Bilt Mastercard review: Zero-fee rent payments
TPG founder Brian Kelly is a Bilt adviser and investor.
Bilt Mastercard overview
The Bilt Mastercard® has no annual fee (see rates and fees) but offers a slate of perks in addition to its core principle: the ability to earn points when paying rent and doing so without a transaction fee. In addition to rent benefits, the Bilt card provides built-in perks and points-earning capabilities that make it attractive even to those who don't pay rent each month. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐½
*Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPG's editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
The Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) is unique because it allows cardholders to earn rewards on rent payments — without being charged a transaction fee.
And while this unique feature is worth paying attention to, it's far from the only reason you might want to get the card. It sports bonus-earning rates that mirror the fan-favorite Chase Sapphire Preferred: 3 points per dollar on dining and 2 points per dollar on travel purchases for no annual fee.
Still, it has some peculiarities that keep it from being a slam dunk for many. One of them is that even though it's geared toward renters, it's not necessarily built for those still establishing credit. You'll want a good to excellent credit score (670-850) for the best chance of approval.
Let's look at the ongoing benefits offered by the Bilt Mastercard and its unique earning structure to see whether it merits a place in your wallet.
Bilt Mastercard welcome bonus
There is no welcome bonus for new applicants to the Bilt Mastercard. This means you will not receive a chunk of points after completing an introductory spending requirement.
However, you can earn rewards for referring friends and family to sign up for the Bilt Mastercard. You will earn 2,500 Bilt Rewards points for each person who applies for and is approved for the Bilt card using your link. You'll also earn 10,000 bonus points for every fifth successful referral — up to 2 million points.
Related: How to earn free rewards by referring friends and family to loyalty programs
Bilt Mastercard benefits
You can enjoy multiple benefits with the Bilt Mastercard, many of which come from the fact this is a World Elite Mastercard. The benefits on the Bilt Mastercard can be divided into four categories: rent-related benefits, credit-building, insurance protections and purchase credits. You can read the full details on the Bilt Rewards and Benefits page.
Rent-related benefits for the Bilt Mastercard include the ability to pay rent with a credit card — thus earning points — without paying any transaction fees.
If your landlord isn't part of the Bilt network, you can make an ACH (bank transfer) payment through your landlord's online payment system (if available) or have Bilt send a check on your behalf. There are no transaction fees for making rent payments to your landlord in this way, and these are qualifying purchases on your card to earn rewards points.
Another key benefit of the car is credit building because, in a property part of the Bilt Alliance, you can elect to have your rent payments reported to all three major credit bureaus in the U.S. This helps establish a history of on-time payments and could help your credit score.
Your Bilt Mastercard also has some impressive travel protections for a card without an annual fee. Cardholders receive up to $5,000 in reimbursement for nonrefundable tickets if a trip is canceled or interrupted, thanks to the card's trip cancellation and interruption protection, a collision damage waiver and a cellphone protection benefit that provides up to $800 coverage (with a $25 deductible) against damage or theft. Utilization of all these benefits is in effect when you pay using the Bilt Mastercard.
As a World Elite Mastercard, you also have access to $5 in Lyft credits each month after paying for three rides that month with your Bilt Mastercard. And finally, you can use your card confidently abroad because it doesn't charge foreign conversion fees.
Related: 5 ways to pay your rent or mortgage with a credit card
Earning rewards with the Bilt Mastercard
The Bilt Mastercard earns 3 points per dollar spent on dining, 2 points per dollar on travel and 1 point per dollar on other purchases — including rent payments. However, it's worth noting that you will only earn points when you make at least five transactions on your card in a statement period. Thus, if the only purchase you make on your card each month is your rent payment, you won't earn points at these rates. Instead, you would earn just a flat rate of 250 points for paying rent with your card.
You'll also receive 250 points for your rent payment if your payment is less than $250 that month. You can earn a maximum of 100,000 points from rent payments each year, which would require an average monthly rent of $8,333 to achieve this maximum points return.
TPG values Bilt Rewards points at 2.05 cents per point, meaning you'll earn an effective 6.1% return on dining purchases, 4.1% return on travel and 2.05% return on other purchases.
Another valuable perk is the opportunity to earn double points on the first day of each month, which Bilt refers to as "Rent Day." You can earn double points on dining (boosted to 6 points per dollar), travel (4 points per dollar) and everyday spending (2 points per dollar) for each purchase made on the first day of the month. However, points-earning on rent payments is not doubled. You also earn extra points at select restaurants with the Bilt Dining, which provides bonus rewards when you use an enrolled card to pay at participating restaurants.
The more points you earn each year, the higher your status level in Bilt Rewards.
- Blue: 1:1 points transfers to travel partners (see below), access to the Bilt Collection (see below) and building credit history through rent reporting.
