Link: Apply for the no annual fee Bilt Mastercard®
The Bilt Mastercard® is an innovative no annual fee card that virtually anyone who pays rent in the United States should consider picking up (and maybe even others). I wanted to take an updated look at it, to reflect the current value proposition of this unique product.
In this post:
The basic value proposition of the Bilt Mastercard
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. Beyond that, the card offers some amazing benefits for a no annual fee card, ranging from cell phone protection to rental car coverage.
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, so let’s dig a bit deeper.
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 100,000 points per year
- 1x points on everything else
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 for many, a lot of foreign spending is on dining and travel). On top of that, Bilt has a Rent Day promotion on the first day of each month, whereby you can earn double points on many payments.
Redeeming points with the Bilt Mastercard
The concept of earning 1-3x points per dollar spent sounds great, but how can you actually redeem points earned with the Bilt Mastercard? While there are a variety of ways to redeem points (ranging from experiences to merchandise), those of us in the travel space will probably be most interested in the ability to transfer these points to airline and hotel partners.
Bilt has the following 15 travel transfer partners, all offering 1:1 transfers:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- American AAdvantage
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy (If you transfer 20k points, you’ll receive 25k Marriott Bonvoy points)
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 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. There are of course many great uses of World of Hyatt points and American AAdvantage miles.
Bilt Mastercard perks & benefits
The Bilt Mastercard offers some incredible benefits on account of being a World Elite Mastercard, which you won’t find with many other no annual fee cards. Among other things, the Bilt Mastercard offers:
- A cell phone protection benefit — pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Bilt Mastercard, and you’ll get up to $800 in protection (subject to a $25 deductible) against covered damage or theft
- Primary rental car coverage — receive auto coverage for covered damage due to collision or theft for most rental cars when you pay for the transaction with the Bilt Mastercard
- Trip delay reimbursement — get reimbursed for expenses incurred when your trip is delayed more than six hours due to reasons like inclement weather, mechanical breakdown, etc.
- Trip cancellation & interruption coverage — get up to $5,000 reimbursement for non-refundable passenger fare if your trip is interrupted or canceled for a covered reason when you book with your Bilt Mastercard
While there are plenty of premium credit cards offering protection like this, it’s extremely rare to see this level of protection on a no annual fee card. You’ll of course want to consult the benefits guide to look at all the terms & conditions associated with this.
Bilt refer-a-friend program
Bilt has a refer-a-friend program, whereby you can be rewarded when you refer others to the card:
- You can earn 22,500 points for every five friends who are approved for the card; this comes in the form of 2,500 bonus points per approved application, and 10,000 bonus points for every five approved applications
- You can earn up to 2,025,000 points this way, which you’d get after successfully referring 450 people
- You don’t even need to be a cardmember to refer someone — just download the Bilt Rewards app, fill out your profile, and at the top left you’ll find your invitation code to give to friends
Even if Bilt isn’t a fit for you, this is a good way to be rewarded for recommending the product to friends and family.
Bilt rent day promotions
On the first day of each month, Bilt has rent day promotions, intended to add value for members. This can range from a partner transfer bonus, to a status fast track promotion, to bonus points for completing certain activity. This could add quite a bit of value over time, and in some cases you don’t even need to be a cardmember to take advantage of these offers.
What’s the catch? Is Bilt too good to be true?
The most intriguing aspect of the Bilt Mastercard is the ability to pay rent by credit card without fees and earn up to 100,000 points per year. This works even if your landlord doesn’t accept credit card payments, as Bilt will send a check.
You might be wondering “well how exactly is that possible?” All I can do is speculate, but here’s how I view it:
- Presumably Bilt loses money when giving out rewards and then mailing a check to a landlord it has no relationship with, but this is part of a bigger play
- Bilt hopes to get rental companies on its platform, hoping that being associated with Bilt gets more renters, and streamlines the payment process
- The Bilt Mastercard doesn’t offer any sort of a welcome bonus, so I suppose you can view this as another way of investing in cardmembers (other credit cards offer rewards upfront that are in some cases worth $1,000+)
- The Bilt Mastercard is designed so that you have to make a certain number of purchases every billing cycle, which is a good way to keep people spending money on the card (which could be lucrative)
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.
