What Is Going On With Bilt?

Unless you have been in a coma the last few weeks, then you know there has been some negative news coming out of Bilt HQ. Well, more like a lot of negative news. From original cardholders getting cut off, to the earnings being slashed on rent days and even tax payments being ineligible for bonus points. It has been a lot of things hitting in rapid succession. All of these changes may leave you wondering, what is going on with Bilt? Are these cost cutting measures? Are they trying to reposition themselves in case Wells Fargo decides to part ways down the line? I decided to reach out about just that.

I am sure many of you have read the TPG interview with Bilt VP of travel, Richard Kerr. While there was some interesting info in there as well, I always find it hard to digest interview write ups. I also notice that people tend to focus on one or two things from it, like a gotcha, and miss the big picture a little bit. Did I mention they kind of suck to read too? Oh, I did, okay. That is why I reached out directly, to get a little more color to go along with the interview, and I wanted to share my thoughts on all of it.

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

I think the biggest issue, at least for me, over the last few weeks has been a failure to properly communicate. If you read my writing, then you know I have had my own issues with Bilt's communication in the past. Burying some of these changes in the terms of an email is the worst way you can announce negative changes like this.

Bilt acknowledged this and said it should have never happened. It was an error, and they had planned on properly disclosing it all before adding it to the terms. My guess is someone jumped the gun so to speak. Could they just be saying this because of the backlash? Sure. But, Bilt was pretty up front about the original cardholders losing access and tried to give them ample time to adjust. On the other side of things, they have also had issues with their wording on programs in the past (my experience linked above).

I think the people working at Bilt are savvy enough to know that this was the worst way these changes could have gone down, so I do believe that it was an error. Similar to what happened with the error shutdown emails. Which Bilt fixed for members by refunding any panic transfers without taking back the transferred points. Yes, a double dip was awarded so to speak. That is something no one else would have done in the industry.

Having said that, I do think communication needs to be a focus of theirs going forward. There needs to be a big improvement in that area. Trust is lost quickly, and they need to be as straight forward about things going forward in order to earn that lost trust back.

Why All The Negative Changes?

Now that we got through the communication issue, we need to broach the subject of all of these negative changes. We need to figure out what is going on with Bilt so to speak. Is this a cost cutting measure? Or, is this just the natural maturation of a loyalty program?

During our conversation, Richard made it very clear that this was about making the Bilt Rewards program as useful to the most people as possible. Bilt is a lot bigger than just the credit card, and they want people to fully realize the value across all of their vertices. Whether that is bonus points from Bilt dining, points on rent payments, Bilt travel multiples etc., they want to give value to the widest array of people as possible.

These decisions were made after combing through two years of user data, something they didn't have when launching the program. They realized that a small portion of the user base were gobbling up a massive portion of the promotion budget they had each month. Because of that they wanted to tweak the Bilt Rewards program so that they could use that budget to reward the largest number of members possible.

Quick Example

Think bigger and better transfer bonuses instead of a higher rent day cap. Something where 25,000 members will take advantage of a 50% – 100% transfer bonus, and only a few thousand members go above the new $1,000 in Rent Day spend each month. In this scenario a similar amount of points are used in both cases, but one option helps more members overall.

On the flip side, we used to get our cake and get to eat it too. One of my favorite GIFs is the why not both one. So, why not both? We were getting both before after all! I think that is where the maturation of the Bilt Rewards loyalty program comes into play. I think as they continue to grow they need to be more strategic with their monthly promotions bonus budget. If it opens up more opportunities to us overall is that a worthy trade off?

Do We Mourn The Loss Of Options More Than Its Usefulness?

In the miles and points space (and life in general), I think we tend to mourn the loss of options versus the loss of the option's actual usefulness. We were angered to hear that the Rent Day earning cap was shrunk by 90% because it meant that we could no longer take advantage of the 10,000 points cap when it made sense. That takes one more option for big purchases off the table for us. But, how often did we actually maximize it? Or, better yet, how often did we earn over 1,000 bonus points on Rent Day? If you say once or twice a year, what did you really lose here?

I still think the cut was a bit too deep, but I understand where it is coming from. I have always thought that the 10,000 points was on the insane end for one day of earning. Maybe they will still make adjustments to that number in the future, or change it to a yearly cap / quarterly cap. What if it was $3,000 in spend per quarter? So you could take advantage of the heavier spend months etc. while still having the $1,000 per month average for a cap? A similar set up to what you see with the Freedom cards of the world.

One thing where the Rent Day cap really hits hard is anyone that was chasing Bilt status for the high end of the transfer bonuses. It makes it a little more difficult to put that spend on your Bilt card because you can't leverage your earning overall. There will be a ton more 1x earning, and that juice may no longer be worth the squeeze for many that have upper tier Bilt status now.

What Could These Changes Lead To?

The day is darkest before the dawn, or so they say. What if these negative changes could lead to overall positives? What if these moves are a precursor to future improvements? An adjustment of the budget, so to speak, in order to prepare for what is coming.

What if the long rumored mortgage payments needed some promotion budget space cleared out to make it a possibility? It is fun to ponder about. I think many would give up Rent Day earning for a chance at getting some mortgage payment points.

What if these changes help fuel continued transfer bonuses that dwarf what we see from the other banks? I think that is another worthy trade off for most.

What if they realigned the promotions budget in order to continue to expand into new partners that have a higher cost of transfer? Hey, expansion is always fun!

Could we get 1, 2 or all 3 of these things? I have no idea, but I have to believe something is coming. If nothing else came away from our conversation, it was clear to me (or drilled into my skull is more accurate) that this wasn't about just cutting costs. This was about using what was available to them to affect positive change to the most people overall. As a way to continue to improve the Bilt ecosystem overall. Because of that I have to think something is coming and they needed to adjust some things to make it a possibility. Only time will tell if I am right on that though. And, it is perfectly understandable to take the wait and see approach until that something comes, or doesn't.

What Is Going On With Bilt? – ToP Thoughts

I think after our chat I had a bit better understanding of what is going on with Bilt. Hopefully you have some more clarity on the situation after reading this as well. I am curious to see if my gut feeling on these changes is true. The feeling that these adjustments were all in an effort to bring something else along that will help more users overall.

The main thing that I took away from the conversation is that this wasn't about limiting exposure. This was about improving the system within the same budget they have always used. Could that just be lip service? Sure could. We will have to wait and see if that is true or not and if trust can be regained some. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long, especially for those members trying to decide if they want to reapply for the card or not.

Let me know your thoughts about all of this over in the ToP Facebook Group.