For many Americans, housing is a major fixed expense. But there is a no annual fee credit card that can net you a little back just by paying something you would have paid a hefty percentage of your monthly income on.
That's the BILT Mastercard, which I've been using for the last six months. And I want to share how I've already been able to earn points and even earned free flight after just two months.
Related: An Interview With the CEO Who Created a Rewards System for Renters
What is the BILT Mastercard?
The BILT World Elite Mastercard by Bilt Rewards is a $0 annual fee card administered by Wells Fargo Bank (WFC) -) that launched in 2021.
I want to clear early on that Wells Fargo is the bank issuing and administering BILT card because some may not want to bank with Wells Fargo, which is understandable given its recent history. There have not been any issues reported between BILT users about Wells Fargo aside from a minor issue in January.
If banking with Wells Fargo isn't an issue for you, then I think you'll find there to be very little downside with the BILT Mastercard.
Cardholders will earn points in three distinct categories:
- 3x on dining
- 2x on travel
- 1x on rent
All other charges also earn 1x points.
Rent is obviously the biggest draw of the card, even though it only earns 1x points per dollar spent. That's because not only are you able to earn points from paying rent, but the credit card transaction fee for rent payers is waived. That fee is 3% for my apartment building in Chicago but may even be higher for others.
BILT is able to earn cardholder points in three ways.
The first is through the BILT Rewards Alliance, which is a collection of over 2 million rental homes across the country. Cardholders can simply ask their landlord if their property is under the BILT alliance and they will be able to immediately get the points through paying with their credit card.
The second and third fit under the same umbrella: BILT will simulate a regular deposit to your landlord on your behalf.
There's the option to pay rent online, which is the one I've been using over the last six months. On the BILT app, you are provided with a routing number and account number that you will simply input on your landlord's online payment portal.
These portals usually have some form of verification, like depositing a small amount of money into your bank account and asking you how much was deposited. BILT sent me a text less than 24 hours after my verification request with all the details I needed to facilitate my account.
If you want to pay by check, BILT can also send a check to your landlord. You simply need to provide the account name to pay and the address to send the check to, and BILT will send the funds within five to seven business days.
You will be charged through your BILT credit card and receive the points a few days after.
It's worth noting that you must also charge at least five transactions per month to your card in order to receive the points for paying rent — though rent is already counted as one transaction. This shouldn't be hard for those who will use it as their card for dining out, but for those who might just want to use it for rent, a tip credit card YouTuber Daniel Braun suggested is to use the card for mini purchases like paying for coffee.
Some Notable Additional Perks of the BILT Card:
- BiltProtect: Rent is a huge payment, and it could eat into a big chunk of your credit balance. But by turning on BiltProtect, you will be charged by BILT with a BiltProtect Rent ACH transaction and the rent payment will not be tacked onto your balance.
- BILT Dining: Get 5x points for dining at specifics restaurants in big cities like New York, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
- Rent Day: On the first day of every month, BILT doubles your points earned. That means 6x points on dining, 4x points on travel, and 2x points on all other purchases except rent.
- Trip delay reimbursement worth up to $200 per day per covered traveler.
- BILT and Lyft Partnership: Earn 2x points on Lyft ride share, then an additional 3x points when using the BILT card by linking your BILT and Lyft accounts.
BILT points can be exchanged for many things in different categories.
For travel, BILT has a travel portal where 1 point is worth 1.25 cents. It also has a list of travel partners to transfer points to 1:1 that include American Airlines, World of Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific.
You can also transfer points to pay back your rent or even save towards a down payment for a house. There are also other places to use your points such as fitness classes or The Bilt Collection, which is usually a selection of art and decor featured by BILT.
My experience with the BILT Mastercard
For my apartment in Chicago, I pay about $1,395 for rent every month, which nets me 1,395 BILT points. Assuming I pay just rent on my card, that's 16,740 points for my 12-month lease.
At a 1.25 cent per point valuation, that would be $209.25. Compared to the amount I pay for rent, that doesn't seem like a lot. But considering I didn't need to do anything but use my card, it's a worthwhile consolation prize to feel better about the rising prices of American housing.
There are also other transactions that can net you BILT points that sometimes the credit card accepts for 1x points such as electricity and phone bills — though BILT does not promote this. I usually pay around $40 to $50 in electricity bills, and I'm able to skirt that by through BILT as well.
But this doesn't work all the time. I got my gas payment declined by attempting to use the bank details BILT provided. I even tried to use it on student loan payments — which are back to haunt many Americans starting September — but it also did not work.
BILT does indicate that cardholders can only receive "one rent payment to one property per month" in its terms and conditions.
I also got the card only a few days after I moved back to Chicago and was compelled to charge a lot to it initially. I did that because BILT gave me a small little perk of 5x points on all purchases in my first five days of holding the card which I used for bigger purchases like a gym membership and stocking up on groceries.
BILT also doesn't seem to promote this publicly, and it's unclear whether all consumers get this perk. But if you do get it, it's a decent way to make up for one of the downsides of BILT, which is that it doesn't have a sign-up bonus that most other credit cards provide.
Because of that initial boost, I was able to earn about $7,500 points in the first two months which I was already able to use to purchase a one-way flight from Chicago to Orlando in June that was worth just under $100 through the BILT travel portal.
There are even more efficient ways to maximize credit card points through transfer partners, and BILT has even offered much better than 1:1 points transfers for some of its partners in the past.
Conclusion
The truth is, even though BILT provides a beautiful black metal card, I almost never bring it out of my apartment. I don't use my BILT Mastercard for much outside of rent.
The 3x points on dining is good compared with other no annual fee cards, but I normally use my American Express Gold Card because it has 4x points on groceries and dining — my highest non-rent expense categories.
Despite that, I still love the BILT card, and I think it's a no-brainer for anyone letting go of a massive chunk of their monthly take home pay for rent.
Colin Salao
In six months, I've earned 16,317 points. At just a 1.25 cents per point rate, that's $204 — and 56% of my points were earned through rent payments.
The five required monthly transaction fees may be a hassle to remember for some, but I've connected it to my Lyft app and use it to charge the rental bikes I use around Chicago so I never have to worry about missing the quota.
I also enjoy BILT's gamification. On Rent Day, they let cardholders play a mini-game that enters them into a contest for a chance to win a free month's worth of rent.
If I had to point out one downside to BILT, it's that it's clearly targeted towards big cities right now, and New York City in particular. There are several perks — like BILT Dining — that I haven't really used, but I feel might be more accessible for those in NYC.
But at its core, the BILT card gives me exactly what it promotes: a small reprieve from your biggest fixed monthly expense. I think that's something we all deserve.
If this story has you interested in signing up for a BILT card as well, feel free to use my referral link.
