Secure PDF uploads just arrived!

This much-requested feature is finally here! As of today, you can upload your bank statements directly to your VIP profile to either extend your rental affordability calculation or in place of connecting directly with your bank. 

If you are a commission based earner or freelancer, you'll love the new PDF upload feature. It will allow you to use up to 6 months of your banking transactions to prove to property managers your average income and affordability for their rental.

Remember that you can still securely connect directly to your bank to pull the latest 90 days transactions, and then still upload previous months statements to give an even better overview on your profile.

We're here to help if you have any questions about the feature via the live chat or on hello@ekaya.com :)

How identity theft could affect you

Many people are unaware of how Identity theft can affect their lives. Some even dismiss it as something that will “never happen to them” because they are careful with who they share their data. However, after the Master Deeds leak, over 70 million South Africans data was made available including South African ID numbers, phone numbers and street addresses. 

Take a moment and think about the number of services that use those details to verify identity before opening a line of credit?

Criminal Syndicates

Having your identity stolen and illegally used can hit your finances hard. Criminals could take out credit in your name or take money from your bank account. Those unauthorized actions on your credit profile can hurt your credit score and affect your chances of getting credit in the future.

Thankfully in most situations, the effects of fraud can be reversed if detected early enough. But this process can take an emotional toll on you and the impact can go on for much longer than the actual fraud itself – research by Experian's Victims of Fraud team shows that it takes an average of 292 days for people to discover their information has been used for fraudulent purposes and then it can take a staggering 300 hours to set the record straight!

You should check your credit report regularly as many of your financial accounts are detailed in it. Checking your credit report lets you spot fraud early. Look out for:

• Searches on your report made by lenders as a result of a credit application.
• Home addresses that aren't yours.
• Loans and accounts that you didn’t apply for.

How to spot the warning signs of identity fraud

At Ekaya, we only make things that we would use ourselves, every day. That's why we built our VIP system to be the best identity verification, credit reporting and affordability calculator on the market. We designed VIP to help tenants and landlords connect and exchange information simply and securely during the rental application process but, given the scale of the recent Masterleaks disaster, we're extending an invite to all South Africans to make use of the service in order to safeguard themselves against identity fraud.

50% off VIP
We're passionate about using good technology to help people which is why we are offering all South Africans a 50% discount on the VIP service for the next month.
 

Masterdeeds Leak - Protecting yourself against identity theft.

No more than a month ago in the US, a credit firm, Equifax, was hacked and exposed over 140 million social security numbers of Americans.  And now, in our own backyard, the private details of over 30 million South Africans – including ID numbers, contact details, addresses, and income estimates – have found their way into the public domain.

At Ekaya, we created VIP as a tool to enable tenants to securely and quickly collect their private data from credit bureaux and banks, from the convenience of their smartphones or computers, in order to apply for rental properties that they’re interested in renting.

Today, in order to give ALL South Africans (even if they are not tenants actively looking for rentals) the opportunity to use our VIP tool to pull their comprehensive credit report, we've massively discounted our pricing by 50% for the next 30 days.

Find out more about how to protect yourself below.

Ekaya VIP launches on Private Property

We’ve partnered with our friends at Private Property to make renting more personal and secure for everyone.  After all, renting is all about trust.

Quality properties deserve quality tenants.

Private Property features only top quality, scam-free properties from verified agents and landlords which means tenants can search with confidence.  VIP increases the circle of trust to include tenants.

Property managers on Private Property can now request VIPs from any tenant who enquires on their listing. The process is simple, secure and brings trust into the dealings online with tenants.

Renting Safely 101: Rental Application Process Explained

Finding your next rental can be a stressful experience especially if its your first time doing so. A big part of securing your rental is how you apply for it. This article is focused on helping you understand the rental application process and how you can use technology to make your (and the Property Owners) life easier.

Understanding the Landlords situation

Landlords are trying to find a Tenant to secure their investment. This means that they want to find the right Tenant that will not only pay the rent on time but also respect their property. On average a Landlord who lists their rental online will receive 30 phone calls and 75 emails! Thats a lot of noise that your application might get lost in.

