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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 Dec 22, 2023 | 8:56 am
  #541  
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Originally Posted by notquiteaff
From what I can tell only to their "elite status" program, which honestly is a joke nobody cares about anyway lol.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 9:22 am
  #542  
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I don't understand how the spending on a linked card works. If I put my main spender in the wallet and spend X amount on it, I get the status through Bilt even though they didn't participate at all in those interchange fees?
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 9:27 am
  #543  
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Originally Posted by josephstern
I don't understand how the spending on a linked card works. If I put my main spender in the wallet and spend X amount on it, I get the status through Bilt even though they didn't participate at all in those interchange fees?

I dont think it is any spend on any linked card:

2. Fast-track with spend: You can now also earn elite status through eligible spend, excluding rent, with any linked debit or credit card, including:

3. Spend on Bilt Dining, Lyft rideshare, Bilt Travel Portal, and more with any linked credit or debit card.
https://www.biltrewards.com/editoria...status-program
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 9:28 am
  #544  
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
… their "elite status" program, which honestly is a joke nobody cares about anyway lol.
Agreed, but:
Originally Posted by notquiteaff
… changes to the Bilt program: …
Writing as significant Bilt sustainability skeptic, suffice it to say, it will be interesting to see if this is the first step on the road to ruins or just an insignificant speed bump. Doesn’t change basic Bilt strategy one iota*: Bilt point balance always below 1000, speculatively transfer (anywhere) as soon as Bilt balance goes over 1000.

(* “iota”, iota, noun, 1. the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ι, ι ), transliterated as ‘i.’., 2. an extremely small amount.)
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 10:11 am
  #545  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Agreed, but: Writing as significant Bilt sustainability skeptic, suffice it to say, it will be interesting to see if this is the first step on the road to ruins or just an insignificant speed bump. Doesnt change basic Bilt strategy one iota*: Bilt point balance always below 1000, speculatively transfer (anywhere) as soon as Bilt balance goes over 1000.

(* iota, iota, noun, 1. the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ι, ι ), transliterated as i.., 2. an extremely small amount.)
Agreed! The real decision is, AA or Hyatt?
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 10:38 am
  #546  
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Agreed! The real decision is, AA or Hyatt?
Agreed . Although for us BankDirect/Bask Bank aficionados that decision is a little easier.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 11:04 am
  #547  
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I've been transferring to Hyatt myself.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 11:19 am
  #548  
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Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski
Agreed . Although for us BankDirect/Bask Bank aficionados that decision is a little easier.
Mhmm, never heard of it. with, say, 50'000 USD, the tradeoff is 125'000 AA Miles / year vs. 2'500 USD, roughly? That's... actually an interesting proposition.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 11:23 am
  #549  
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I hope these Milestone Rewards are as good as the Platinum gifts!
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 1:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Majuki
I've been transferring to Hyatt myself.
Ditto. I'm not overly concerned about the program, but better safe than sorry. I don't think these elite status (lol) changes are an augur of bad news; they're likely intended to drum up spending, which seems perfectly healthy.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 5:53 pm
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Mhmm, never heard of it. with, say, 50'000 USD, the tradeoff is 125'000 AA Miles / year vs. 2'500 USD, roughly? That's... actually an interesting proposition.
Heard of but never looked into enough to dig into the math. I'm not sure it's that interesting but could work out if there's a guaranteed redemption ahead. Note the tax implications here - your marginal rates could have an impact on this: "For tax purposes, miles are considered to have a value of 0.42 cents. At our current rate of 2.5 miles per dollar saved annually, this represents a taxable APY of 1.05%." Just to make my brain feel better at at around a 35% marginal rate with $50k in for a year you'd net 125k miles - $183.75 ($525 * 35% marginal tax rate). A bank account at 5% effective APY for the same tax rate would yield $1625 ($2500 * $875 at 35% marginal tax rate).

Effectively "buying" 125k AA miles for $1808.75 (opportunity cost $1625 + tax cost $183.75) or 1.45 cpm. I'm not too up on AA miles, but possible to buy them more cheaply than that? That said if there's a guaranteed high value redemption then seems easy enough to have a bit more fun with an emergency fund.
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 6:16 pm
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Originally Posted by leland
Note the tax implications here...
To bring things back on topic - but still related to this tangent - is Bilt issuing 1099s for points earned as interest on Bilt points balances?
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Old Dec 22, 2023 | 6:37 pm
  #553  
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Originally Posted by leland
Heard of but never looked into enough to dig into the math. I'm not sure it's that interesting but could work out if there's a guaranteed redemption ahead. Note the tax implications here - your marginal rates could have an impact on this: "For tax purposes, miles are considered to have a value of 0.42 cents. At our current rate of 2.5 miles per dollar saved annually, this represents a taxable APY of 1.05%." Just to make my brain feel better at at around a 35% marginal rate with $50k in for a year you'd net 125k miles - $183.75 ($525 * 35% marginal tax rate). A bank account at 5% effective APY for the same tax rate would yield $1625 ($2500 * $875 at 35% marginal tax rate).

Effectively "buying" 125k AA miles for $1808.75 (opportunity cost $1625 + tax cost $183.75) or 1.45 cpm. I'm not too up on AA miles, but possible to buy them more cheaply than that? That said if there's a guaranteed high value redemption then seems easy enough to have a bit more fun with an emergency fund.
That's a J RT to Japan, which I'd value way above 1800 USD. But anyway, beside the topic!

Originally Posted by Majuki
To bring things back on topic - but still related to this tangent - is Bilt issuing 1099s for points earned as interest on Bilt points balances?
Given how tiny the interest is, I doubt it.
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 3:50 pm
  #554  
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Thanks for bringing back on topic - my post definitely belonged in a diff. thread

Anything below $10 is generally considered de minimis and I think it would be difficult to get above the points granted in interest to go above that valuation. I'm at 15-20 pts/mo, and have been bad about transferring out my balance. No way my grand total of 240 pts max is valued enough for a 1099.
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 5:51 pm
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Originally Posted by leland
I think it would be difficult to get above the points granted in interest to go above that valuation.
There have been some financial institutions issuing fantastical valuations of points earned in interest.
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