- Silver: Earn 25,000 points in a year, and additional benefits include earning a 10% bonus on lease incentive points from participating properties and earning interest on points.
- Gold: Earn 50,000 points in a year, and additional benefits include earning a 25% bonus on lease incentive points and access to a Homeownership Concierge.
- Platinum: Earn 100,000 points in a year to receive a 50% bonus on lease incentive points and an exclusive gift from the Bilt Collection, in addition to benefits at the lower tiers.
Related: Earn points on rent: Your complete guide to the Bilt Rewards program
Redeeming rewards with the Bilt Mastercard
You have a wide range of options when you're ready to redeem your Bilt rewards. You can use them to book travel through the Bilt portal or purchase items from the Bilt Collection, transfer them to Bilt's hotel and airline partners, book fitness classes, pay for Amazon purchases directly or use them to help cover the cost of next month's rent.
While the range of redemption options is nice, bear in mind that they don't all yield a 2.05 cent per point return.
Redeeming your points for rent payments provides the worst value of all options: just 0.55 cents per point. And while redeeming points toward Amazon purchases may be tempting, you'll get a meager value of 0.7 cents per point with this option.
Alternatively, you can achieve a value of 1 cent per point when paying for fitness classes with SoulCycle, Y7 Studio or Rumble Boxing or when shopping the Bilt Collection of art, home decorations and apparel. Fitness class redemptions start at 1,600 points.
Bilt has a travel portal, and you can redeem your points at a fixed value of 1.25 cents apiece when booking flights or hotels here. When redeeming your points for a down payment on a home, you can net a value of 1.5 cents per point. However, you'll get the most value from your points if you choose to transfer them to any of Bilt's hotel and airline partners.
Related: How to redeem Bilt Rewards points for maximum value
Transferring rewards with the Bilt Mastercard
If you want to get maximum value from your Bilt Rewards, take advantage of Bilt's set of 14 hotel and airline transfer partners. These options include American Airlines AAdvantage, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus and World of Hyatt.
You will need to transfer at least 2,000 points for each partner. The most interesting partner to note here is American Airlines since Bilt is the only transferable currency with it on the partner list.
An excellent redemption of Bilt rewards would be to transfer them to AAdvantage and book Qatar QSuite from the U.S. to the Middle East for 70,000 AA miles. This can be further maximized by flying to South Africa from the U.S. for 75,000 AA miles and flying in QSuite.
Related: How long do Bilt Rewards points take to transfer?
Which cards compete with the Bilt Mastercard?
There are no other credit cards exactly like the Bilt Mastercard. It is the sole credit card product in a relatively new points system — Bilt Rewards — and has unique features regarding rent payments. However, if you aren't prioritizing earning rewards on rent payments, you may find a better fit in one of these alternatives:
- If you prefer simple cash back: The Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) offers two points per dollar on all spending: 1 Citi ThankYou point for each dollar at the time of purchase and another 1 point per dollar when paying your bill. There's no annual fee, and you don't have any bonus categories to keep track of. For more details, see our full review of the Citi Double Cash card.
- If you want a no annual fee card: The Chase Freedom Unlimited is straightforward with no annual fee, and you'll earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases that aren't in the card's bonus categories. For more details, see our full review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
- If you want to earn travel rewards: The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has an annual fee of $95 and is an incredibly popular card with a similar earning structure to Bilt: 3 points per dollar on dining and 2 points per dollar on travel purchases. Cardholders also receive comprehensive travel protection and points transfer to any of Chase's 14 airline and hotel partners. For more details, see our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
For additional options, check out our full list of the best travel rewards and no-annual-fee credit cards.
Related: Paying rent and mortgages with a credit card
Is the Bilt Mastercard worth it?
The Bilt Mastercard is ideal for those who pay rent each month and want to earn credit card rewards but don't want to pay transaction fees. However, those who don't pay rent may want to go instead with a card with a valuable welcome bonus and different earning rates.
GISELLEFLISSAK/GETTY IMAGES
Related: Should you use the Bilt Mastercard? Why it could be a game changer for renters
Bottom line
The Bilt Mastercard is unique. It has its own rewards program and offers renters the ability to earn points every month without incurring transactions fees — plus, there's no annual fee on the card. There are insurance protections and multiple ways to redeem points, and the transfer partners provide quality options for travel.
Drawbacks include the need to make multiple purchases on your card every month before qualifying for points, and the Bilt Mastercard doesn't offer any welcome bonus. The Bilt Mastercard may not be the best credit card in your wallet for every purchase category, but it could fit well into a diverse points and miles strategy — especially if you're a renter.
Apply here: Bilt Mastercard
For rates and fees of the Bilt Mastercard, click here.
For rewards and benefits of the Bilt Mastercard, click here.