What about for those who don’t rent? 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 dining and 2x transferable points on travel on a no annual fee card is pretty lucrative. Furthermore, getting perks like cell phone protection, rental car coverage, and travel protection, with a no annual fee card, is pretty unheard of.
I’d say a strong argument could be made for a certain type of consumer using the Bilt Mastercard for these bonus categories. One disadvantage of this card compared to other cards out there is the lack of a welcome bonus, though.
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.
While I absolutely think the card is a great option for a large segment of the population, that’s not the case for everyone. For example, in my particular case there’s not much value to be had, at least based on my current credit card strategy:
- I don’t rent, so I wouldn’t benefit from the ability to make fee-free rent payments
- I have around 30 credit cards that I use to maximize my points, so I have other cards that offer bigger bonuses on both dining and travel
- I have credit cards offering many of the perks that the Bilt Mastecard offers, like cell phone protection and rental car coverage
Of course I’m also not your average consumer when it comes to using rewards cards. 😉
Bottom line
The no annual fee Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo, and has a unique value proposition. You can pay up to $100,000 per year in rent without fees — just pay through the Bilt app, and a check will be sent to your landlord on your behalf. That’s an amazing opportunity for renters.
Beyond that, the 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. Furthermore, the card offers cell phone protection, rental car coverage, travel coverage, and more.
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 value the perks, or are looking for travel rewards and spend a lot on dining and travel.
However, for us non-renters, the lack of a welcome bonus is a major downside compared to other lucrative travel rewards cards nowadays, as you’ll have to do a lot of spending to make up for the lack of a bonus.
What do you make of the Bilt Mastercard?
Did I miss something 3x for dining and 2x for travel and 1x for all other purchases doesn't sound like a deal.
I have Bilt and have enjoyed tremendous value transferring Bilt points to WoH for free nights. My landlord is an individual who prefers that I transfer the rent payment via Apple Pay or Zelle but Bilt has been paying my rent via a physical check, and I have not had any issue with it. With 3x dining and 2x travel, I have switched some of my spending from Sapphire Reserve to Bilt since I primarily...
I have Bilt and have enjoyed tremendous value transferring Bilt points to WoH for free nights. My landlord is an individual who prefers that I transfer the rent payment via Apple Pay or Zelle but Bilt has been paying my rent via a physical check, and I have not had any issue with it. With 3x dining and 2x travel, I have switched some of my spending from Sapphire Reserve to Bilt since I primarily transfer my UR points to WoH anyway. For non bonus spend such as insurance premium payments to State Farm, I use my WoH (for the night credits) or Citi AAdvantage card (for Loyalty Points).
With these current features, it's a compelling option for the young Doubt who'll be graduating from college in a year.
Fingers crossed it doesn't get nerfed by then.
I would add two things :
1. The “secret “ SUB is 10points/$ ,not 5points like someone else mentioned on the thread for up to 50 000 points in the first five days of activation. Once you activate the card, you would receive a text message with the offer.
2. You accrue interest on your points monthly ,unless you are the basic tier ( there are four tiers). IMHO, Bilt is simply the best...
I would add two things :
1. The “secret “ SUB is 10points/$ ,not 5points like someone else mentioned on the thread for up to 50 000 points in the first five days of activation. Once you activate the card, you would receive a text message with the offer.
2. You accrue interest on your points monthly ,unless you are the basic tier ( there are four tiers). IMHO, Bilt is simply the best card product out there since CSR inaugural and before CSR lost .value .Will see how long would last .
@ Stan P ~ P2 & I each recently earned 5x up to $10,000 spend within 5 days of card receipt. Very early on, though, the card earned 2x or 10x the first week or month, anyways was different promi parameters then now
Two words scared me away..."Wells Fargo".
It really is a great card. And the increase to 100K/year will be very helpful for those paying rent above ~$4K / month rent in higher-priced cities. If you're considering signing up I would very much appreciate it if you could use my referral link!!! https://bilt.page/r/7MTK-JWGG
Rent Day (1st Day of the month) is where the real value is. Great time to reload restaurant gift cards (6X) and to buy miscellaneous stuff (2X). Paying taxes too and is equivalent to buying a point for less than a cent.
