Understanding that a condo payment might not be considered by Bilt to be rental payment and having thought that the only way to earn points (for rental/condo payments not in the Bilt Rewards Alliance) was if Bilt initiates the payment, these questions have been important for my evaluation of the Bilt Mastercard.

Thank you very much for all your thoughtful replies, greatly appreciated, definitely your good deed for the day/week :tu:. As you can tell, I’m detail oriented, it’s terrific to receive answers that are timely and pertinent. Thanks again.

Seems also that having the condo management company initiate pulling the payment allows you to have easy confirmation that the payment has been properly completed.

I was unaware of an important aspect of online bill paying (related to Bilt) until a few years ago when I had to change day-to-day checking accounts as Schwab was terminating day-to-day checking functions for the type of account I had. With existing (back-up rarely used) Chase and USAA checking accounts I learned that there are (at least) 2 completely different ways for a bank’s Bill Pay system to deduct a (mailed, not an ACH) Bill Pay amount from one’s account. At that time, Chase deducted a mailed Bill Pay payment from my account balance when the check was mailed, leaving me no way to know if the check was ever received (and properly credited). At that time (and still now) USAA deducts a mailed Bill Pay payment from my account balance when the check is deposited by the recipient and clears my USAA account, thus I have proof the check was received. (USAA is now still my day-to-day checking account.)

Thus I’m wondering if Bilt initiates a mailed condo payment, does the charge to the Bilt credit card occur when the check is mailed OR when the check clears after being deposited by the condo management company? (My limited understanding is that if Bilt mails a “rental” payment, the amount appears as a charge to the Bilt credit card, I hope that’s a correct understanding.) Thanks again.

Heads up that there are reports this week on Reddit of Bilt accounts with the credit card being shut down for very odd reasons. Data points are not clear but for some reason the accounts (who all claim they were legitimately paying rent via ACH) are being flagged and being asked to provided copies of leases for verification. One poster claims she moved recently and is no longer paying rent via Bilt, another claims her two year lease was rejected because it was not signed within the past year; both accounts were shut down. Another account was shut down because the user was only using the credit card for small charges to meet the 5 transaction minimum per month, and Bilt claimed the “micro transactions” were against the T&Cs. All very odd.

At least it’s just a shutdown from Bilt and/or Wells Fargo, small players in the points and miles game. Even if it’s extended to all WF products, it wouldn’t be as crushing (for most people) as a Chase or AmEx shutdown.

Yes, the $2.95 fee is a peace of mind fee because I don't know if Bilt mails a check otherwise if the payment is not part of their alliance. I group my HOA payments so that they're semiannual and the fee is < 0.15% of the transaction amount.

I'll monitor for this and report back if there's adverse action on my account. I'd have to search through this thread or Reddit, but there was someone purporting to be a representative for Bilt, indicating that HOA payments were specifically allowed.

I would also need to read the fine print of the T&Cs, but there wasn't any overt messaging in the marketing materials indicating a minimum purchase amount for the 5 monthly transactions. In my case, I place unaligned spend on this card where I have discretion over the transaction date to happen on the 1st of the month. This is simply maximizing rewards. I have noticed that some online transactions have failed on the 1st of the month, but since I didn't try on other days I can't say if this is a pattern.

Yeah, I am curious if a shutdown is isolated to the Bilt account only, which would be my guess, or all WF products.

Regardless, I would relish a CFPB complaint if my account gets closed for my use case. :)

A disturbing Reddit data point from this afternoon- someone said their rent fluctuates every month because the building's utilities are not individually metered, so the landlord splits the actual costs between the tenants each month. The variations were less than $100 each month.

Apparently this month, Bilt sent out their rent check, then flagged the account due to the monthly variations in rent payment and stopped payment on the check, and never told the user. It was only when the check bounced with the landlord that the user contacted Bilt, found out their account had been suspended, and was requested to submit a copy of their lease for review, which could take 3 weeks.

This is particularly concerning, because it says to me that there are things going on behind the scenes at Bilt that are driving them to this type of action, and also they're clearly under water when it comes to customer service. How could you suspend a user and stop payment on their rent check without even telling them???

