{"id":184191,"date":"2025-07-31T17:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/31\/should-you-pay-your-rent-with-bilt-we-crunch-the-numbers-the-points-guy-2\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T17:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:00:57","slug":"should-you-pay-your-rent-with-bilt-we-crunch-the-numbers-the-points-guy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/31\/should-you-pay-your-rent-with-bilt-we-crunch-the-numbers-the-points-guy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you pay your rent with Bilt? We crunch the numbers – The Points Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"


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TPG founder Brian Kelly is a Bilt adviser and investor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bilt Rewards<\/a> is a points program to help renters build credit and earn points on rent payments (with a plan to expand into rewards for mortgage payments<\/a> soon). The program also features a cobranded credit card.<\/p>\n

The concept of paying rent with a credit card<\/a> is not new. However, it typically involves fees of 2%-3%, which can eat up the value of any rewards you might attain in the process.<\/p>\n

Bilt Rewards doesn’t charge transaction fees on rent payments if you pay with the Bilt Mastercard\u00ae<\/a><\/span>, or live in a participating property and pay with ACH, even if your landlord doesn’t accept credit cards.<\/p>\n

Plus, you can earn transferable points on these payments (up to 100,000 each calendar year) and other purchases with the Bilt Mastercard, which is issued by Wells Fargo and has no annual fee (see rates and fees<\/a>). You must use your card five times each statement period to earn points.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how you can earn and redeem Bilt Rewards Points, as well as considerations for whether using the Bilt Mastercard is worth it.<\/p>\n

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How many points you earn with Bilt<\/h2>\n

When you pay your rent with Bilt, you earn 1 point per dollar on rent regardless of your Bilt status tier (more on this later). For instance, if you have a $3,000 monthly rent payment, you’ll earn 3,000 points per month with no transaction fees when paying through the program (see rates and fees<\/a>).<\/p>\n

You can only earn up to 100,000 points on rent per year, but you’d have to spend over $8,000 in monthly rent to reach this cap. Thus, it will not affect the majority of renters.<\/p>\n

Plus, there’s no cap on the number of points you can earn on everyday purchases when you swipe your Bilt Mastercard (use the card five times each statement period to earn points).<\/p>\n

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You don’t need the Bilt Mastercard if your landlord is part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance<\/a>, which currently comprises over four million units and includes some of the top real estate companies across the U.S., such as Brookfield Properties, Equity Residential, Starwood Capital Group and Greystar.<\/p>\n

You can also pay rent with any Visa, Mastercard or Discover<\/a> credit card to earn Bilt Points in addition to credit card points. However, you’ll only earn 1 Bilt point for every $2 spent, and you’ll incur a 3% transaction fee on these third-party cards.<\/p>\n

However, if your landlord is not an affiliate, you’ll need the Bilt Mastercard<\/a><\/span> to use the app to send a monthly rent check or a direct deposit through your landlord’s online portal.<\/p>\n

Earning points on everyday purchases with the Bilt Mastercard<\/h3>\n

Beyond just rent, the Bilt Mastercard<\/a><\/span> awards 5 points per dollar spent on Lyft (once you’ve linked your Bilt and Lyft accounts), 3 points per dollar spent on dining, 2 points per dollar spent on travel and 1 point per dollar spent on other purchases.<\/p>\n

This is in addition to earning 1 point per dollar spent on rent payments, subject to a limit of 100,000 points per year earned from rent payments. You can read the terms of the Bilt rewards and benefits here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s also possible to earn double points on the first day of the month through Bilt’s “Rent Day” promotion. This applies to nonrent spending and is subject to a 1,000-point limit each Rent Day.<\/p>\n

These earning categories sound simple enough on paper, but some stipulations exist.<\/p>\n

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First, you must use your Bilt Mastercard at least five times monthly to earn points on your purchases. If you don’t, the points you’ve accrued will be removed from your account at the end of your statement period. This is important to note, as points are credited to your account instantly when transactions post, not when your statement closes.<\/p>\n

Next, travel is defined as airlines, hotels, cruise lines, car rental agencies and purchases made through the Bilt Travel Portal. This notably excludes ride-hailing services<\/a>, taxis, public transit and other common travel expenses, so for frequent travelers and commuters, it might not replace your Chase Sapphire Preferred\u00ae Card<\/a><\/span> (see rates and fees<\/a>) or another card that earns bonus points on a broader selection of travel expenses.<\/p>\n

Of course, you don’t need to put all of your expenses on your Bilt Mastercard to keep your points. You might consider pairing it with a card that earns bonus rewards on everyday purchases<\/a>, like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Venture Rewards earns at least 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases, so you can use the Bilt Mastercard for dining and rent payments with no transaction fee (see rates and fees<\/a>) and use the Venture Rewards for everything else.<\/p>\n

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It’s also important to know that there’s no welcome bonus on the Bilt Mastercard. The value proposition of this card is earning points while avoiding transaction fees on rent payments each year. Compare this to the value of points<\/a> you might earn from welcome bonuses<\/a> on other cards, then subtract the value of fees you pay in the process.<\/p>\n

Earning 3 points per dollar spent with the Bilt Mastercard is lower than my American Express\u00ae Gold Card<\/a><\/span>, which earns 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar).<\/p>\n

Bilt Rewards status tiers<\/h3>\n

Under the initial Bilt Rewards program, your status tier was determined by how many points you earned on rent. While that’s no longer the case, Bilt status tiers still exist and are based on how many points you earn in a given calendar year, with an option to fast-track status earning through Bilt Mastercard spending.<\/p>\n

Here are the various levels:<\/p>\n