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.
Linksto 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.
(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
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.
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 Rent Free may also have been discontinued in 2024 or 2025.
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.
Bilt Mastercard
#901




Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: san francisco.
Programs: Marriott Plt, OW Blue!
Posts: 2,090
Any news on this months rent day bonus?
#902


Join Date: Jul 2019
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, B6 Mosaic 2, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 870
Got approved for WF as a very old Evolve cardholder, and the 10K points posted instantly. CL went from 10K, which was already my lowest, to 5K. As a point of comparison, every other card I have is approved for 17K+. There's absolutely no need for that high of a CL, but just found it amusing.
On the less great side, my entire Bilt portal is now a mess, I can't access the my old card's portal, and the WF card is just reflecting as an error.
On the less great side, my entire Bilt portal is now a mess, I can't access the my old card's portal, and the WF card is just reflecting as an error.
#903




Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: SQ Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Caesars Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Atmos Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,228
My CL on this card is also relatively low, though I have no other WF cards. I actually pay rent through "Bilt Protect" which means they do an ACH passthrough and the charge never actually hits the card since my limit is pretty low and this would lead to a bit too high of a utilization percentage. You still get the points though. The low CL doesn't really matter to me as I just charge some random things to hit the 5x transactions.
As I said in #848 it's counterintuitive to both pay rent on the card and try to hit status and you would be better off by just straight spending. So I imagine the CL doesn't matter to a lot of customers who, like me, barely have any actual spend on the card.
As I said in #848 it's counterintuitive to both pay rent on the card and try to hit status and you would be better off by just straight spending. So I imagine the CL doesn't matter to a lot of customers who, like me, barely have any actual spend on the card.
#905
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 116
https://www.virginvoyages.com/cruise...ay-cruise-deal
Second person goes free on selected Virgin cruises, so 50% off the total; increase over the global deal of 35% off.
And unannounced bonuses based on bilt status for all cruises.
EDIT: Big change coming in October according to footnote in email - the 2x rent day points will be limited to 1000 (down from 10000).
Second person goes free on selected Virgin cruises, so 50% off the total; increase over the global deal of 35% off.
And unannounced bonuses based on bilt status for all cruises.
EDIT: Big change coming in October according to footnote in email - the 2x rent day points will be limited to 1000 (down from 10000).
Last edited by rewqion; Jul 26, 2024 at 3:38 pm
#906

Join Date: Oct 2023
Location: NYC <> SFBA
Programs: AA PlatPro, FB Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 466
Terrible update to rent day:
https://en.reddit.com/r/churning/com..._2024/lf33x6x/
Decreasing max 2x bonus earn from 10k points to 1k, means going for Bilt status is much harder to justify now
https://en.reddit.com/r/churning/com..._2024/lf33x6x/
Decreasing max 2x bonus earn from 10k points to 1k, means going for Bilt status is much harder to justify now
#907




Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: SQ Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Caesars Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Atmos Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,228
WSJ article comes out
Spending bonuses cut
Coincidence I think NOT!
Spending bonuses cut
Coincidence I think NOT!
#908
FlyerTalk Evangelist



Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,682
Terrible update to rent day:
https://en.reddit.com/r/churning/com..._2024/lf33x6x/
Decreasing max 2x bonus earn from 10k points to 1k, means going for Bilt status is much harder to justify now
https://en.reddit.com/r/churning/com..._2024/lf33x6x/
Decreasing max 2x bonus earn from 10k points to 1k, means going for Bilt status is much harder to justify now
I think Bilt just demoted themselves out of my wallet completely. Might still be good for my wife as an all-around card, but really probably not.
#909