I can see the Bilt routing and account numbers to give to my condo management company to start initiating monthly ACH pulls for my monthly charges but I don’t have any of the other information as required on the (partial) form below. Presumably I should check “Checking (account)”. Please provide Bilt or WF Financial Institution name and address or direct me to where on the Bilt website I can find that information. (The management company requests a voided check, presumably that’s not available from Bilt and I’ll need to tell the management company that it’s not available.) Thank you.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c2bee22b5a.jpg

Searching on the routing number gives you:

Name: Evolve Bank And Trust
Address: Memphis, TN
Phone: 901-259-0796

I'd just use that.

When I rented, my situation was similar. The apartment complex added fractional trash, water, and sewer bills to the rent statement each month, causing a slight variation.

This is all the more reason to do have your property management company do an ACH pull if that's an option.

A web search for the provided routing number corresponds to Evolve Bank & Trust for me as well. I agree with the information josephstern indicated.

I'm wondering if the people having issues (especially with rent) are in properties which are members of the Alliance that Bilt promotes? It's certainly not a good look, and I'm considering cashing out my points much more frequently.

Unlikely as if it is (mine is) the rent ledger is reflected on the Bilt site, including the breakdown of extra line items like trash/sewage/admin/etc, and the total account balance. In fact my property just recently removed their standalone rent portal so everyone has to use Bilt even if they don't have the credit card. I suspect this is another element of their business model as they probably get some amount of money for allowing property management companies to outsource the rent payment handling to Bilt.

My guess is one would expect fewer problems if the property used Bilt to manage rent payments.

(Considering I’ve been salivating about simple no-cost points-etizing (like monetizing) my condo payments for about 25 years, I see Bilt as a game changer. As a relatively new product which might be of high interest to many members here, there should be comprehensive information about Bilt here. I’ve not seen much of the information below posted previously, and in appreciation of all those who were so gracious and helpful in answering my questions above, I hope it’s helpful.)
I’m now less UNimpressed and there wasn’t any salt ;) ;)!

Bilt card arrived yesterday. Overall small box, placed in mailbox, no signature required, unique packaging with many dead trees. (No traditional piece of paper with card glued or taped and name/address/last 4-5 of account #, credit limit, etc.) I initially missed the “Activate Your Card” information (inside the slide out part of inner box, top right or lower photo). Metal card, weight ~16 grams (comparisons: AmEx biz plat 18.5 gm, AmEx Gold 15 gm, Chase Sapphire Reserve 13 gm, traditional plastic card 5 gm.)

Called customer service (before seeing printed “Activate…” information) to change closing date, unnecessary as my Bilt closing date serendipitously is my preferred closing date for all credit cards, about 27-28 days after my Bilt approval. I also asked the correct address to mail a payment prior to my first statement closing date as my intention is to meet the SUB minimum with estimated tax payments and even with $20-$40K credit limit I prefer not to have Wells Fargo report 25-50% utilization.

Within a couple of hours of delivery, received a text message and an email, both with “Your Bilt Mastercard has been delivered! As a thank you for being a Bilt Member, we’re excited to offer you 5X points on all of your eligible purchases (excluding rent) for the next 5 days starting Friday, September 08. Terms: This promotional offer is only valid for 5 days from the date this email was sent. During this time you will earn a total of 5 rewards points, (1 base point plus 4 bonus points), per $1 spent on net purchases (purchases minus returns/credits), excluding purchases classified as Rent in the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card Rewards Program. Terms and Conditions. The maximum bonus points you can earn with this offer is 50,000, regardless of how much you spend. You must make at least 5 transactions each statement period using your Bilt Mastercard to earn points.” (I see this as essentially a highly time limited SUB: 50K/$10K/5 days.)

As a first time Bilt and WF customer, creating and accessing accounts at Bilt website and mobile app and WF website and mobile app were all straightforward and relatively painless.

Card used last night at gas station and grocery stores, today at payUSAtax. WF website account info shows all charges pending, Bilt website already displays:
SHOPRITE FLYERTALKLAND 09/08/23 33 pts $6.99
GULF OIL 123456 09/08/23 41 pts $8.46
STOP SHOP 1234 09/08/23 37 pts $7.74
US TREASURY TAX PAYMEN NASHVILLE USA 09/09/23 PENDING (no $ or point info)
PAYUSATAX CONV. FEE NASHVILLE USA 09/09/23 PENDING (no $ or point info)

Waiting to confirm 5x for tax payments to finish SUB minimum spend, still have 6 days to go. I’m confused as to how Bilt calculates “5X points”, rounding off or up or down or before or after multiplying does not produce the numbers (above) that Bilt states. Regardless, I’m a reasonably happy camper. Thanks again to all those who were so helpful.