Yes…Ben glossed over quite a few other features as well. In fact, there is an obvious void of data from OMAAT about this card, program, & full benefits.
The above post needs a serious update from just 2 months ago, especially considering the Bilt April 2023 Rent Day promo was Hyatt Globalist status with only 20 nights!
I realize it’s not a contractual SUB, but for at least 5 months now Bilt has...
Yes…Ben glossed over quite a few other features as well. In fact, there is an obvious void of data from OMAAT about this card, program, & full benefits.
The above post needs a serious update from just 2 months ago, especially considering the Bilt April 2023 Rent Day promo was Hyatt Globalist status with only 20 nights!
I realize it’s not a contractual SUB, but for at least 5 months now Bilt has offered 5x points for 5 days (from card delivery) up to 50,000 points for many posters on other travel blogs. And P2 & I also both received 50,000 points. That’s the equivalent to a new Citi/Barclays AA card sign up but no mention made here?
There is Trivia on Rent Day with the opportunity for P2 & I to earn up to 500 - 1,000 AA/Hyatt ponts from that alone. There is the opportunity to earn interest on point accumulations - no other card issuer has ever offered that!
Yes the AMEX Gold earns 4x on dining (v Bilt 3x, 6x on Rent Day), but those points are not transferrable to AA or Hyatt like Bilt’s points are. And the ability to earn 10,000 AA/Hyatt points once a month on $5k non-bonus spend is also not attainable elsewhere. This card is so innovative yet underappreciated /underreported by this site.
Yeah I have to admit, I disregarded the "rent day" stuff at first since I only use the card to pay rent and don't otherwise pay attention to it, but the Hyatt Globalist one caught my attention. They have some pretty lucrative give aways.
pstm91 - I originally disregarded when Ben/every other blogger misreported you couldn’t earn 1x/no fee on HOA fees (rent ONLY)! I verified myself with Bilt thatyou can, and its been working perfectly. I have found myself using this card much more than expected.
Does anybody have any experience using the Bilt MC to pay for a business lease? I am thinking of getting this card but don't want to waste a 5/24 slot if this doesn't work for business lease payments.
Disallowed in Bilt’s T&Cs
Beware using this card!! This was my first time using this card and already seeing so many red flags.
I just tried to pay my rent with BILT Jan 31, 2023, and I'm starting to think that this is a scam or shady new business. I attempted to use BILTs routing information to pay rent and it got rejected ! To the landlord it looks like a bounced / cancelled check. Because of this,...
Beware using this card!! This was my first time using this card and already seeing so many red flags.
I just tried to pay my rent with BILT Jan 31, 2023, and I'm starting to think that this is a scam or shady new business. I attempted to use BILTs routing information to pay rent and it got rejected ! To the landlord it looks like a bounced / cancelled check. Because of this, the landlord has added a payment rejection fee on top of my unpaid rent which is now late even though I attempted to pay early. I've tried to call BILT rental customer service 6 times and the first time I called an agent I asked for help to increase the limit. She she said OK it's changed and should work now and tried to rush me off the phone. She sounded shady as if she pretended to click buttons. I checked my account and the limit had not changed. 2 other phone calls, two different customer service agents picked up then said they can't find my rent payment history. Next they transferred me to the "rent and billing department" and it takes me to an answering machine. I left my details with callback info and No one has called back yet. I think this might be some sort of a scam in the making! I'm going to cancel it after this terrible experience and now I'm late in rent AND owe a fee.
Good article. I just got mine.
My landlord only takes checks. I have Bilt send them a check 5-6 days before the due date. So far, no issues with the check arriving on time.
Problems arise with with BIlt Rent Protect which is an ACH from your bank account to cover the cost of rent. All of that is fine, except that Wells Fargo sees it as a debit and a credit. That means when my rent exceeds the amount of...
My landlord only takes checks. I have Bilt send them a check 5-6 days before the due date. So far, no issues with the check arriving on time.
