Transformational Trends in Affordable Housing: A talk with JPMorgan Chase’s Robin Tarkanick

Partner Insights spoke to Robin Tarkanick, a Treasury Management Officer on the Community Development Banking Treasury Services team, who has deep industry expertise and has been part of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) since 2007. As need for more affordable housing increases nationally, her experience in asking and answering the right questions for clients is now more vital than ever. Robin, along with her treasury colleagues, are solely dedicated to the community development industry—and understand the nuances that come along with it.

 Commercial Observer: What are some ways affordable housing operators can expand their offerings to residents?

Robin Tarkanick: They can significantly enhance their offerings through a few simple, but important, measures. The first is by making it easy for residents to transact and interact with your operations. Providing a range of payment methods ensures ease for them. It’s also important to facilitate seamless transactions, which means timely collections. For example, including mobile payment options such as PayPal, Venmo or retail cash collection sites can cost a fraction of what a money order costs for the unbanked or underbanked. They’re also a time saver for payment posting.

We also recommend Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for senior communities. Many seniors may not have personal computers or be savvy with mobile devices. It’s important to utilize a variety of communication channels, tailor the needs to the population and make sure communication can happen around the clock. 

What are the advantages of moving away from paper payment methods and going digital?

Security, cost savings, speed and ease of use are the big advantages. We live in a time where the entire life cycle of a payment often happens instantaneously. We recommend starting with converting paper in-person payments (checks, money orders) to digital using methods like a check scanner. This reduces the time the paper is on the street by 50% and greatly reduces time and expenses incurred by traveling to a branch, deposit costs and clearing times for the owner/operator once the payment is in hand.

How can digital automation be leveraged to make property management tasks more efficient? 

Digital automation serves as a tool to enhance the efficiency of property management tasks. Information exchange becomes more streamlined and effective, allowing data to be acquired more easily, cost effectively and at a faster pace. It can be precisely delivered to the owners when and where it’s needed. This not only accelerates processes but also ensures accuracy and reliability in managing critical tasks like timely reconciliation. 

Why should affordable housing owners consider moving property management functions in-house?

 In-house property management provides a higher degree of control, allowing for streamlined operations and centralized cash management. When executed correctly, this also means cost savings. It can enable the organization to execute a unique mission and deliver a distinct resident experience, contributing to a more personalized housing solution. Managing the property in house also allows for providing residents opportunities for learning and enrichment including financial or vocational literacy programs through community partners. These initiatives not only address immediate housing needs, but also support residents who may not have the availability to seek out resources. While the initial transitioning may seem challenging, the benefits, particularly in achieving complete transparency, can make it worthwhile with a significant value add.

Do you have any tips for implementing digital automation from a change management perspective?

Seek the guidance of experts. This consultation can involve tapping into various resources such as your internal technology systems team, the treasury and technology teams at your bank, engaging an independent consultant or seeking insights from peers in your industry who have undergone similar transitions. Effective change management also involves continuous feedback to address concerns about optimizing the integration into the existing workflow.

What are some of the easiest ways for reducing the possibility of payments fraud?

Prioritizing fraud protection services is a must. It serves as the initial line of defense. Foundational measures, such as Check Positive Pay, which detects data mismatches from issuance to presentment and ACH Positive Pay, form the basis of a secure payment framework. An additional way to be proactive in identifying possible fraud is a service such as Account Validation Services (AVS) which enhances security by verifying key account details. Incorporating new payment methods like Purchasing or Virtual Cards provides an added layer of protection, limiting exposure to sensitive information.

What internal controls should operators implement to help prevent fraud?

Most internal controls can be simple and effective. This includes implementing callbacks for new payment instructions, ensuring dual approvals happen before payments are released, enabling alerts, removing inactive users, securing check stock on hand, having at least two bank system administrators with a total view of data and transactions enhances oversight and accountability. Controls like this help create a resilient organization when facing potential risks. Unfortunately, fraud is now more a matter of when, not if.  

What external processes can be used against fraud? 

Valuable external processes can include vendor due diligence that includes regular audits and security assessments, fraud prevention training and cybersecurity assessments for an organization. Also, limiting public information such as the finance staff’s vacations or time away from the office. It’s exciting to share off-site events leading up to them, but they can also be a nod to a cybercriminal that defenses are down on certain days.

How can affordable housing organizations help safeguard their email communications?

 Business Email Compromise (BEC) can be incredibly damaging to an organization. Safeguarding email communications is critical for affordable housing operations to protect sensitive information. Some practices to consider for electronic communications include using email encryption, muti-factor authentication (MFA), anti-phishing tools and secure gateways. It’s vital staying current with software updates and security audits. Couple this with the internal controls and finally, always have an incident response plan in place.