(Now if I could just learn a simple no-cost way to points-etize buying or leasing or lease buy-outing a car I’d be an exceptionally happy points-and-miles camper :D.)

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...495a46ba4b.jpg

Their rounding is really unique - like they had to think hard about how to make it obscure. But here's what I'm pretty sure is going on with these charges:

For $6.99, you get 6 base points (they always just drop the cents). Then they also give you 4x bonus on it due to the initial 5x promo (you get 1x base and 4x bonus). So to add to the initial 6 points, you multiply out the $6.99 (they don't drop the cents yet) x 4 and get $27.96. They drop the cents and give you 27 points. Added to the 6 is 33.

$8.46 charge is 8 + (8.46 x 4 = 33.84 = 33 points) = 41 points.

$7.74 = 7 + (7.74 x 4 = 30.96 = 30 points) = 37 points.

At restaurants, for example, they drop the cents after the 3x multiplier, not before. Still annoys me, and my CSR has a slight advantage here, but at least they don't drop the cents before the multiplication.

I am a bit concerned that your tax payments aren't getting points possibly. That would be a big problem for me

“Unique” of course being a marked understatement ;).

Disappointing to me too :td:, but rest your concern. BTW, excellent timing, I was about to post this addendum: Estimated payUSAtax payment (and convenience fee) still pending on WF account info, Bilt sent notification this morning that I’m Silver Status Tier, Bilt Rewards website and app show: “Dr Jabadski Bilt Member ID: 123456789 YOUR TIER Silver Good thru 2024-12-31 BILT POINTS 30,723”. Details indicate 5X credited for tax payment and convenience fee. Not sure of the significance of Silver status, unlikely that I’m in a “participating properties”, be interesting to see what “Interest earned on points” amounts to.

I’ll make a state estimated tax payment today, no news is good news, I’ll report back if it doesn’t earn 5X and if (for some reason IAW Murphy’s Law) when my statement closes & prints in 3 weeks the 5X disappears.

The interest is miniscule; the one plus of Silver status is that points transfers to partners can be made in 1,000-point increments vs. the Blue tier.

It's already documented in this thread that tax payments qualify for bonus points (including the startup bonus). Keep in mind that the 5x offer is maximized with $12.5K in spend, not $10K.

Excellent point, thank you. Is that based on actual experience or based on interpretation of the offer wording (which might be unclear)?

The email states “As a thank you for being a Bilt Member, we’re excited to offer you 5X points on all of your eligible purchases (excluding rent) for the next 5 days starting Friday, September 081. That’s 5X on meals, online purchases, trips, gas, and much more. Up to 50,000 points.” (no differentiation of points)

Footnote 1 states “This promotional offer is only valid for 5 days from the date this email was sent. During this time you will earn a total of 5 rewards points, (1 base point plus 4 bonus points), per $1 spent on net purchases … The maximum bonus points you can earn with this offer is 50,000, regardless of how much you spend.” (differentiation of rewards and base and bonus points)

The text message is more vague (than the email) and includes an obvious link to Terms & Conditions which are identical to the footnote.

Without actual experience(s), it’s subject to interpretation of which $12,500 (vice $10,000) is probably correct. Thanks again.

Actual experience for me - $12,500 is correct.

Thank you. I just made another NYS tax payment, just a few hours after the first NYS payment this morning.BREAK

It appears that Bilt points can be transferred immediately upon posted earning, within 1-2 days of credit card transaction(s), in contrast to Chase UR (upon statement closing) and AmEx (earned points ~ 24 hours after balance payment, SUBs/retention offers upon posting several days after transaction).

Seems also that Bilt partner programs can only be linked and points can only be transferred via the mobile app and not the full website. Is that correct? (Snip screenshot below from full desktop PC website.)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7ccd0d981c.jpg

I believe that's right. There are several functions (like Rent Day games) that can only be performed in the app as far as I know.

