I read "broader program" to mean engagement with features in addition to the credit card.

I know companies always need to evolve and innovate and change, but these proposals read to me like Bilt needs to make some money. They always claim to be profitable, but that may only be due to a crazy contract they negotiated with Wells Fargo. And they've never shown us the numbers. These ideas hint that they may not be making so much money at all, or they may be trying to find a profitable path forward once that WF contract expires.

i do not know about bilt numbers, but we often hear that WF is bleeding money from bilt. and this makes a lot of sense to me because i would expect people to carry little balance on bilt because the bulk of the spendings will be for rent, and it would be the right thing to do financially for renters to be able to pay off their rent. i also expect wf to be uncomfortable if renters are unable to pay off their rent obligations, meaning there is a real good chance of defaulting. they will definitely try to minimize/mitigate the risk. either way, this limits what they can earn from interests, which is really where the bulk of credit card profits come from. many people here thinks that it is the interchange fees that pays for the rewards program. but a fed reserve report showed that interchange fees are often not sufficient to cover the cost of the rewards program, and the bulk of the profits actually comes from interest. so idk if bilt is profitable, but the bilt and WF as a whole definitely isnt and that needs to change.

Bilt is actually really compelling as your only or secondary card. If I had a friend with one card, let's say Chase Freedom Flex, and they pay rent, then I would wholeheartedly recommend them Bilt as a second card. 3x dining is decent and 2x travel is pretty good for a no fee card.

The problem is once you have a ton of expensive cards, each marginal card has to provide something unique for you to keep it around. Statement credits are ok for breakeven but hotel FNCs push the needle for me.

If we look at the two proposed $550 cards vs the CSR:

• I don't book through the portal, but Bilt has 5x vs Chase 10x
• Bilt Neighborhood dining is just a small subset of restaurants so it's either 1x or 2x vs Chase 3x
• Lyft is 5x vs Chase 10x, if Chase isn't extended in March 2025 I will switch Lyft to Bilt anyways
• Walgreens I don't spend much at
• Direct flight booking is 3x/4x vs Chase 3x
• I have better cards for grocery and gas

I'm sure I could squint at it and say the Bilt card with points earning on rent plus their (probably hard to use) statement credits is better than the Chase one, but Chase has a much larger ecosystem of cards which help me accrue easily.

I'm almost reminded of the discontinued Uber Visa card (https://www.uber.com/newsroom/uber-visa-card/), which was also amazing as a free card but got nerfed as it didn't make money

And Walgreens isn't that compelling because with Chase Freedom Unlimited you get 3x on dining and drugstores (which isn't limited to just one merchant in that category).

For me, holding the CSR is a no brainer because of the (easy-to-use) credits, Sapphire Lounges, earning structure, and transfer partners. For a high annual fee card, I assess the benefits annually. In my wallet, I can easily justify the Amex Hilton Aspire, CSR, and Venture X. The Platinum card still retains enough value for me to maintain, too, but the other 3 I don't give a second thought about renewing with their fees and benefits. For those ~$95 annual fee cards, like you said, usually a FNC or something is enough to favor maintaining the card. Bilt would not have a similar draw. I'm willing to pay a $0 annual fee for the their card in its current form or any of the A/B tested proposals.

i dont feel bilt works as an only card or secondary card. firstly, wf is notorious for low credit limit, so you may not have enough to spend after rent. secondly, dining is the only decent category. 2x travel is ok, except this isnt better than a 2x everything card and there are a significant number of things on my trips that do not code as travel. you also only have 1x for retail spend, grocery, gas and everyday spend, which cumulatively is quite a big category for people. a 2x everything card is probably better

Lol I can't even charge my rent to the card because the CL is too low.

Just use Bilt Protect via ACH, to the consumer there's no difference

Assuming you value Bilt points as more than 1cpp, it's a good everyday card

bilt gave me a high credit limit considering some of the datapoints on FT. but i still dont really use bilt outside of rent day; i use custom cash for dining and VX for general spend.

Yeah there's a difference - if you time it right, you can float your rent for 50 days or so.

Without rent payments I could never make the case for getting the Bilt 1.0 card with the signup “bonus” lottery they are running.

Looking at these new card proposals, I still see no justification to join their eco system. They are poorly made clones of the UR cards that I already have.

which is why only no annual fee option a make sense to me. you get to earn from rent, you can another issuer and network, you also get 1.5% with no foreign transaction

The bulk of my international spend is dining, some form of travel, gas, and groceries. I get 3X in all those categories with my CSR and my Strata Premier without foreign transaction fee.

Specifically moved my due date so statements close a day or two before rent is due. It's terrific.

My HOA is tiny, so I moved mine to close at the end of the month so I could float the $10K Rent Day spend I was doing. Good while it lasted. Now puny.

My HOA is not puny but also not enough to affect my preference for statement timing. Thus my Bilt statement, as for all my other credit card statements, closes on the 1st or 2nd of the month, to reflect a calendar (previous) month’s activity.