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Old Oct 7, 2023, 1:25 pm
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Last edit by: Dr Jabadski
Bilt Rewards Mastercard WikiPost

(10/7/23 Original author (Dr Jabadski) note: As I posted here on 9/9/23 Considering Ive been salivating about simple no-cost points-etizing (like monetizing) my condo payments for about 25 years, I see Bilt as a game changer. I should have added almost a Holy Grail (a thing that is eagerly pursued or sought after). I successfully applied for a Bilt Mastercard 1 month ago thus Im far from an expert. Both before and after approval I posted multiple questions many times on this thread and several other FTers were highly gracious and informative. Thought a WikiPost might save some others a good deal of time, effort and aggravation, at least in not repeating my questions and searching for the answers. I certainly hope the experts will edit and update this WikiPost as necessary. Im also exercising Writer's Prerogative to officially coin the term pointsetize, like monetize convert into or express in the form of currency, to earn points from payments which otherwise would not earn points.)

Bilt Rewards Mastercard (Bilt MC) was first launched in mid-2021, in good part as a no fee way to charge and pointsetize rent payments. (Perhaps the only no fee way to pointsetize rent payments.) There are multiple reports of earning Bilt points for paying condominium monthly maintenance/common charges, sometimes even when the word condo or condominium is in the transaction description.

Bilt MC is a personal credit card, WF reports credit card information to the various credit bureaus and Bilt MC will count toward Chase 5/24.

This post and this post (both from 9/7/23) describe shutdown reports perhaps related to micro transactions, fluctuating rent payment amounts or multiple rent payments. This 10/11/23 post includes several references to Reddit user quotes about shutdowns and several Reddit Bilt quotes in response.

Links to Bilt Rewards Terms of Use and Evolve Bank & Trust (Bilt Technologies) Customer Account Agreement. The Terms state Bilt may make available to you a Bilt Rent Account (Account), which is a transaction bank account that can be used by you solely to make rent payments. The Agreement states: For the avoidance of doubt, the Account is a transaction bank account that can be used by you solely to make rent payments. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not an account that you may use to deposit or withdraw funds for any other purposes outside of rent payments.

Bilt MC is a metal card weighing ~16 grams (comparisons: AmEx biz plat 18.5 gm, AmEx Gold 15 gm, Chase Sapphire Reserve 13 gm, traditional plastic card 5 gm).

Bilt Mastercard is issued and managed by Wells Fargo. Bilt Rewards is a separate website and app (which contains some credit card information but not as much as WF website).

Most reports are of instant approvals, Wells Fargo reconsideration phone number and experiences are not well documented. Reported initial Credit Limits vary $4,000 - $30,000 with higher limits more commonly reported. This post (9/1/23) describes one instance of a Something went wrong message upon application and the steps toward approval several days later.

In March/April 2025 Bilt initiated a new and different process for paying rent and HOA fees which requires preauthorization and/or "auto-pre-authorization" within 5 days of payment. Rent payments can be made in multiple different ways. Bilt will provide a (bank) routing number and account number. ACH rent payments can be sent (deposited) by Bilt or withdrawn by a managing company.

Bilt MC is shipped via trackable no-signature-required First Class mail in a small (4.5 x 6.5) white box with unique packaging inside as pictured at the bottom of this post. As of Feb 2024 no reports of expedited shipping.

Reports on this thread starting in late November 2023 indicate this "quasi-SUB" may be offered randomly and/or only to some people, selection criteria unknown. This post may be the only report of being offered the quasi-SUB prior to Bilt Mastercard application, based on existing Bilt Rewards account. Bilt's quasi-SUB" is offered via an email and a text message notification the same day as card receipt informing of 5x/5 days/max 50K (email quoted verbatim in this post). (Quasi* due to very short duration in contrast to many traditional SUBs of 3 month duration.) Please note this quasi-SUB maxs out at $12,500 (not $10,000) and tax payments will count. No reports yet of returns and their effect on quasi-SUB. (* quasi- a combining form meaning resembling, having some, but not all of the features of, used in the formation of compound words: quasi-definition; quasi-monopoly; quasi-official; quasi-scientific.)

Newly earned Bilt points will display as pending until 5 transactions per statement cycle. After 5 transactions, points will post and become available shortly after a transaction, before statement date. The Bilt Rewards website has a transaction counter which disappears upon reaching 5.

Bilt points for linking partner programs (100 points each) and for adding a credit card to Bilt Wallet (100 points each for first 3) post immediately. Original author received 500 point bonus for first rent payment.