Problems arise with with BIlt Rent Protect which is an ACH from your bank account to cover the cost of rent. All of that is fine, except that Wells Fargo sees it as a debit and a credit. That means when my rent exceeds the amount of my charges, Wells Fargo takes no payment for my credit card balance. Called them about it and they said it was a glitch because of the uniqueness of the program.
So far, every month, I've made supplemental payments so that my credit card rolling balance is always below the last statement balance. Not sure if Wells Fargo would charge interest on the amount that remained unpaid because of their faulty crediting.
Someone else want to weigh in on how this is being handled? In the meantime, I set a reminder to go into my account on the due date and pay the last statement balance regardless of whether it shows a payment due.
SERIOUSLY Y'all! No one looked at the terms and conditions of the card! Check out the interest rate if people carry a balance. I see this causing a LOT of problems for poor folks. Just saying. Nope nope nope.
Duh you have to pay off your card each month. You use it you pay back immediately
Renter here. The 8 transactions per month in order to get points for rental payments is a pain that I do not want to keep track of. I guess I can buy a 1 dollar item that I usually buy anyway 7-8 times at a self-checkout or at a gas pump? I’d figure the card would be locked doing this. I’ll pass for now.
I thought it was only 5 transactions, not 8. ?
Paying for a card is an American thing. I'm working in the middle east and my free card gets me airport lounges, priority boarding, hotel upgrade and all sorts of goodies with out cost. Have money in the bank - your the one wanted- not the card. I'm sought constantly by other cards who want my business but I don't change because my card keeps me happy for free or I bring my business elsewhere....
Paying for a card is an American thing. I'm working in the middle east and my free card gets me airport lounges, priority boarding, hotel upgrade and all sorts of goodies with out cost. Have money in the bank - your the one wanted- not the card. I'm sought constantly by other cards who want my business but I don't change because my card keeps me happy for free or I bring my business elsewhere. Amexpensive express Anyone? Also tip me or else , entitled much ? Terrible culture.
wtf are you here commenting? Did an arab reject you from sucking their hairy camel Dee tonight?
If I understand correctly you “pay” rent w the card but then the company sends a check to the rental mgmt company. If this is correct then hard pass. I pay rent for my daughter’s apartment but draft it out of my checking acct since there is a fee (even for debit cards) otherwise. Conceptually the tactic you proposed (assuming I understood it correctly) would work but how about if Bilt didn’t send the check...
If I understand correctly you “pay” rent w the card but then the company sends a check to the rental mgmt company. If this is correct then hard pass. I pay rent for my daughter’s apartment but draft it out of my checking acct since there is a fee (even for debit cards) otherwise. Conceptually the tactic you proposed (assuming I understood it correctly) would work but how about if Bilt didn’t send the check or it didn’t arrive by the deadline (5th of the month for my daughter’s apt). Trying to get points from a company with an uncertain future isn’t worth losing control of rent payment timing at least in my opinion.
That's not how it goes. You use the app to send a payment, and Bilt sends a check on your behalf then drafts the money from your checking account within 48 hours so it doesn't even effect your credit utilization (at least not for long depending on timing of payment and statement close). They want more landlords to get on the platform so payments go through electronically, but if your daughter's landlord isn't on the platform, they will just get a check.
Assuming it doesn’t work on HOA fees to a prop mgt company?
Answered my own question by getting the Bilt card - HOA fees ARE also covered 1x, please revise
Nope. Not with TPG advising and investing in it.
I was able to get this done for my mortgage. I have a lease agreement with my wife for rent at the exact amount of my mortgage payment. Since it is a spousal transaction no need to report any income as we file taxes together. Took a little legwork but definitely worth it.
Can you explain this a little more? So your wife pays you rent...how? Using a credit card, so she earns rewards points or miles?
I pay my mortgage on Wells Fargo with the Bilt card. It comes with a checking and routing number to link to your mortgage company and then you pay that way. Totally worth it for the points.
Bilt is able to provide this as the actual payment to the landlord is through ACH processing rails and not cc. Hence the no fee.
Review: Is The Bilt Mastercard Worth Promoting Twice?
I guess we’ll see!
It very well is worth it.
