they default on the payment you are still whole?"

Yes. I'm still good. Intuit is on the hook as they lent the money, not me.

I do believe this potentially helps the tenant however without me having to do much. For example, let's say a tenant runs into an issue, I can set it up to have them apply to Intuit for a loan as opposed to me doing anything special. They avoid eviction and the rent gets paid. I suppose an argument could be made that I'm giving up late fees and etc, but I'd rather just have the rent.

Late fees are not worth the extra drama, in my opinion.