Update 4/11/23: Points cap has been increased from 50,000 to 100,000.
We’ve posted a smattering of information on the Bilt Rewards Mastercard (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) as the card evolved over the past year. I thought it useful to consolidate everything into a single formal review which we’ll try to keep updated. Please let us know in the comments if there’s anything missing in this review and I’ll add it in.
Overview
Direct application link for Bilt card
Bilt is a platform for paying rent. They’ve launched a credit card, in partnership with Wells Fargo, which offers the ability to charge your monthly rent to the card and earn rewards, even if your landlord does not accept credit card payments. You can earn up to 100,000 points per year and set up the payment to be sent out either via check or ACH (they give you a routing/account number to draw the rent from).
The card comes with many top-notch travel partners where you can transfer points and has no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. The Bilt credit card earns 3x on Dining, 2x on Travel, and 1x on all other purchases, including Rent payments.
Rewards
Card earns the following reward earnings:
3x points per dollar on Dining
2x points per dollar on Travel (see this comment)
1x points per dollar on all other purchases
1x points per dollar on rent payments, up to 50,000 points per year
Note: You must make a minimum of five purchases per statement period to earn rewards (a rent payment counts as one)
They also offer a special ‘Bilt Rent Day’ rate for the first 24-hours of each calendar month to earn double rewards:
Dining: 6x points (regularly 3x points)
Travel: 4x points (regularly 2x points)
All other purchases (excluding rent): 2x points (regularly 1x points)
Redeeming Rewards
Points are worth 1.5 cents each when applying them toward a down payment on a home (you might need to have ‘Gold’ status in order to use this option (?) which is someone who accrues at least 50,000 points in a calendar year)
Points can be redeemed at a rate of 1.25 cents per points on the Bilt Rewards Travel Portal powered by Expedia. Points can be redeemed at 500+ airlines, 700K+ properties, 120+ car rental companies.
Points can be cashed out by applying them toward a future rent payment at a rate of 0.55¢.
Bilt is also a partner in the Amazon Shop With Points program which gives a redemption rate of .7¢ per point ($.007). A little better than the cash redemption rate.
Points can also be transferred to travel partners at 1:1 ratio to the following travel partners:
American Airlines AAdvantage
World of Hyatt
Air Canada Aeroplan
Emirates Skywards
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Turkish Miles & Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hawaiian Miles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
IHG Hotels and Resorts
United Miles
Points never expire. Points can be transferred in 2,000 point increments (or in lower 1,000 point increments for ‘Silver’ members who accrue at least 25,000 points in a calendar year).
Signup Bonus
There is no signup bonus on the card, though I have seen a couple of reports of some small bonus offer being sent to some people after signing up so keep an eye out in case you get that.
Card Details
Card is issued in partnership with Wells Fargo Bank
No annual fee
No foreign transaction fee
Primary car rental insurance
$800 of cell phone insurance
Mastercard World Elite benefits
Trip cancellation & interruption protection (up to $5,000)
Trip delay reimbursement for a delay of 6 hours or more (max $200/day and $1,800 total)
Purchase protection for damage or theft (up to $10,000)
Card is metal
Upon approval, you get an instant virtual card number from the Bilt app which can be used digitally until the physical card comes
Cardholders will earn 2x points on all travel purchases made through the Bilt Rewards Travel Portal powered by Expedia
Referral Program
Bilt offers a referral program: get 2,500 bonus Bilt points for each friend you refer to the Bilt Rewards Mastercard. For each five referrals, the referrer gets an additional bonus 10,000 points. I’m not aware of any limit to the 2,500 or 10,000 referral bonuses. Max 2,025,000 points can be earned from the Bilt referral program. (Terms)
No referral links in the comments below, please.
Our Verdict
The Bilt card is an easy opportunity for someone who rents to earn up to 100,000 valuable, transferable points per year by paying with the Bilt card at no cost for you or the landlord, even if your landlord does not accept credit card payment. Some people might be nervous trusting the system to have the rent in on time; I suppose you can set up the payment to go a week early and ensure it gets there on time.
Beyond the rent payment angle, there are some nice rewards and benefits which are unique to a no-fee card: 3x dining & 2x travel earnings are nice, primary car rental insurance is useful, along with other travel protections and no foreign transaction fee.
For those who don’t travel, the redemption options are more limited. The 1.5 cents value toward a future down payment is nice for someone who plans on buying a house in the near future, but otherwise you’re stuck with .55 cents value toward a rent payment or .7 cents value on Amazon.
In the end, I see this card as useful for someone who has a decently high monthly rent payment, who can make use of the valuable transfer partners, and who is willing to sacrifice a 5/24 spot for the card. The card can also make sense for someone starting out who doesn’t have many other chargeable expenses and wants to build a credit history with their rent payments. Or, more generally, it can be a practical no-fee starter card.
With the addition of the double Rent Day promo, the card gets more interesting for anyone who can manage to spend a lot in a single day, e.g. use the first day of each month to pay out the bills for the entire month.