Once a Landlord has on average 20 potential applicants, they usually setup a day for Tenants to view the rental in person. All Tenants then leave their information and the Landlord extends their final offer to the Tenant(s) that they prefer.

Lets investigate what it takes you to complete the best rental application.

90 Days Banking Transactions & Payslips

Landlords need to see what your income looks like. For this the easiest way is usually to review your last 90 days of transactions and salary slip. This helps them see your regular salary, commission based salary and your monthly expenses. They can also see historically what your affective spending limit is. This is important because according to the Rental Housing Act the rental affordability of someone should not exceed 30% of the gross income. For example if you earn a gross income of R10000/month you shouldn’t spend more than R3000/month on your rent.

Generally you will need to head to a local branch of your bank and queue to have them print this out for you. NOTE: Banks charge on average R13 per page so be cautious when requesting it!

Your Recent Credit Report

The real reason the rental industry uses credit reports is to get a view into a candidate’s payment performance, not so much his/her credit worthiness (although the two are often linked). So Landlords are looking to see if you have a history of successfully paying off your expenses and managing what you can afford to spend and pay back every month.

Landlords generally will ask you to provide this for them (at your expense) or will ask your permission to run it themselves (which sometimes they will either charge you or pay out of their pocket) You can generate this report directly from the Credit Bureau websites for a fee of between R50 and R150 depending on the site you find via Google search.

Your SAPS Certified Identity Document

Landlords want to know that the person who is looking to live inside their rental is who they say they are. There are unfortunately a lot of bad people out and they need to protect their rental income.
Getting your ID certified isn’t a complicated process, but involves you getting a certified copy of your ID document signed and stamped at a local SAPS.

Time Cost

Time is money, as the saying goes, and during the rental process you can lose a lot of time during the rental search and collecting all the required information. The best way to insure that you are ready to pounce on a rental the moment it you find it is that you have all the required information up from and ready to show to the Landlord.

How Ekaya VIP Saves You Time And Money

Ekaya’s innovative Verified Information Packet (or VIP for short) uses awesome technology to save you both time and money during the rental process.

We allow you to securely connect to your bank to generate 90 days of verified transactions. We currently support ABSA, Nedbank, FNB and Standard Bank. (Capitec to launch soon)

We also allow you to connect and verify your RSA ID when you generate your Credit Report and connect it to your Ekaya Profile.

With Ekaya we try and minimise the data exposed to the landlord to only the most relevant data points to assist them in assessing the potential risk of tenants. We also believe in you having control of the information you expose to Landlords, only sharing it with those you chose to share with and only for 7days. After that if the Landlord wishes to view your information they will have to re-request access from you. Data from credit reports is valuable, but it’s only a small part of the picture and that’s why Ekaya tries to form a holistic view of the tenant.

All of this takes under 5min to complete online and will only cost you a once off fee of R99! Once you have done this its as simple as messaging a Landlord on Ekaya or directly sharing with a Landlord by entering their email address.

Ekaya.com a new RealTech Startup is making renting a property smarter, not harder

The online rental marketplace that makes it safe and easy for people to list, find & renting a  property pulls the covers off its new offerings to help make the business of renting better for everyone.

 01 JUNE 2015 – CAPE TOWN – Ekaya.com, the online rental marketplace that makes it safe and easy for people to list, find and renting a property, announced today that it will launch a massive leap forward for the residential rental market and expand its service area to cover Gauteng as well as the Western Cape. The news is accompanied by an announcement that Bill Paladino (ex-Naspers, Amazon & Property24) has joined Ekaya’s already impressive list of investors and will be actively advising the company as it begins expanding across the country.

INTRODUCING EKAYA VIP

“We’ve packed a lot into this launch including a fresh new look for Ekaya.com but the thing we’re perhaps most excited about is the launch of our brand-new tenant verification system – called Ekaya VIP – which makes life a lot easier for tenants who are applying for properties and will give property owners new-found confidence in their selection process.”  –  Justin R. Melville, Ekaya CEO.

