The Australian tenants who are charged to pay their rent

Guy Moore at his home in Leichhardt in Sydney. Moore resisted when his agent tried to make him use the payment app MyTenant and took his agent to Ncat. He was annoyed by the potential fee as well as privacy risks. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

For almost two years, Tim* has paid an extra $4.83 a month to pay the rent. That recently climbed to $5.10 when the rent went up.

The real estate agency that manages their home in Melbourne moved its tenants over to a payment app called Ailo in late 2022. Since then, they have paid a service fee – worked out as a percentage of their rent – to set up a recurring bank transfer on the platform.