Buy now, pay later changed retail. Health care and rent are next.

Last March, in the midst of a nationwide lockdown that left millions out of work, the residents of Wasatch Property Management’s apartment complexes were presented with a solution to the impending problem of rent. It came from a little cartoon woman named Penny featured on Wasatch’s Facebook page. Through an app called Flex, Penny explained, tenants could pay rent in installments throughout the month, rather than a lump sum at the month’s start.