Bilt Rewards points are transferable at 1:1 usually within a few minutes to multiple different airline and hotel programs.

Theres discussion of the long term viability of Bilt with some of those posts linked at the bottom of this post after BREAK.

Bilt Status Tiers: Blue - anyone enrolled in Bilt Rewards with under 25,000 points, Silver - 25,000 points earned, Gold - 50,000 points earned, Platinum - 100,000 points earned. Tier status earned at any point in a year remains active through the end of the following year. Earn Interest on Points (Silver, Gold, Platinum Tiers) is minimal, discussed on this post and this post.

Bilt Points Quest Trivia was discontinued as of July 2024. Bilt Points Quest Trivia on the first of each month offers up to 250 points for correctly answering, within 10 seconds, 6 (out of 15-20) questions. Must get first 5 questions (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 points) correct to see the 6th bonus 100 point question. Theres often a Reddit thread with the Q & A. (Point Quest - October 2023 Answers) The lower half of this post has comments from a highly experienced test taker regarding memory, recall and studying for Points Quest Trivia.

Bilt Rent Free may also have been discontinued in 2024 or 2025. Bilt also has various RentFree games, available a few days prior to and/or on the 1st of the month, different people get different games. Could be a Family Feud style question with enough time to Google answers or a Where's Wally? (Bilt Brick) type of game or something else. Successful completion enters to be one of 3 people for whom Bilt pays their monthly rent (up to $2500).

List of Bilts Rent Day promotions going back to October 2022 at the bottom of the page here: DEALSPOINTS.

June 2024: Bottom of this post describes one persons experience paying a significant assessment (and earning points) with Bilt MC, at this time (only 3 weeks later) no report of clawback or shutdown (based on using Bilt to pay rent more than once a month and/or for something other than rent/condo fees).

June 2024: Bottom of this post contains Bilt quotes regarding Bilt BiltProtect.

June 2024: Important post (and link) stating that WF is losing money every month on Bilt.
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Old Apr 29, 2023 | 9:19 am
  #181  
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Originally Posted by rice4u
I was thinking about Avianca with Amex for United flights. I agreed to certain extend that Bilt has some unique transfer partners, but harder to accrue points due to no SUB.
The fee-free points for rent were enough to entice me. I was actually surprised by the (possibly defunct?) bonus offer for the first five days and was able to take advantage of it. Signup offers aside, the card subs for Chase Sapphire Preferred pretty readily--the abililty to push 3x dining and 2x travel to AA was pretty compelling for me. No annual fee and a generous boost to total available credit lines don't hurt either.

Also, Bilt>Turkish Smiles & Miles may beat Amex>LifeMiles for UA as well (I haven't compared award availabillity, but TK generally has attractive reward redemptions). I have booked using LifeMiles for last minute on UA, but would generally go for AC or TK transfers based on customer service/fee data points I've seen regarding AV.

Last edited by NYC Flyer; Apr 29, 2023 at 9:26 am Reason: amplification
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Old Apr 29, 2023 | 9:37 am
  #182  
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Originally Posted by NYC Flyer
The fee-free points for rent were enough to entice me. I was actually surprised by the (possibly defunct?) bonus offer for the first five days and was able to take advantage of it. Signup offers aside, the card subs for Chase Sapphire Preferred pretty readily--the abililty to push 3x dining and 2x travel to AA was pretty compelling for me. No annual fee and a generous boost to total available credit lines don't hurt either.

