While many rewards programs lure high-spending travelers with the promise of access and premium status, Bilt entered the scene in 2021 with a more fundamental appeal: earning rewards for paying rent.
Millions have signed up, and now the company is inviting homeowners to its club. Starting February 7, mortgage holders can earn points toward their monthly payments. Bilt is also launching three credit cards and recently added rewards currency.
It’s the most complicated reward system we’ve ever seen.
Our personal finance editor has the older Bilt card and he and Ron are Bilt members. Still, it took us three dozen Slack messages to sort out the details of what Bilt presented Wednesday. To top it off, Bilt is following the legislators’ textbooks and capping interest rates on new purchases at 10 percent in the first year.
The excitement ahead of the big reveal that the company announced in recent weeks had also led to speculation. Some tech-savvy Bilt enthusiasts managed to dig up the company’s plans – and the rumors spread.
The chatter reached Bilt’s New York headquarters and led to an executive on Instagram trying to allay users’ concerns about possible transaction fees.
Calculating loyalty rewards is often overwhelming, and Bilt’s are about to reach new heights. Ankur Jain, the billionaire founder who has raised around $750 million from backers like Blackstone, General Catalyst and the Vanderbilt Foundation, spoke to us about what’s changing.
Here’s what we learned.
Let’s take a step back. What is Bilt?
Bilt initially made a splash by allowing renters to earn points through their rent payments.
But Bilt differs from the typical credit card rewards program in that it wants to be known as a loyalty and payments platform where you can earn points on everyday spending — even without a Bilt credit card. It should also be the most efficient way for local retailers to address customers in blocks.
After you become a member, you can earn points by spending at one of Bilt’s 45,000 participating partners, from neighborhood restaurants and gyms to Walgreens and Lyft. Users simply need to link an existing credit or debit card or do other things like connect their Venmo accounts.
Anyone who has a Bilt credit card has more opportunities to collect points. More on that in a moment.
How does the reward system work?
Bilt trades in two forms of currency: Bilt Points and Bilt Cash, which is new. Starting this year, members will receive $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 Bilt points they earn. Bilt Cash is in addition to your points – one does not replace the other.
And customers can redeem Bilt Cash within the platform’s ecosystem; For example, $10 in Bilt Cash yields a $10 credit toward a Lyft ride or perhaps lunch at a neighborhood restaurant.
A maximum of $100 in Bilt Cash – which is accompanied by seven pages of fine print – can be transferred at the end of each year.
Customers can generally earn points on everyday purchases using most non-Bilt payment methods, most of which are redeemed for travel and experiences.
“We want to be a commerce platform where you live, where you can take advantage of all these benefits in and around your home,” said Mr. Jain, who hired former American Express boss Ken Chenault as chairman in 2024.
He said the company has tried to make it easier to convert loyalty points while traveling: 1,000 Bilt points, for example, typically equal 1,000 United Airlines miles.
How does the rent and mortgage points rewards system work?
Before the changes, renters could earn points on their monthly rent — one point for every dollar — when they used their Bilt card for five transactions. Many users took advantage of this, and an inside joke emerged: tenants can buy a bunch of bananas in five transactions and reach the minimum threshold.
But now, Bilt cardholders must reach a certain spending level before they can earn points toward housing with the card (up to one point per $1 of your monthly rent or mortgage).
This is where things get complicated.
If you have a Bilt card, you’ll earn 4 percent back in Bilt Cash on your everyday spending – for example, for every dollar you spend, you’ll earn 4 cents in Bilt Cash. And for every $30 of Bilt Cash customers earn, they can redeem it for 1,000 points from their rent or mortgage payments.
Tell me more about the new cards.
There are three new cards, one based on a rare metal and one based on volcanic glass. All cards earn 4 percent in Bilt Cash on everyday spending, have no exchange rate fees, and offer various sign-up bonuses and other perks.
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Bilt palladium. With an annual fee of $495, this premium card will inevitably compete with the likes of Chase Sapphire Reserve and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
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Bilt obsidian. Cardholders pay a $95 annual fee and earn three points for every dollar spent on groceries (up to $25,000 per year) and dining, as well as two points on travel and one point on all other spending.
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Bill Blue. This no-annual-fee card generates one point for every dollar spent.
Would I actually “charge” my mortgage with the Bilt card – and potentially pay interest if I can’t pay my bill in full?
Not quite. You can get up to one point for every dollar of mortgage, rent, monthly condo fee, or similar maintenance fees, but the money you spend on these things quickly comes out of your bank account. So you don’t pay any interest.
In this context, think of Bilt as a bill payment platform where the housing payment does not count against your available balance on your card. The company hopes that mortgage payment points will be enough to lure big lenders into its larger ecosystem — and keep them out of the clutches of rivals like Chase and American Express.
Do I want to trust a startup to remember to transfer my mortgage to my mortgage servicer every month?
The company has been doing this with rent for several years by, among other things, printing out paper checks and sending them to landlords when needed. But doing business with any start-up comes with risks. As with any new payment system you switch to – even tried-and-tested ones – it’s wise to check that your important bills are being paid.
It seems like this could be a pretty competitive entrant in the premium rewards card market. Can a relatively new company get the implementation right?
Last year, some Citibank customers who signed up for the Strata Elite credit card experienced major problems. A Wall Street Journal report about his problems is shocking.
Mr. Jain didn’t discount the idea that people might want to wait and see how Bilt handles the card launch. However, he noted that landlords trust Bilt with their payments. And United Wholesale Mortgage doesn’t want people’s monthly payments disappearing into the ether if Bilt’s systems fail.
If major landlords and mortgage lenders trust Bilt to help them collect payments, consumers are likely to trust the company with their monthly expenses, he said.
Can Bilt afford to offer these perks?
Perhaps. Partner merchants pay a reasonable fraction of the cost of Bilt Cash. And Bilt makes money from landlords and mortgage lenders, in addition to the credit card companies’ usual sources of revenue.
Still, loyalty programs generally become less generous over time. Currently, Bilt is busy quickly acquiring customers to justify and expand its $10.75 billion valuation.
As with every card company and loyalty currency provider, higher annual fees and devalued points are real possibilities in the future.