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Your rent is likely one of your biggest monthly expenses. But what if you could get something back for it?
The Bilt Mastercard is the first of its kind — allowing you to pay rent with your credit card without fees and earn rewards. Bilt also reports your rent payments to credit bureaus, helping you build credit.
In this review, we’ll analyze the key features of The Bilt card, how it stacks up, and if it’s worth it for renters.
Is the Bilt card worth it?
The Bilt card delivers an exceptional value tailored squarely for renters.
The rental and housing markets have undergone massive changes in recent years. Rent prices continue to surge across most major cities, squeezing budgets for millions of Americans. Half of all renters in the United States spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. This makes the Bilt card a good option to help offset your rent payments.
The card boasts added benefits, including rewards on travel and dining. It also has no annual or foreign currency conversion fee. This is great if you travel often.
Despite this, there are some limitations. If you’re not a renter, you won’t be able to reap significant rewards. Though paying rent through the Bilt card can help solidify your credit history, only those with good to excellent credit may qualify. This makes the Bilt card not the best credit-building option for those with fair or low credit.
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How the Bilt card works
The Bilt card revolutionizes card rewards by letting you earn points on a major expense, rent. You can earn 1X points on your rent payment, up to 100,000 points per calendar year. So, if your monthly rent is $2,000, you’d earn 2,000 Bilt points monthly, or 24,000 per year.
You’ll need to make a minimum of five purchases per statement period to be eligible to earn the maximum points. However, don’t panic. There’s no minimum for these purchases, so you could use your Bilt card to buy a coffee or hail a ride, which will count toward your five transactions.
You can also earn points when you use the Bilt card for other purchases:
- 3X points on dining expenses
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on other purchases
Using your Bilt card frequently will also help you reach the elite tier in the Bilt Rewards program, which has additional benefits.
How to pay rent with the Bilt credit card
If you join Bilt, you can pay rent in various ways.
First, you’ll need to know if you live at a property part of the Bilt Alliance, which includes over four million homes. If so, you can pay directly through Bilt’s mobile app or website.
If your rental is not part of the Bilt Alliance but you can pay rent online, you can process your rent payment as an ACH transfer. It will then be charged to your Bilt card, and you can earn points.
If you pay rent by check, you can charge your rent directly to your Bilt card. Once your transaction is approved, Bilt will mail a check to your landlord.
Typically, you’d be charged processing fees when using a credit card to pay rent. Bilt will cover these fees.
Redeeming your Bilt Points
With the Bilt card, you can exchange points for travel and shopping discounts. You can even apply them as a credit towards your rent. Here’s a breakdown.
- Travel: You can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to different travel rewards programs, including American Airlines, British Airways, IHG, United, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, and more. The bottom line is that Bilt has you covered no matter where you’d like to travel.
- Shopping: You can redeem your Bilt Points to cover purchases at Amazon or to buy exclusive items curated by The Bilt Collection, which includes art and home decor.
- Fitness: If you’re a fitness enthusiast, you can exchange points for classes at SoulCycle, Y7 Studio, and [solidcore].
- Rent or down payment: You can also use your points to cover part of your rent or pay a down payment. So, if homeownership is your dream, the Bilt card can get you closer to making it a reality.
Bilt’s Rent Day
One unique feature of the Bilt Card is the Rent Day bonus. On the first of every month, you can earn double the points on all non-rent purchases, up to 10,000 bonus points.
This amounts to 6X on dining and 4X on travel. You can also redeem points for exclusive experiences or earn a bonus when you transfer points to one of Bilt’s travel partner programs. Therefore, waiting until Rent Day to cash out points may make sense, especially if you have an upcoming trip in mind.
Bilt card fees
Another outstanding aspect of the Bilt card is its lack of annual or foreign transaction fees. This comes in handy if you plan on using it internationally.
There are other fees to be aware of, including a late payment fee and fees for balance transfers and cash advances. The Bilt card’s APR varies depending on your creditworthiness.
Who can apply?
Because Bilt reports your rent payments to your credit bureau, it’s easy to think of Bilt as a straightforward credit-builder card. But unfortunately, that’s not the reality for everyone.
Only those with good to excellent credit — or a FICO score of 670 and above — will likely receive approval.
Should you get a Bilt card?
The Bilt card might sound like a no-brainer for renters since it stands out as the only way to earn rewards for rent payments without paying any fees.
The Bilt card also makes sense if you dine out often and are looking for a card that gives you great value on travel rewards.
But there are some situations where the Bilt card is not for you. If you’re a homeowner, your reward-earning potential might be limited. The same goes for those looking to build credit, as they may not qualify for the Bilt card.
If you spend more in everyday categories like groceries and gas, you’d likely be better off using a different no annual fee credit card. Bilt only offers 1X points in these categories, and you can likely find higher reward rates elsewhere.
Alternatives to the Bilt card
Some other cash back and travel credit cards may make more sense for you, depending on your priorities.
Best for cash back: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
With an attractive welcome bonus and exceptional cash back, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a great option for earning rewards on everyday spending.
You’ll earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming subscriptions, and grocery store purchases (excluding superstores). You’ll also earn 10% back on Uber purchases (through Nov. 14, 2024), 8% on Capital One Entertainment purchases, 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 1% on all other purchases.
Best for building credit: Petal 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa Credit Card
If you’re more focused on building credit — but still want to earn rewards — you may want to consider the Petal 2 card. This card requires no credit check to apply and has few fees, including an annual fee, foreign transaction fees, or late fees.
You can earn up to 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases, an uncommon feature among credit builder cards.
The bottom line
The Bilt card offers plenty of benefits if you are a renter and enjoy dining out and traveling. But, finding the best card requires you to look at your finances and identify where you spend the most.
While the Bilt card is undoubtedly unique and poses a win for some, make sure all of its perks line up with your spending and financial goals.
Opinions expressed are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included in the post.