Curious as to other people’s strategy vis-à-vis Bilt Rewards. I’m a little concerned due to newness and an arguably unsustainable business model. As a hedge, I’m thinking of speculative (no planned redemption) transfer of all my Bilt points to a program that has withstood the test of time and for which I have regular redemptions and other earnings.

Bilt has no annual fee and an arguably generous quasi-SUB and arguably generous rewards (points earning). Bilt pays rent at no cost and awards points, apparently eating the costs of mailing checks and administering ACH payments. Seems that WF gets swipe fees and interest from those carrying a balance.

How is Bilt making money? Kickbacks from WF? Does Bilt make money when they send a rent check or ACH and then post the charge to the WF MC? Something else? Thank you.

Thanks again for the clarification(s) and reminder(s).

Now confirmed based on 5 days experience with new Bilt MC.

WF Bilt MC received 5 days ago, current balance (partially pending) = $12,770 ($12,500 estimated tax payments + $250 accompanying “convenience” fees + $20 three small grocery/gas charges).

Current Bilt Rewards balance = 63,370 (12,500 base points + 12,500 x 4 bonus points from introductory 5 day offer + 250 + 20 base points from fees/grocery/gas charges + 600 from linking 6 programs, not necessarily in that exact order).

Thanks again to all those who provided such valuable information about Bilt Rewards and Bilt MC. 60K points transferred to an airline is approximately a biz class award to the UK or Europe or (an excellent example for me) almost 2 free nights at Grand Hyatt Vail in the middle of ski season at $700 - $1100 each. For me it almost makes up for no recent AmEx NLL offers.

I transferred my initial horde into Hyatt for a stay that was quasi speculative, but that was coincidental, not becuase I've given particular thought to the program risk. I value the card mostly for bonused categories that can be transferred into AA and HY points, so, ultimately, I have no real issue parking points in either of those programs.

It’s a “fintech” probably burning through VC money so I’m fully expecting some devaluation in the future… the question will be whether notice will be given.

Take a look at the trajectory of Cardless, and to a lesser extent comparison wise, Petal, in the fintech card space.

They give people the ability to finance rent. And potentially make a lot of money on those finance charges. Seems like a big money-making possibility to me.

When I started, I transferred to Hyatt anytime I had over 1,000 points. But now that I've seen some of the possible transfer bonuses, I'm letting my points sit. But there is definitely a risk.

Good point, I overlooked the (likely large) number of people who carry significant credit card debt, which is so different from those of us fortunate enough to be able to pay all balances in full (and thus MS and churn SUBs to the extent possible).

That was my plan, which I’m now reevaluating (particularly for my quasi-SUB Bilt points) after reading your comment and researching this reply.

Thanks for the heads up. I found the quotes below which might be of interest to those who have now been following Bilt. Agreed, still working on determining the relative level of that risk.

If they offered a significant transfer bonus to Hyatt, wouldn’t they “suffer” an immediate and massive outflow of cash to pay for those points as presumably everyone would drain their Bilt account? I just don’t see that happening.

While 100% to Flying Blue is probably quite nice for those who are familiar with FB, I suspect that the vast majority of Bilt customers has never redeemed a FB award and thus might not jump on it. And 100% to IHG is, uh, still resulting in IHG points.

Excellent points. I had just started fantasizing about a Hyatt bonus, thanks for dashing those hopes against the rocks ;).

List of Bilt’s Rent Day promotions going back to October 2022 at the bottom of the page here: DEALSPOINTS.

Quotes about Bilt Rewards interest earned on points:
- “Close to zero. It's not worth even thinking about. It's a gimmick. … the interest rate is the published FDIC National Savings Rate. … a weighted average of all rates, from the 4%+ at the most aggressive banks to the 0.01% at the BofAs of the world. … current rate is 0.33%, .. earn a whopping 33 points, PER YEAR for every 10,000 points”
- “earned 6 points last month on 25k points, which is 72 points a year or 29 points per year per 10k points”
-“Practically nothing. I got 8 points on around 33k points this month. Don't bother thinking about it.”

Agreed on the interest BS. In my mind, they'd be better off not offering that at all rather than doing it in such a pathetic fashion.