Ekaya VIP (Verified Information Pack) makes clever use of cutting-edge technology, previously utilised in the online lending space, to help prospective tenants collect and submit all the information they’ll need to apply for a rental property. Ekaya VIP works by collecting and verifying the identity, credit worthiness and affordability of a prospective tenant in one simple and quick process. For a nominal once-off fee of R99, the tenant’s data is stored safely in one convenient place, which enables him or her to share their information securely with multiple property owners as a part of their application without having to print out their bank statements and verify their ID document at the Police station.

For property owners and landlords, Ekaya VIP provides a clear bird’s-eye view of the risk factor of each tenant applicant, making it easier to filter-out and deal with good candidates who meet their requirements.

“Ekaya VIP is really the first tool of its kind; it makes a painful, time-consuming and often expensive part of the renting process safer, faster and more efficient for both tenants and property owners. It’s a critical part of our mission to make renting smarter, not harder,” said Melville.

At launch, Ekaya VIP will support all four major banks (ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank and Nedbank) and will be working on bringing more banks onboard in due course, such as Capitec.

“Safety and security of information is our north star. We’ve worked very hard with our partners and industry leaders to ensure the highest standard of data security without compromising the user experience,” – Rudolf Vavruch, Ekaya CTO.

EXPANDING TO GAUTENG

 After a stealthy development and testing period in Cape Town where Ekaya.com currently handles ~40,000 searches a month, the company has begun expanding its coverage area, which will now include the greater Gauteng metropolitan area.

“Johannesburg (Gauteng) is a huge market, and one that has been practically bashing down our door for access to Ekaya since shortly after we launched. I’m pumped to be bringing our offering to the City of Gold, at last!” – Ruark Ferreira, Ekaya COO.

The expansion to Gauteng marks the beginning of Ekaya’s forward march to become the nation’s biggest and best rental solution.

FRESH EYES IN BILL PALADINO

Bill Paladino joins Ekaya as an angel investor and advisor. His previous experiences, including CEO of Naspers e-commerce Africa, director at Amazon.com and board member of Property24, will introduce a wealth of rare and valuable marketplace experiences, as Ekaya plots its course toward further expansion and operational excellence.

“The guys behind Ekaya are passionate about building great software that customers love. As a rental property owner myself, the value proposition offered by Ekaya is a total no-brainer for the tenant and landlord. The potential market for something as good as this is big.” – Bill Paladino.

ABOUT EKAYA

Ekaya is a Cape Town-based startup founded in 2014 by Justin R. Melville (CEO), Ruark Ferreira (COO) & Rudolf Vavruch (CTO). The young company’s flagship offering – Ekaya.com helps people list, find and rent property safely & easily on their phone, tablet or computer.

Ekaya has attracted more than R2 Million in angel funding from notable investors including Mark Heerden, Justin Stanford, Dan Guasco, Wayne Gosling, Guilherme Steinbruch, Sebastian Stoddart, Bill Paladino and Vinny Lingham’s Newtown Partners. Ekaya graduated from the 88mph Accelerator Program (2014) and was the first company to attract funding at the Net Prophet SparkUp Live! (2014) event. Ekaya has even managed to tame a Dragon or three on the South African edition of Dragon’s Den (2014).

a Christmas Eve 2014 message from the guys at Ekaya.com :)

Here we are, Christmas Eve 2014! Most of us will be settling-in for festive celebrations with friends & family and possibly looking back on the year that has passed.

For Ruark, Rudolf and I – it’s incredible to think back on 2014 and know that just 10 months ago Ekaya didn’t exist and we knew almost nothing about the rental market (other than that it sucked, in our personal experience). What a journey it has been. Along the way we’ve come through 88mph & SparkUp Live!, launched in Cape Town, seduced some incredible Angels and tamed a Dragon or three. Today we have a cool little product, amazing customers and an incredible team behind us as we push forward on our mission to make renting better for everybody.

Whether you’ve found yourself a great space to live or found a great tenant on Ekaya, you’ve made a little bit of history with us and that’s priceless. As much as we are company… this is still a story and you’ve been an amazing cast of characters in this chapter. Thank you.