For you and many readers, probably not. For OMAAT, hell yes.
Ben- this is a 3x dining 2x travel card, not 3x travel 2x dining.
Also… what’s your value for Bilt points? Similar to the other transferable point currencies? Seems to me that a blend that includes Hyatt, American, United, Turkish, Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Emirates and Virgin is likely comparable…
Ben, you kind of rent considering you live in hotels.
This part that worries me the most.
"You don’t even need to be a cardmember to refer someone — just download the Bilt Rewards app, fill out your profile, and at the top left you’ll find your invitation code to give to friends"
If you tried the product and tell it to a someone else for some compensation. It's referrals.
If you NEVER tried the product and tell it to a someone else for some compensation. It's some sort of pyramid scam.
You don't have to get a Bilt card to use Bilt rewards.
It's not rocket science.
Considering how Bilt is designed by savvy churners too, I'm surprised they just started paying Lucky and get refers out.
Also, they had a huge fraud surge earlier this year when practically everyone around me using it got fraud transactions, not sure if them of CC manufacturers were hacked.
Since I rent, it's straightforward: do I want to pay a percentage fee to my landlord to use my favorite credit card, or do I want to earn Bilt points without paying a fee? Answer: the latter.
If you don't rent, it's like Ben said: there are probably better cards for you that have welcome bonuses.
Though the card isn’t for me, I think the article glossed over the main Aadvantage (pun intended) of the card: Transfers to American Airlines. Given their huge network all over the US and the globe and competitive award rates, having the ability to transfer to AA is huge. They don’t even offer that to the issuers of their own cobranded cards. That’s pretty powerful and worth way more than just a casual mention. Otherwise, love the work Lucky!
BILT will be the first to accept Mortgage Payments via MC. They are in the forefront of this movement, and I'd guess that you will be able to pay mortgage payments by 2024. Get the card, wait and pray.
I pay my mortgage on Wells Fargo now with the Bilt card. It comes with a checking and routing number to link to your mortgage company and then you pay that way. Totally worth it for the points.
Many people rent from individual condo owners - so they basically pay that person via check, Venmo, etc. How would paying rent to these individuals work with Bilt? And if it does work, can't anyone claim to be a landlord and receive check payments?
As Eric said, it seems like there is an opportunity for any card issuer to create a similar product so that homeowners can pay their mortgage and HOA. Shoot... my mortgage is with Chase... why won't Chase let me pay them using my Sapphire or Freedom? (I guess they'd be giving away something for "free", but it does develop even more loyalty). Or have limited use points that can't be transferred and only used in the travel portal. I'd be happy with that at least!
USAA allows their insurance bills to be paid by their own credit cards (otherwise only be check/direct debit). I have a 1.5% cash back USAA VISA that’s used exclusively for paying our insurance bill.
They don't exactly make it easy with their newer UI, but you can still pay USAA insurance bills with other credit cards. I set up my Cap One Venture X to pay my car insurance with them last month.
Related to that, USAA allows credit card payments on insurance bills only by their own credit cards (otherwise by direct debit/check).
I've got a 1.5% USAA Visa that's used only for my insurance payments.
My insurance policies are with State Farm, and I pay all of my premiums using either the Citi AAdvantage or WoH card. I also have Bilt and have enjoyed tremendous value transferring Bilt points to WoH for free nights.
I've had the card for about 6 months now, and for the most part I like it. Back then they had a sign-up bonus of 3x points on the first rent payment and 2x points on everything else for the first 30 days. My apartment community is part of the Bilt network, so the rent payment experience is seamless, and prior to Bilt, there was a 2.5% fee to use a Credit Card for rent....
I've had the card for about 6 months now, and for the most part I like it. Back then they had a sign-up bonus of 3x points on the first rent payment and 2x points on everything else for the first 30 days. My apartment community is part of the Bilt network, so the rent payment experience is seamless, and prior to Bilt, there was a 2.5% fee to use a Credit Card for rent. Plus I honestly think the Bilt transfer partner list is better than Chase/Amex. It's much smaller, but having Hyatt + AA is unbeatable for me. The only issue I've had is I tried to transfer Bilt points to Turkish a few months back, the app said it could take up to 72 hours to show up, but the points just never showed up in my TK account. I eventually got a hold of someone at Bilt and they credited the points back to my Bilt account, but by that time the award space was gone. I'm hoping that's a one-off bad experience.
