Originally Posted by Smiley90 (Post 36412395)

... WF just approved me for a 30k credit limit. ...

Originally Posted by josephstern (Post 36412698)

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.

Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski (Post 36412833)

That seems to be a relatively common CL for WF Bilt. Not 25 or 28 or 32 or 35 .... 30k exactly. Maybe it's a common result of WF's calculations? Maybe it's because 29k is too little and 31k is too much :D!

Originally Posted by gudugan (Post 36416653)

... just in case ...

Originally Posted by yugi (Post 36414731)

He was lying.

Originally Posted by tattikat2 (Post 36416794)

... if it was the information in the WSJ article that makes you think this or is there something else that shows it? ...

Originally Posted by Dr Jabadski (Post 36416837)

I can’t write for anyone else, but by all OBJECTIVE analyses, and the FT “sniff test*” for the past 2-3 years, and recent cost cutting maneuvers, Bilt is highly UNprofitable and many here think it is unsustainable (in its current iteration) and headed for bankruptcy.

Of course the CEO is going to claim “all is terrific” right up until the moment they file for bankruptcy protection. Just like many others, he’s laughing all the way to the bank where he put a good part of the venture capital money claiming it as his salary.

(* “sniff test”: Etymology, noun, (idiomatic) an informal check of an idea or proposal, using one's common sense or sense of propriety. Synonym: reality check)

Originally Posted by chev7 (Post 36416920)

I agree that the biz doesn't pass the sniff test and is likely unsustainable in current form, but there's no hard evidence that Jain lied when he said Bilt is "profitable." Of course, "profitable" is a bit vague. There's a report out that says Bilt achieved positive EBITDA in April 2022.

To me, it sounds like Bilt is profitable but only because Wells is taking a loss on the business by paying Bilt a large credit card customer acquisition fee and 0.8% of rent payments (per WSJ article). When Wells recuts that deal, Bilt probably won't be profitable anymore.

Originally Posted by chev7 (Post 36416920)

. … "profitable" is a bit vague. …

Originally Posted by dw (Post 36417700)

There are many ways to account for stuff when you’re not a public company, so…. I’ll leave it at that

Originally Posted by Clemson (Post 36422072)

TPG posted a Q&A with Richard Kerr from Bilt. In it they mention that in addition to capping rent day bonus points at 1k (down from 10k), they are also removing tax payments from eligibility for bonus points. I actually scoured the email and the terms and conditions they currently have posted for rent day and for the card in general and don't see any mention of this. I'm surprised - I get that people (including me!) were using this to make large tax payments but it seems unnecessary to do this since they're capping the bonus points at 1k anyways.