Bilt is making it more complicated to pay your rent. Starting 4/29, rent payment needs to be pre-authorized each month before actual payment. An extra step may deter, or even prevent, some from using the card to pay their rents.

We're updating how you pay rent through Bilt with an even more secure and scalable system. Your current Rent Rewards account will expire on April 29, but don't worry – your rewards aren't changing, just how you submit your monthly payment at non-Bilt properties.

Introducing BillPay by Bilt
https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/me...png?1742067100Bilt has grown tremendously, now serving as the payments and rewards platform at one in four apartment buildings nationwide. While we continue expanding our partner property network, we remain equally committed to members living elsewhere – like yourself.

Our revamped BillPay by Bilt system is designed for members who don't live at Bilt partner properties, ensuring everyone can earn valuable rewards on rent using their payment method of choice. This updated system creates a more seamless and secure payment process while building the foundation for new features - including our mortgage rewards program launching this year, and other future bill types.

Your updated rent payment process

Going forward, follow these steps to continue earning rewards on your rent:

1. Pre-authorize your payment in the Bilt app (before you pay rent)

• Each month, pre-authorize your rent payment from the Bilt app, up to 5 days before paying rent
• Select your rent amount and payment method
  • Use your Bilt Mastercard for your usual rewards and waived fees, or;
  • Use any other credit/debit card to earn both Bilt Points AND your card's rewards
• First time only: you'll receive new BillPay by Bilt routing and account numbers. Add these to your property's payment portal, replacing your old Rent Rewards account details.

This pre-authorization replaces the old post-payment text verification, now preventing issues like duplicate or incorrect payments.

2. Submit your rent payment as usual

• Pay your rent through your property's portal using your new BillPay by Bilt account
• When your property processes this payment, Bilt automatically charges the card you selected during authorization
• You'll earn all the rewards you were shown during the authorization step
• Important: Submit your payment each month within 5 days of authorizing in the Bilt app

Why this update

We recognize this update changes your monthly routine by shifting from post-payment verification to pre-payment authorization. This new approach enhances security by ensuring the system only processes payments you've specifically approved through the Bilt app.

This is an essential step as we expand our platform capabilities and scale – paving the way for new payment categories like our upcoming mortgage rewards program and other future bill payments.

We're committed to continuously investing in the BillPay experience to make it more seamless and secure for you. We're proud to be the only platform offering rewards on rent payments at any property nationwide. While Bilt partner properties offer our most integrated experience, BillPay ensures all members can earn valuable rewards on housing payments regardless of where they live.

Important timeline

Your old Rent Rewards account will expire on April 29. After that date, you'll need to use the new BillPay system to continue earning rewards on rent. We'll send reminder notifications as we approach this deadline to ensure you have time to make this transition.

Thank you for being a valued Bilt member. We're excited to continue building a more rewarding way to pay your rent, and more.

The Bilt Team

saw this email too. not too sure i buy into their security reason since rent and mortgage are recurring payments

Yeah, not sure what the real deal is. I suspect Bilt is switching to a different bank resulting in "expiration" of existing rent payment account.

So what happens if I forget to pre-authorize one day? This seems pretty dumb.

Quite possible, especially since Evolve Bank (the bank they use to process rent payments) has been caught in all sorts of (public) regulatory and legal issues and has had other "fintech" clients end their relationship with them.

Color me confused. Many unanswered questions:

Many of us do not have a property portal, we make payments via an ACH debit based on account and routing number provided by hardcopy paper form to our property management.

For those who make payments by the above method, the actual ACH debit date varies from month to month, by several days, thus making “within 5 days” impossible to predict. We give the management company the account and routing numbers, exactly when THEY choose to process the ACH debit is their choice.

Any fees involved with using “any other credit card”?

“Each month, pre-authorize” seems like a big step backwards, like writing a check every month, compared to all the automated procedures now in effect.

It’s possible Bilt is making things more difficult and complicated in an effort to decrease usage for rent, for which they lose money.

OTOH, if “earn both Bilt Points AND your card's rewards” (with no fees) turns out to be true, this might be a beneficial change.

Well, I've forgotten to put the money in the bank account before doing a BiltProtect debit before. I didn't get charged a fee. I assume you might get a few failed tries for free

There's some interesting things in the FAQ here https://support.biltrewards.com/hc/e...ewards-Account
In the logged in FAQ, there's also this. Is this the first time they have acknowledged it?
The UI also changed, here's the most recent transaction that I did

You confirmed this transaction on 03/02/2025.
Payment submitted Feb, 27 2025 PM
Bank account charged Mar, 01 2025 AM
Vaccount payment complete Mar, 02 2025 AM

Mine says Column Bank as the payment provider

The only other place where I saw this mentioned from Bilt was on a Reddit post (from a verified Bilt employee iirc). Having this on the website is more authoritative.

The Bilt reddit post with the announcement now has an FAQ that added that they're adding an "auto-authorize" feature you can activate. Good. That should alleviate most concerns.

I'd like to confirm my interpretation if anyone else here is in a Bilt building like we are. I didn't receive an email about the change and from what I read, it says those living in Bilt buildings don't have to worry about the change.

Does that sound correct?

How does one make multiple payments moving forward?

So they do indeed seem to have moved away from Evolve given their troubles.

Hello, did your Fifth Third Bank accept your BILT account for the mortgage payment? if so, did you get any points by doing so?