It's a total gimmick and it's been tried before in the NYC rental markets back in 2015 or 2016 by Citibank. Then Citibank offered residents of my building which was owned and operated by Related Companies the ability to pay rent with the Prestige Card without any fees and earning 2x per dollar. I found the email:
"A new year brings new beginnings, and a new partnership. We're pleased to announce that starting April 1,...
It's a total gimmick and it's been tried before in the NYC rental markets back in 2015 or 2016 by Citibank. Then Citibank offered residents of my building which was owned and operated by Related Companies the ability to pay rent with the Prestige Card without any fees and earning 2x per dollar. I found the email:
"A new year brings new beginnings, and a new partnership. We're pleased to announce that starting April 1, MasterCard® will become our exclusive credit card partner. In addition to accepting MasterCard®, we will continue to accept automatic bank withdrawal and personal checks."
"While you may use any MasterCard®, we are thrilled to share an exclusive offer from Citi Prestige®, one of the highest-rated reward credit cards on the market. If you apply and are approved for the Citi Prestige® Card, you'll earn two ThankYou® Points for every dollar spent on all Related Rentals purchases within your first 12 months of account opening, plus more. Learn about all the benefits, including a bonus 50,000 ThankYou ® Points for new cardholders"
But they attempted to force this on us:
"This new program takes effect on April 1, 2016. If you prefer to use a Visa® or American Express® to pay your rent until that time, you may continue to do so if you're enrolled in auto-pay by February 1. However, the system will automatically remove these forms of payment prior to April 1."
Ultimately, this didn't last very long. For those reading this that don't know, Related Residential has some of the most expensive and ultra luxury properties (mainly in NYC but also in DC, LA and Boston), their parent company owns Equinox and developed and manages the Hudson Yards in NYC... At that time, I was paying close to $12k a month for my apartment but others were paying over $30k between rent and maintenance fees (as related also manages condos of similar caliber).
People were livid about this move because it required them to use a mastercard for rent (many, many people were using Amex- including myself), they didn't care about the fee. Formal complaints were lodged and it as soon as the potential arose of a Fair Housing Issue- the entire thing was shutdown.
I suspect Bilt will suffer the same fate under a similar Fair Housing Violation Claim. A Landlord cannot charge a fee on one Mastercard and not another. At least that's how it seems to be advertised by landlords (including one of mine).
Bottom line: A bigger fish (Citibank) tried this in a major rental market (NYC) and failed.
Did you even look into the card before writing about your weird experience? The card gives you a routing and checking account number you can use for paying rent. So you're not getting fees because no rental place charges fees for e-checks. Not sure how this relates to charging fees for one card and not another or how this is a gimmick, but I hope you enjoyed writing that whole comment.
As someone with a mortgage (Wells Fargo at that), it'd be nice if they'd expand this to mortgages too and not just rent.
Unless they do, like Ben I'm not sure I see value in the card right now.
I'm still on the fence about this. Currently using Plastiq but with an Amex card that brings 2 points/$. The fee makes it somewhat a bit expensive to purchase those additional points, since I could get half of them for free with Bilt, but in the end I think I'd rather grow my Amex points balance at twice the speed that I would with Bilt.
Is there any guidance as to approval qualifications? I know it’s a WF issued card, but is there anything known yet such a FICO range, etc that WF wants??
I know from other Wells products they typically pull Equifax. I do know if you go into a branch and open a banking product like a checking account they do a soft inquiry as part of the application and they’ll also pre-approve you for credit product at that time. If you are pre-approved, and accept- there’s no further pull.
Don't expect a smooth process, whatever it is. I have excellent credit (770+) and applied Monday, 3/28. I still don't have a decision, and apparently they don't inform you, you just receive either a decline letter or new card in the mail. I called 3/30 and they told me I needed to send over proof of photo ID and address verification. I went to the branch and they sent it over. As of 4/1, WF...