Also, Bilt>Turkish Smiles & Miles may beat Amex>LifeMiles for UA as well (I haven't compared award availabillity, but TK generally has attractive reward redemptions). I have booked using LifeMiles for last minute on UA, but would generally go for AC or TK transfers based on customer service/fee data points I've seen regarding AV.
AV has great availability for UA for me in east coast U.S and IMO AV has better user interface from their app than TK where you have to navigate to redeem award flights, but whatever currency work for your location that's the best program.
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Old May 1, 2023 | 5:09 pm
  #183  
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Have found the discourse surrounding the card on other sites see, e.g., Frequent Miler's latest podcast, pretty interesting for the intensity. Seems disproportionate to the card itself. But maybe I'm missing something.
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Old May 1, 2023 | 5:18 pm
  #184  
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Originally Posted by bpc3qh
Have found the discourse surrounding the card on other sites see, e.g., Frequent Miler's latest podcast, pretty interesting for the intensity. Seems disproportionate to the card itself. But maybe I'm missing something.
It's definitely an interesting and good card, but as far as bloggers and podcasts go: don't forget that these content creators need to fill their web pages and podcasts. If nothing more interesting is happening, something less interesting can get undue attention.
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Old May 1, 2023 | 10:38 pm
  #185  
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Originally Posted by bpc3qh
the discourse surrounding the card on other sites see, e.g., Frequent Miler's latest podcast, pretty interesting for the intensity. Seems disproportionate to the card itself. .
Originally Posted by josephstern
as far as bloggers and podcasts go: don't forget that these content creators need to fill their web pages and podcasts. If nothing more interesting is happening, something less interesting can get undue attention.
And dont forget that many of them get advertising revenue and/or kickbacks (referral commissions) for applications via their links. Maybe the advertising revenue and/or kickback for this card is greater than other cards? This is America, its all about the Benjamins.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 8:19 am
  #186  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
And dont forget that many of them get advertising revenue and/or kickbacks (referral commissions) for applications via their links. Maybe the advertising revenue and/or kickback for this card is greater than other cards? This is America, its all about the Benjamins.
I don't know that it's greater than the commissions for other cards, but any fees are worth something, and these guys all don't discriminate when it comes to taking in money.

AFAIK, the referral bonus is the only commission they can get, but that's still decent, especially with the kicker for every four conversions (which almost feels like it was introduced to attract bloggers).
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Old May 2, 2023 | 8:50 am
  #187  
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The commissions that bloggers get can vary over time, and the banks have been known to sometimes increase them (or expand them to a wider pool of eligible bloggers) in short-term promotions. So, if every blog in the world suddenly seems to be focused on a particular card out of nowhere ... that almost certainly has something to do with it.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 10:22 am
  #188  
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Originally Posted by josephstern
... especially with the kicker for every four conversions (which almost feels like it was introduced to attract bloggers).
What are the "kicker" and "conversions"? Thank you.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 11:01 am
  #189  
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The current attention on this card is not necessarily based on enhanced referral incentives. The card had a very attractive 100% bonus for AF transfers this month, Hyatt status match last month, etc. There have been some (unverified) suggestions across the blogosphere/reddit that the fee-free "rent" payments cover a host of non-rent expenses.

IMHO, this is all newsworthy--certainly moreso than a monthly review of what's in XXX's wallet, a cut and paste reminder that the Chase Sapphire is the "ideal" starter card, or worse, some Tiktok/instagram drivel re-post.
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Last edited by NYC Flyer; May 2, 2023 at 11:03 am Reason: amplification
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Old May 2, 2023 | 11:04 am
  #190  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
What are the "kicker" and "conversions"? Thank you.
You get 2500 Bilt points per referral, and 10,000 additional after every five.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 3:44 pm
  #191  
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Originally Posted by NYC Flyer
... some (unverified) suggestions across the blogosphere/reddit that the fee-free "rent" payments cover a host of non-rent expenses.....
Any of those suggestions regarding condominium monthly/common/maintenance fees? Considering it's almost impossible to pay condo fees with a (traditional) credit card, that would be a deal maker for me (and perhaps many others). Thank you.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 3:58 pm
  #192  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Any of those suggestions regarding condominium monthly/common/maintenance fees?
I read on one of the blogs that the chatbot was saying monthly fees of this nature do count. I decided to apply for this card on that basis and will shift some unaligned spending or otherwise non points earning activity to it.
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Old May 2, 2023 | 6:59 pm
  #193  
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Originally Posted by Majuki
I read on one of the blogs that the chatbot was saying monthly fees of this nature do count. I decided to apply for this card on that basis and will shift some unaligned spending or otherwise non points earning activity to it.
Its now being reported that the information given out by the chatbot was a mistake and that Bilt has revised their T&C accordingly
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Old May 3, 2023 | 8:17 am
  #194  
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Originally Posted by dw
Its now being reported that the information given out by the chatbot was a mistake and that Bilt has revised their T&C accordingly
Yup - I couldn't get the chatbot to show me this mysterious list.
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Old May 3, 2023 | 8:32 am
  #195  
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Originally Posted by dw
It’s now being reported that the information given out by the chatbot was a mistake and that Bilt has revised their T&C accordingly
Originally Posted by josephstern
Yup - I couldn't get the chatbot to show me this mysterious list.
The T&C's have always been clear that the ACH feature is for rent only, so any reliance on the chatbot "list" would probably result a one-time exception, at best, if/when Bilt reviewed the payments.
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Last edited by NYC Flyer; May 3, 2023 at 8:33 am Reason: clarif
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