The Bilt Mastercard recently started accepting applications for anyone who wishes to apply after a waitlist program. This is an innovative no annual fee card that virtually anyone who pays rent in the United States should consider picking up.
The no annual fee Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo. The card has lucrative bonus categories, and earns points that can be transferred to popular airline and hotel partners. But the truly unique feature of the card — and really the fundamental value proposition — involves the ability to pay rent with the card with no fee, all while earning rewards.
That’s right, you can pay your rent with no fee even if your landlord doesn’t accept credit card payments, or would otherwise charge a fee. For many people that probably sounds too good to be true.
The Bilt rewards card makes sense for anyone who pays rent and doesn’t currently earn rewards doing it. Rent for many people is the largest monthly expense. The national average or median rents are in the $1100-$1300 range per month
Earning points with the Bilt Mastercard
The Bilt Mastercard earns the following rewards when you have at least five posted transactions per billing cycle:
- 3x points on dining
- 2x points on travel
- 1x points on rent payments without any transaction fees, up to a limit of 50,000 points per year
- 1x points on everything else
- Go here to sign-up for the Bilt Rewards Program
The card also has no foreign transaction fees and is a World Elite Mastercard, so has great global acceptance, and is a good card to use abroad (especially given that a lot of foreign spending is on dining and travel).
Redeeming points with the Bilt Mastercard
You” be earning 1-3x points per dollar spent with a variety of ways to redeem points (ranging from experiences to merchandise). Frequent travelers would be most interested in the ability to transfer these points to airline and hotel partners.
Bilt has the following travel transfer partners, all offering 1:1 transfers:
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- American AAdvantage (the only program that transfers to American Airlines 1:1)
- Emirates Skywards
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- IHG Rewards
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Points
- World of Hyatt
These transfer partners are competitive with what you’ll find with major transferable points currencies. What some might find most exciting is the World of Hyatt partnership, as well as the American AAdvantage partnership. That’s because the former only otherwise partners with Chase Ultimate Rewards, while the latter doesn’t otherwise partner with any major transferable points currencies.
Disadvantages of the Bilt Rent Payment Card
The most intriguing aspect of the Bilt Mastercard is the ability to pay rent by credit card without fees and earn up to 50,000 points per year. This works even if your landlord doesn’t accept credit card payments, as Bilt will send a check. We assume that Bilt loses money when giving out rewards and then mailing a check to a landlord it has no relationship with. They most likely hope to get rental companies on its platform, hoping that being associated with Bilt gets more renters, and streamlines the payment process.
My two biggest cons with the card is that The Bilt Mastercard doesn’t offer any sort of a welcome bonus, some apartments do not take anything but money orders or cashier’s checks, and you have to spend a certain amount ($250) to get the cash back on your rent payment. You also have a minimum redemption of $50 which is more than most programs including Discover where you can redeem at any amount.
Is the Bilt Mastercard worth it?
Is it worth getting the Bilt Mastercard? If you’re a renter in the United States and you can’t currently pay your rent by credit card, or have to pay a fee to make such a payment by credit card, then yes, this card is absolutely worth it. You can earn valuable rewards for money you have to spend anyway, so that’s a complete no-brainer.
If you don’t pay rent and have a mortgage it may still make sense for some because of the transfer partners. Given that you can’t make fee-free payments for mortgages, HOAs, etc., could it still make sense to get the card? Earning 3x transferable points on travel and 2x transferable points on dining on a no annual fee card is still a great deal.
For someone looking to earn transferable points without an annual fee, I’d say this is an excellent option, especially if you spend a lot on dining and travel.
Bottom line
The no annual fee Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo, and recently opened to applicants without a waitlist. This card is mostly targeted for those who rent an apartment who can pay up to $50,000 per year in rent without fees. This happens when you pay through the Bilt app, and a check will be sent to your landlord on your behalf. A fascinating way to earn money when paying rent.
The Bilt card offers 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel, and those points can be transferred to several valuable partners, ranging from American AAdvantage to World of Hyatt.
I think this card is absolutely worth it for renters, and even for non-renters this could be a great no annual fee card option, assuming you’re looking for travel rewards and spend a lot on dining and travel.
