Bilt’s Messy Rollout Continues
Bilt 2.0 launched a few days ago with three new credit cards. It was a messy setup and rollout, although I still decided to go ahead and get the Bilt Palladium Card.
Then last night things got even messier and more complicated as Bilt decided to change things up again.
Ankur Jain, the founder and CEO of Bilt Rewards, said that there have been record applications for the cards, but also real and reasonable confusion about the new value proposition—especially around rent and mortgage points.
So they decided to fix it and make it “simple”. So now there’s a new option to earn fee-free rewards on rent and mortgage, up to 1.25X on each payment. You will now be able to choose one of the two options for how you want to be rewarded on housing payments with the new Bilt Card 2.0.
The core benefits of each card are not changing. This is only an update to how you earn rewards on housing payments. You choose the option that works the best for you when you activate your card. You can change at any time, and your choice will take effect the following month.
Option 1
A simple, fee-free way to earn rewards on housing.
- Pay your full rent or mortgage every month with no transaction fee
- Earn points on housing automatically in lieu of earning Bilt Cash
- While everyday spend will not earn Bilt Cash*, you will still get your annual or welcome Bilt Cash credits with the card
- The more you use your card for everyday spend, the higher your points multiplier on housing, now up to 1.25x:
| Points on Housing | Minimum everyday spend as a % of monthly rent / mortgage (Example of $2,000 rent) |
|---|---|
| 0.5x points | Spend at least 25% of monthly rent ($500) |
| 0.75x points | Spend at least 50% of monthly rent ($1,000) |
| 1x points | Spend at least 75% of monthly rent ($1,500) |
| 1.25x points | Spend the same or more as your monthly rent ($2,000) |
You’ll see your progress to each tier clearly in the app each month.
Just like today, if you don’t hit the minimum spend requirement, you still earn 250 points per month. Bilt Card 2.0 also removes the 100,000 rent point cap that existed with Card 1.0, so you can now earn unlimited points on housing payments.
Option 2
If you prefer the original, fee-free structure we launched Card 2.0 with, it’s still available for you:
- Earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases, in addition to base points. Think of Bilt Cash as “choose your own reward”.
- Pay your full rent or mortgage every month with no transaction fee
- You can use as little or as much of your Bilt Cash to increase the total points you earn on housing that month and you do not ever pay anything out of pocket.
- You can also redeem Bilt Cash dollar-for-dollar for monthly credits across the Bilt ecosystem (with monthly, merchant-specific caps), or for exclusive benefits like higher transfer bonuses and special access to experiences.
Guru’s Wrap-up
It was already clear that Bilt rolled out the new system without really crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. And seeing what has been going on in the last few days, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more changes.
Bilt has removed the 100,000-point annual cap, which is big win for those with high-rent and mortgage (especially in NYC or SF), but the requirement to spend 75% to 100% of your housing cost on “everyday” items to get a decent multiplier is still a high bar.
Jain says that “we move fast at Bilt. That means we won’t always get everything right the first time, but I read all of your feedback and we will adjust quickly when we miss.” They have also included an FAQ in the newsroom alongside this update to answer some of the other questions you might have.
