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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 Jul 4, 2023 | 2:21 pm
  #271  
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Originally Posted by olb2006
On the side note, I don't really understand why would they want to do that? Does it really save them that much? IMO, it drops more shade on them than helps save anything.
I actually agree with you. These exclusions simply mean Bilt isn't getting all the wallet share of my total spend that it could. My guess is that there could be an interchange fee angle here? Or an attempt to drive more spend to the loyalty partners Bilt has relationships with?
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Old Jul 7, 2023 | 9:36 pm
  #272  
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My rent payment at the end of June disappeared as pending in my points activity. I would have been OK with this if my large Bay Area rent transaction had also vanished, but unfortunately it was only the points that were missing.

I wrote in yesterday and they responded very quickly thanking me for raising the issue and noting they manually issued the points for the rent, yet to appear but they said it could be 24-48h.

Just posting so people are aware they seem to have some issues with the resilience of tracking points for spend so be vigilant in making sure you're given points for all your spend. Never seen anything like this at another bank. I wonder if they have bugs due to transactions not always mapping to points activity due to their 5 transactions requirement.
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Old Jul 23, 2023 | 4:27 pm
  #273  
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Few questions.
1. Can I refer myself?
2. Did anybody try to use Curve and redirect all charges from other cards to this on rent day?
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Old Aug 2, 2023 | 10:00 am
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Originally Posted by yugi
Few questions.
1. Can I refer myself?
2. Did anybody try to use Curve and redirect all charges from other cards to this on rent day?
You cant and we now have Curve transactions filtered. - Kerr
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Old Aug 3, 2023 | 7:58 am
  #275  
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Originally Posted by Richklhs
You cant and we now have Curve transactions filtered. - Kerr
You won't allow Curve transactions?
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Old Aug 4, 2023 | 1:33 pm
  #276  
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Originally Posted by Richklhs
You cant and we now have Curve transactions filtered. - Kerr
The right thing to do would probably be to make an official announcement or statement message about Curve transactions not counting. If this is not explicitly stated in some way, you're inviting trouble from the litigation-happy segment...
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Old Aug 6, 2023 | 8:55 pm
  #277  
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I’m considering an application for Bilt Mastercard. Would be only to “pointsetize” or “milesetize” (get point or miles for) my monthly condominium common charge payments. Hesitant due to unknown application result and unknow if condo chares will be treated as rent and determining 5/24 effects and ramifications. Extensive history with Chase/AmEx/BOA credit card applications (and recon calls usually to reallocate credit limits), not so much for other issuers. I’ve reviewed this thread to garner as much information as I can

I can easily foresee application being denied for several reasons (too many open accounts ~16-18, to many recent inquires 0/5/9 for the 3 major agencies, too much existing credit). Unsure if my condo payments would be like rent, for my checking account from which the managing agent automatically processes an ACH transfer each month, the transactions appear as “Transaction Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Original Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Category: Mortgage & Rent, Transaction Type: EFT, Additional Details: ACH Withdrawal.” Every time I see “AbcdeStone Condo Rent” I think about applying for this card.

Would appreciate comments regarding (but not limited to ):
- Probability of application approval?
- Bilt recon procedures?
- Is it effectively a personal card for Chase 5/24 and credit reporting agency purposes?
- Probability of my condo payments being appropriately processed by Bilt … month after month?
- Probability of earning 1x OR 2x for aforementioned condo payments?
- Anything else I should be asking about.

Thank you.
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Old Aug 6, 2023 | 9:56 pm
  #278  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Im considering an application for Bilt Mastercard. Would be only to pointsetize or milesetize (get point or miles for) my monthly condominium common charge payments. Hesitant due to unknown application result and unknow if condo chares will be treated as rent and determining 5/24 effects and ramifications. Extensive history with Chase/AmEx/BOA credit card applications (and recon calls usually to reallocate credit limits), not so much for other issuers. Ive reviewed this thread to garner as much information as I can

I can easily foresee application being denied for several reasons (too many open accounts ~16-18, to many recent inquires 0/5/9 for the 3 major agencies, too much existing credit). Unsure if my condo payments would be like rent, for my checking account from which the managing agent automatically processes an ACH transfer each month, the transactions appear as Transaction Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Original Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Category: Mortgage & Rent, Transaction Type: EFT, Additional Details: ACH Withdrawal. Every time I see AbcdeStone Condo Rent I think about applying for this card.

