The Bilt Mastercard® has no annual fee and is unique in that it’s geared toward renters who want to avoid processing fees. The card issuer eats the cost of any processing fees and offers several fee-free ways to pay your rent using the Bilt app, including by sending a check directly to your landlord. You can also pay rent with the card through Venmo, PayPal or an online portal.
So, a $1,500 rental payment can earn you 1,500 points, and you get to skip the 2 to 3 percent processing fee that many rental portals charge for credit card transactions. You can then redeem your points for:
- Rent
- A future home down payment
- Fitness partner purchases
- Shopping via Amazon or the Bilt Collection
The value of your points may vary depending on how you use them. According to Bankrate’s latest point valuations, Bilt points can be worth 2.1 cents per point on average if you maximize their value with the Bilt Rewards program’s transfer partners. But if you redeem your points toward your monthly rent, they’re only worth 0.55 cents per point.
But, in order to maintain eligibility for 1X points on rental payments, you must have at least five posted transactions per billing cycle, or else you’ll only earn a flat 250 points for paying rent. If you were planning to pay only rent with this card and charge nothing else, its earning power becomes limited. If you plan to use the card at least five times each billing cycle, the Bilt card is worth considering as an addition to your wallet.
