Rent Payments With Bilt

It has long been known that paying rent with the Bilt Mastercard was a great deal. With the card you are able to rack up thousands of points every month on your rent costs, all with no fee to do it. After a while they rolled out a partnership offer with the Alaska Airlines credit card. The fees were tough to swallow, but it could make sense for some for the 3x mileage earning. That same type of thought process is being rolled out to rent payments with Bilt for other cards.

What Has Changed?

Up until now Bilt Rewards members would earn a flat 250 points for paying their rent through the Bilt program. That is unless they had the Bilt Mastercard, or used an Alaska Airlines credit card to pay. Now they have the ability to earn up to 1 Bilt point per dollar paying with most credit cards. The set up looks like this:

• Cards that earn 1x Bilt point per $1 spent on rent
  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • Discover
• Cards that earn 1x Bilt point per $2 spent on rent
  • American Express

So what is the catch? Cause you know there has to be a catch! The catch is that this will come with a 3% fee to process and send out the rent payment. The fee is to cover the credit card interchange fee on the rent payment. Paying 3% in fees for 1 Bilt Rewards point doesn't sound like a deal, but don't forget that you also earn your credit card rewards for the payment.

What Has Not Changed?

There are a few things that don't change with this new set up:

• ACH and other payment methods used for rent still earn 250 flat points
• The Alaska Visa Signature continues to earn 3X Alaska miles (instead of Bilt points)
• The Bilt Mastercard still earns 1x with no additional fees for the payment

I do like that you have several options for your rent payments now. When this all started it was either pay with a Bilt Mastercard or earn 250 points with other options. We now have choices!

Here Is How It Works

Here are some pointers from Bilt on how it should work.

1. Pay your rent through your Bilt account
2. Select your preferred payment method at checkout
3. Earn Bilt Points in addition to your usual card rewards.
4. Bilt Points will be credited to your account after your payment is processed
   • This enhanced earning structure rewards members for using various credit card types to pay rent, creating
     more flexibility and value when members don't have a Bilt Mastercard.

The process seems to be pretty straightforward, and should work similar to how you were doing it in the past for 250 points. You would just need to select to pay with a credit card instead of your checking account etc.

Why I Find The New Bilt Rent Payment System Kind Of Interesting

This change is a bit interesting to me, at least it would be if I had rent payments to make. That is because this set up can make sense for a few different situations. While swallowing a 3% fee is tough, it does line up with making the payment with Plastiq (or another payment processor). It could also be in line with what your landlord charges to process credit card payments already too. Here are a few different scenarios where paying rent with a credit card on Bilt could make sense.

If You Are Paying A Fee Already To Pay Rent

If you are paying rent through your landlord and already swallowing a 2.5% – 3% fee then rent payments with Bilt will make a lot of sense. That is because you are adding another 1x Bilt earning on top of your normal credit card rewards. This pushes the Bilt set up ahead of paying directly, at least if there are fees attached.

If You Are Working On A Welcome Offer

If you have a welcome offer that you are trying to chew through then taking on the 3% fee can make sense for sure. That is because you are likely earning at a rate of 10%, 20% or even 30% because of the welcome offer. The 1x Bilt point earning helps offset the fee a little bit too.

This is the only time I could see Amex cards making sense, and even then I might not unless you had no other options.

The Card You Use Earns 2x Or More

If you are using a card that earns 2x or more, and is not an Amex, then it could make sense. Let's say you use a Double Cash to pay, earning 2x ThankYou points for the payment. When you pair that up with the 1x Bilt point you will likely come out ahead of the 3% fee. Just remember that you are essentially buying points at 1 cent a piece (assuming a 2x card and the 1x Bilt point), so make sure you are getting points worth more than a penny each.

Rent Payments With Bilt: ToP Thoughts

While I don't think this is some home run win, I do think it can make sense for certain people – or at certain times. You have to make sure that you are getting over 3% in return on the payment, or that there isn't a better alternative available to you already. Getting 1x Bilt points with most card types knocks that 3% cost in half. Picking the right credit card, one that earns 2x+ on everything or has a spending / welcome offer attached, is key to cover the rest of the gap. This deal won't give you free travel, or even nearly free, but it can give you some discounted travel.

Let me know your thoughts on the new set up for rent payments with Bilt over in the ToP Facebook Group.