Bilt transfer
 

Hi guys, does anyone know if the name one both end has to be matched when using bilt transfer points to partners airline program?

How and when does BILT announce the monthly Rent Day promotion? Thank you.

This may help while waiting for a more knowledgeable reply: https://www.biltrewards.com/editoria...at-is-rent-day

Looking at past emails, I generally get something around the 27th to the 29th of the previous month.

Just curious, were you able to confirm whether you can transfer to your wife's Hyatt account?

To answer my own question, this morning I had a smart phone notification of Rent Day promo, first time for me after my Bilt MC approval. Oct 1st NFL tickets are of little interest but I did notice Point Quest (trivia) which is 5 trivia questions of increasing difficulty and value. 1st is 10 points, 2nd is 20, 3rd is 30, 4th is 40, 5th is 50 (I think there’s a pattern here ;)). Get all 5 correct, get a 6th worth another 100 points, thus 250 total points possible if all 6 questions answered correctly. As a Bilt nugget*, I’m not sure if one person has more than one chance to answer all 6 questions correctly, from the description it seems like that might not be true.

250 points isn’t a lot but it’s a marathon, not a sprint and the longest journey starts with one step :tu:.

From 2011 to 2013 Thread: Audience Rewards trivia questions answers for Starwood Delta, and U.S. Air was very active, sometimes for only 2 points per question. (Much as it was an “advantage” at the time, I certainly don’t long for** Kandahar Afghanistan again ;).) Perhaps this or a different thread should do the same thing for Rent Day trivia, especially if we each only get one shot at the answers.

BTW, on the Bilt app I just saw a Family Feud style question to be entered to win free rent. “Things New Yorkers consider normal.” Took me a minute or 2 to think of 3 correct answers: Rats, Subways, Walking Fast. The other 3 are: Bodegas, Being Rude, Jaywalking. Doesn’t speak well that my first answer was “rats” and one of Bilt’s answers is “being rude”. As a near-lifetime NYer, point of order, it’s not “rude”, it’s (more accurately described as) “abrupt” or “rapid” :D. (As a complete FF points and miles monger, the most important question is, if you win the Free Rent, do you still get the points :eek:?)

(* Naval Aviation “nugget”: “A Nugget is a first-tour Naval Aviator or Flight Officer, especially applicable during their first deployment.” and/or “A nugget was defined as a brand-new naval aviator who’d just received his wings of gold and was now enrolled in advanced flight training.” - funny story in this link.)

(** "Long for" is an idiom that signifies a deep emotional yearning or desire for someone or something.)

You can play the game once, on rent day. I have “worked” my way up to nearly 1000 points by linking a few accounts and playing the game a few times. I don’t have any rent (or “similar”) to pay, but thought I would apply for the credit card and build up some balance for a potential future outsized transfer bonus, but without a guaranteed 5-day spending spree bonus I think I will focus my signup slots on other opportunities.

I remember Audience Rewards from back in the day.

So… no real rent day offer on Oct 1 (yet)?

Then also considering (I think I read) that we only have 10 seconds to answer each question (maybe not enough time for Google assistance) we should definitely post answers on this thread or another easily-accessible readily-identifiable thread (“Bilt Rent Day Trivia Only”) separate from this “Bilt Mastercard” (discussion) thread similar to the Audience Rewards thread I linked 2 posts up.

All depends on what the meaning of the word "real is (as in “It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.”) :D.

Oh yeah, absolutely, positively, certainly, without fail that’s correct for NY Jets fans :eek:.

There's generally one of these on Reddit that's pretty complete.

Thank you for the reference, I’ll take a look on Sunday (Oct 1st).

I don’t think that’s a good reason NOT to have such a thread. I’m relatively active here at FT and rarely visit Reddit (same might be true for others who are interested), there are dozens of threads here which often or solely regurgitate repeat information from Reddit (and other sites) and the Audience Rewards thread I linked above is an excellent example of a thread here dedicated to information easily available elsewhere.

QuestionL The Bilt FAQs say that you can pay "one residential rent payment to one rental property in a 30-day period." I have a Clickpay account for paying the condo fees of two properties and when I pay for both at the same time, it appears as one transaction. Has anyone had any experience paying Clickpay with Bilt for two properties?

One transaction should be fine; two transactions will likely have your account flagged for review.