RadPad, a mobile payments app designed for landlords and renters, had to end a promotion it launched with Stripe and Android Pay after just two weeks due to an overwhelming number of people participating.
The deal allowed renters using the app to pay rent with a credit card through Android Pay for no fee. In the two weeks after the promotion was announced, thousands of people signed up for the service, which resulted in more than $5 million in rental payments being made by users with Android Pay.
But in a blog post, RadPad said the surge in usage had already surpassed the portion of its annual budget allocated to subsidize the credit card fees, causing it to shut down the promotion early.
“Anyone who signed up and qualified for the promotion prior to Aug. 24, 2016, will still enjoy free credit card fees as long as their rent is charged on or before Aug. 31, 2016. However, we will not be able to offer the promotion through the end of the year,” the company stated.
After Aug. 31, 2016, RadPad said the regular 2.99 percent fee will apply to users that decide to pay their rent using Android Pay.
As an alternative, the company suggested its users can switch to using ACH payments via its website or switch to debit.
“We want to apologize to all of our users that were hoping to utilize this promotion through the end of the year. We understand the confusion and anger this has caused many of you and rightfully so. We’ve learned a valuable lesson, and the last thing we ever want to do is lose your faith and trust,” the blog post continued.