Would appreciate comments regarding (but not limited to ):
- Probability of application approval?
- Bilt recon procedures?
- Is it effectively a personal card for Chase 5/24 and credit reporting agency purposes?
- Probability of my condo payments being appropriately processed by Bilt month after month?
- Probability of earning 1x OR 2x for aforementioned condo payments?
- Anything else I should be asking about.

Thank you.
Condo fee payments do count as a possible once per month ACH charge. I've used it the last 3 months and have had no issues.

The Bilt card isn't issued by Chase, so not sure why you're worried there. It's issued by Wells Fargo.
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Old Aug 6, 2023 | 11:44 pm
  #279  
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Condo fee payments do count as a possible once per month ACH charge. I've used it the last 3 months and have had no issues. The Bilt card isn't issued by Chase, so not sure why you're worried there. It's issued by Wells Fargo.
Thank you. My concern regarding Chase is that Bilt would be one of my 5/24 (thereby affecting all future possible Chase applications) and since I’m usually at 4/24 I should plan all applications very carefully.

Thus also my question “Is it effectively a personal card for Chase 5/24 and credit reporting agency purposes?” Thanks again.
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 6:15 am
  #280  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Thank you. My concern regarding Chase is that Bilt would be one of my 5/24 (thereby affecting all future possible Chase applications) and since Im usually at 4/24 I should plan all applications very carefully.

Thus also my question Is it effectively a personal card for Chase 5/24 and credit reporting agency purposes? Thanks again.
Yes, it is a personal card issued by Wells Fargo.
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 8:05 am
  #281  
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Does this card require a credit pull when applying for it?
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 8:06 am
  #282  
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777
Does this card require a credit pull when applying for it?
Yes, for sure.
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 8:09 am
  #283  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Im considering an application for Bilt Mastercard. Would be only to pointsetize or milesetize (get point or miles for) my monthly condominium common charge payments. Hesitant due to unknown application result and unknow if condo chares will be treated as rent and determining 5/24 effects and ramifications. Extensive history with Chase/AmEx/BOA credit card applications (and recon calls usually to reallocate credit limits), not so much for other issuers. Ive reviewed this thread to garner as much information as I can

I can easily foresee application being denied for several reasons (too many open accounts ~16-18, to many recent inquires 0/5/9 for the 3 major agencies, too much existing credit). Unsure if my condo payments would be like rent, for my checking account from which the managing agent automatically processes an ACH transfer each month, the transactions appear as Transaction Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Original Description: AbcdeStone Condo Rent, Category: Mortgage & Rent, Transaction Type: EFT, Additional Details: ACH Withdrawal. Every time I see AbcdeStone Condo Rent I think about applying for this card.

Would appreciate comments regarding (but not limited to ):
- Probability of application approval?
- Bilt recon procedures?
- Is it effectively a personal card for Chase 5/24 and credit reporting agency purposes?
- Probability of my condo payments being appropriately processed by Bilt month after month?
- Probability of earning 1x OR 2x for aforementioned condo payments?
- Anything else I should be asking about.

Thank you.
-Probability? I'd say pretty high
-Recon? Not sure but here and Reddit have some data points
-Def personal and will affect 5/24
-Very, very likely. I do HOA. No problems.
-Def 1x. But note that you need 5 transactions per month to get points at all, so expect to charge other small things (restaurants?).
-The 2x on Rent Day is great (save insurance, tax bills, etc. - best way to build Hyatt points for me) and they also have some amazing promos on Rent Day.
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 1:11 pm
  #284  
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Originally Posted by josephstern
... note that you need 5 transactions per month to get points at all, so expect to charge other small things (restaurants?)...
Terrific reminder, I wasn't familiar with that, thank you. Probably be a few dollars of groceries or gasoline (x 4) for me.
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Old Aug 7, 2023 | 3:05 pm
  #285  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Terrific reminder, I wasn't familiar with that, thank you. Probably be a few dollars of groceries or gasoline (x 4) for me.
or a few minimal Amazon credit balance reloads from the comfort of your couch?
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