Join Date: Jan 2023
Location: DCA, IAD
Programs: Hyatt Globalist; AA Plat. Pro.
Posts: 249
I remain so irritated by the manner in which this change was announced. Burying it at the bottom of a long email about the benefits of the program is just insulting. Bilt never misses an opportunity to mishandle its negative program changes (see, e.g., the status requirement changes), even though I really can't fault them for making these types of changes. Kerr, in particular, is awful about refusing to acknowledge why people might be annoyed by these changes, which is all the more remarkable given his knowledge and involvement in the community. I pay rent, and use Hyatt, so I won't demote Bilt completely, but I have no reason to ever prioritize them over my CSP, or to try and gain Bilt status. If their long-term goal is to get people to put more regular spend on the card, they seem remarkably incapable of achieving that goal.
#910


Join Date: Jul 2019
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, B6 Mosaic 2, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 870
It's a 3x dining, 2x travel card (identical to CSP!) that transfers to Hyatt and Alaska with no annual fee - they can devalue whatever they want out of rent day and it's still going to be a lock for me
#911
FlyerTalk Evangelist




Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 18,127
And it gives points on something that doesn't give points in any other way - rent/hoa payments! That alone warrants 5 payments per month for me.
#912




Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold 1.2MM (BIS), AA LT Plat (SUBs, BD/Bask), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 4,589
It gives FREE points on something that doesn't give FREE points in any other way - rent/hoa payments! That alone warrants 5 SMALL payments per month for me.
Still, as per the first sentence of the WikiPost "... a game changer ... “almost a Holy Grail” (a thing that is eagerly pursued or sought after)."
#913
FlyerTalk Evangelist




Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 18,127
Agreed, with caveats:
It gives FREE points on something that doesn't give FREE points in any other way - rent/hoa payments! That alone warrants 5 SMALL payments per month for me.
Still, as per the first sentence of the WikiPost "... a game changer ... “almost a Holy Grail” (a thing that is eagerly pursued or sought after)."
It gives FREE points on something that doesn't give FREE points in any other way - rent/hoa payments! That alone warrants 5 SMALL payments per month for me.
Still, as per the first sentence of the WikiPost "... a game changer ... “almost a Holy Grail” (a thing that is eagerly pursued or sought after)."
Hilariously, my Evolve card only had a 3k credit limit.
WF just approved me for a 30k credit limit.
My income changed a bit, but not by 10-fold.

I won't complain, but it's still funny.
#914
FlyerTalk Evangelist



Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,682
Further, what Bilt considers to be "travel" is a MUCH more restrictive list than Chase. I saw a list once after I was bothered that AirBNB wasn't considered travel. So I won't make the mistake of putting any travel on Bilt again - that cost me a lot of points.
#915
FlyerTalk Evangelist



Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,682
Two more notes about Bilt:
1 - The "Friday news dump" way in which they notified us of this change really cost them a lot of goodwill among the bloggers. They worked hard to build up that goodwill, and really dashed a lot of it in no time. They could have been up front, said we're giving two more months so really jam on it! and generally lessened the blow. A lot of us would have said "oh - that sucks - but at least they're giving us two months notice! not bad." But instead we're all mad.
2 - For those who say this is costing Bilt too much, sure, it probably is (as it's the best feature of the card in my mind) but don't forget that Ankur had bragged that Bilt was already profitable. Sure - a profitable company still has the right to change a program, but if they were able to be profitable with the limit of 10,000 points per Rent Day, then cutting it isn't like plenty of companies that offer loss-leaders to get customers and then cut back to get profitable. These guys are already profitable. Supposedly.
1 - The "Friday news dump" way in which they notified us of this change really cost them a lot of goodwill among the bloggers. They worked hard to build up that goodwill, and really dashed a lot of it in no time. They could have been up front, said we're giving two more months so really jam on it! and generally lessened the blow. A lot of us would have said "oh - that sucks - but at least they're giving us two months notice! not bad." But instead we're all mad.
2 - For those who say this is costing Bilt too much, sure, it probably is (as it's the best feature of the card in my mind) but don't forget that Ankur had bragged that Bilt was already profitable. Sure - a profitable company still has the right to change a program, but if they were able to be profitable with the limit of 10,000 points per Rent Day, then cutting it isn't like plenty of companies that offer loss-leaders to get customers and then cut back to get profitable. These guys are already profitable. Supposedly.