Don't expect a smooth process, whatever it is. I have excellent credit (770+) and applied Monday, 3/28. I still don't have a decision, and apparently they don't inform you, you just receive either a decline letter or new card in the mail. I called 3/30 and they told me I needed to send over proof of photo ID and address verification. I went to the branch and they sent it over. As of 4/1, WF hadn't received it, so the branch called and confirmed for me that the documents went through. They said it could be another 1-3 business days to hear if I'm approved or not. The application process has been terrible, so just hoping the approval goes through so I can get some great points on rent.
I literally signed up 2 hours ago and everything was approved and I had access to the card number through the app. My credit is 802/805. Was a rather smooth process if you ask me.
How do they actually verify that the payment is rent?
Or do they only support major and recognized renters and renting from private parties is not supported?
You can pay any landlord in the country.
So... not suggesting anyone should be gaming the system, but can Bob rent a room in Alice's house for $5000 and Alice rents one from Bob for the same $5k... And they pay each other in Bilt?
@polarbear,
And I'm sure they thought of this and will require some proof (lease agreement, etc) if someone is adding a non-entity landlord, it's really not difficult to catch. Plastiq even does this.
I am in a building that partners with Bilt (or at least they advertise it). I used to be able to pay rent directly to their system with any card and there was a very modest 1% fee. Obviously it stunk to lose that, but given that my other choices are now check or ACH, signing up for the Bilt card was a no brainer. I had used plastiq in the past but unfortunately that...
I am in a building that partners with Bilt (or at least they advertise it). I used to be able to pay rent directly to their system with any card and there was a very modest 1% fee. Obviously it stunk to lose that, but given that my other choices are now check or ACH, signing up for the Bilt card was a no brainer. I had used plastiq in the past but unfortunately that doesn't work for my current situation, plus it is nice not having to pay the fee anymore. I will say that Bilt makes it very easy with their app. I also just transferred my points for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was seamless (transferred to United). It was nice not having to use my UR points for that, kind of felt like an extra little stash that didn't affect my "real" balances.
Did you lose that option when your building partnered with Bilt? Or were the two unrelated?
Interesting- So that's the similar to the mistake Related made with us. They took away the ability to pay with Visa and Amex, only accepted Mastercard (any mastercard) but they at least allowed any Mastercard.
One of my buildings is also partnered with Bilt but nothing has changed with the way rent is paid. I was able to use my Amex card like always- fee in place.
I did some further digging and apparently you...
Interesting- So that's the similar to the mistake Related made with us. They took away the ability to pay with Visa and Amex, only accepted Mastercard (any mastercard) but they at least allowed any Mastercard.
One of my buildings is also partnered with Bilt but nothing has changed with the way rent is paid. I was able to use my Amex card like always- fee in place.
I did some further digging and apparently you don't actually use the Mastercard to make the rent payment. You have to use the Bilt App and select your partner building and your rent is paid this way via ACH to your participating landlord. There's no credit card transaction being processed at all.
Bilt even has a warning on their FAQ: " Nope! There is no transaction fee on your rent payments when you pay rent with your Bilt Mastercard through the Bilt Rewards app. Just make sure to set up your rent payments in the app and we’ll take care of the rest.
Note: your landlord may charge fees to use credit cards in their payment portal or at their leasing office. To avoid those fees, always pay through the Bilt Rewards app."
Basically this is a Rent Bill Pay app that will throw you some points for using it to pay rent if you use their mastercard for other purchases several times a month.
I am not entirely sure. The building claimed that the option to pay by "normal" credit card was a temporary COVID policy to help people out. It did go away right when Bilt was introduced, which is why I call BS, but who knows... And that is correct, you pay right through the app. I was pretty pissed at being "forced" into getting this, but it has been very easy to use and at least...
I am not entirely sure. The building claimed that the option to pay by "normal" credit card was a temporary COVID policy to help people out. It did go away right when Bilt was introduced, which is why I call BS, but who knows... And that is correct, you pay right through the app. I was pretty pissed at being "forced" into getting this, but it has been very easy to use and at least I'm getting something in return rather than sending the ACH directly myself and getting nothing.