2014 has been a building year for us, a time to find our feet, forge partnerships and gather our strength. 2015 is shaping up to be a massive year for us and our little company and we have all of you to thank for that.

So my friends, please enjoy yourselves and the company of your loved ones this festive season. We shall raise a glass to you and to this crazy journey and see you all in 2015.

Best wishes and good vibes,

Ruark, Rudolf & Justin

Ekaya.com has tamed the Dragons!

Last night our CEO Justin R. Melville was on Dragons Den South Africa and all of us here at Ekaya are so proud of his performance showing how, our platform, is going to tackle the future of the rental industry! After parrying all the Dragons during the Q&A session we recieved offers from 3 of the 5 Dragons but finally settled on the offer from Vinny Lingham 🙂

You can watch the clips below or catch it on repeat on Mzansi Magic Channel 161 

We have recieved tremendous feedback and support from the public via our email, Twitter and Facebook accounts which has really touched the team here at Ekaya. We’re super excited to bring Ekaya to a city near you soon so stay tuned!

We proudly present Ekaya.com

We know we’ve been a little quiet of late – thats because the team has been working hard on new features, opening the BETA in Cape Town, and finalizing our Angel investment. 

Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking a lot about the above but here are the main highlights –

• We’ve launched the awesome Ekaya Profiles (the Ekaya Card) which lets tenants attach a snapshot of themselves when they send messages to landlords, the benefit being that landlords can see and make offers based upon the quality of the incoming interest. This is the first piece of our nifty new “matchmaking” system.
• We’ve ended the early access program and Ekaya is now in open BETA in Cape Town with around 1000 places to rent on any given day.
• We’ve successfully closed an Angel round of R1.4M from some pretty amazing Angels. It’s been a long and complex road but we’re proud of our accomplishments in this regard.

We’re also proud to announce that we have acquired our very own ‘.com’ and will be migrating from ekaya.co to ekaya.com – never fear all your old links will still work, our wizards made sure of that!

Thank you to all the people who have helped us test, retest, suggest features and test again. We look forward to working closely with the rental community to make Renting, better.

-Team Ekaya.com
(Justin – Ruark – Rudolf)

You can view/download our full press release here.

Ekaya in the Cape Town finals for “Get In The Ring"

We made it through to the Cape Town finals for the “Get In The Ring” competition!

The 8 most promising Cape Townian start-ups will compete in the Regional Final for one spot in the International Final of Get in the Ring. The Regional Final for Africa will take place on the 25th of September in Rwanda. The winner of the African Regional final will join his / her international counterparts in Rotterdam, on the 21st of November with 7 other finalists competing for investment funding up to € 1 000 000 / R 15 000 000.

Guess its time to re-watch Rocky 🙂 

Ekaya Supports #ResetTheNet

At NetProphet 2014 Simon Dingle said that we are only beginning to learn how to deal with online privacy. This is all new stuff for us as a species and it is moving fast. Future generations will look at back as us and laugh at the ridiculous mistakes we made.

#ResetTheWeb is a move that I think will put a damper on our future critics fun. Perhaps they will point to June the 5th 2014 and say, “That is when it started to turn”.

At Ekaya we have implemented site-wide SSL (https) since the beginning. As of June the 5th we will also have implemented HSTS – which is not that impressive once you know how ridiculously easy it is to do.

These are simple things we as society can do to share only what we want to share. To protect ourselves and those we interact with on this great global network everyday. And to be less of a joke to future generations.

Watch the video here.

Welcome to the new Ekaya.co

Today Ekaya.co, after 5 weeks in the 88MPH incubator, launches its new rental focused product and are super excited to start talking about it with the public.

At some point in your life, you’ll either be a tenant or a landlord. We’re making stuff you’re going to be interested in. Some of the key features of the new product are:

• Help you find a great place to live
• Make renting more affordable
• Make it easier to find good tenants
• Offer outstanding security

We’ll be releasing our first public version of the new Ekaya.co later this week. Until then any questions can be directed to hello@ekaya.co