New Bilt Mastercard from Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo today announced a new strategic partnership with Bilt Rewards, the leading loyalty program for renters, and Mastercard to become the official issuer for the Bilt Mastercard. The first-of-its-kind co-brand credit card allows members to pay rent and earn points with no transaction fees on rent payments at most rental properties in the U.S. Through this innovative new partnership, renters across the country will now be able to earn rewards that can be redeemed towards travel around the world, access to their favorite fitness classes, and even credit towards a down payment on a home. There’s also a new referral program, and more added benefits for new cardholders.

Bilt Rewards and the Bilt Mastercard has been around for a couple of years now. Until today, the Bilt Mastercard has been available by invitation-only. But with Wells Fargo as the official issuer of the Bilt Mastercard, the program will now enable millions of qualified renters nationwide to get the card and start earning points.

Bilt Mastercard

The Bilt Mastercard offers a competitive 0-1-2-3 product structure, making it not only the go-to credit card for rent, but also a decent option for dining purchases. The 0-1-2-3 structure1 and additional card benefits include:

• $0 Annual fee
• 1X Points on Rent: Earn 1x points on rent payments (up to 50,000 points each year)
• 2X Points on Travel: Earn 2x points on travel booked directly with airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and car rental agencies. Travel benefits and features include trip cancellation, auto rental collision damage waiver, Lyft credits, and no foreign currency conversion fee.
• 3X Points on Dining: Earn 3X points whether you’re at your favorite restaurant, lounge, or ordering in. Plus, get access to a 24/7 reservation concierge and DoorDash discounts.
• 1X Points on Other Purchases
• Earn double points on all purchases on 1st of the month
• APPLY NOW

The Bilt Mastercard also features World Elite Mastercard benefits, which includes access to exclusive offers, Zero Liability and Price Protection, access to Priceless® Experiences and more. And developed by Mastercard exclusively for Bilt Mastercard cardholders, BiltProtect ensures that renters aren’t using up their credit line to finance rent by pulling funds directly from their linked bank account with each rent charge.

Bilt Rewards

The Bilt Mastercard is being launched in partnership with Bilt Rewards, the leading loyalty program for renters, launched in 2021 by an alliance of the nation’s largest multifamily property owners and managers including AvalonBay, Blackstone, Camden, Cushman & Wakefield, Equity Residential, GID, Related, SLGreen, Starwood, and Veritas among others. The alliance currently represents over 2 million apartment units. With Wells Fargo as the card issuer, the Bilt Mastercard will now be accessible to the broader population of 109 million renters across the country.

Through its high-value loyalty program, Bilt members and cardholders can redeem their points for travel across over 100 major hotel and airline partners (through points transfers); fitness classes at the country’s top boutique studios including: SoulCycle, Solidcore, Rumble and Y7; limited-edition and exclusive collections of art and home decor through the Bilt Collection; and can even use their points for rent credits.

Bilt Rewards will also be the first program to let members redeem points towards a down payment on a home through Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration. That means that by paying rent, cardholders can lower their future mortgage costs, making home ownership more affordable in the future.

With Wells Fargo’s distribution, renters can use the Bilt Mastercard to pay rent and earn points at any rental unit in the U.S., even if their landlords don’t accept credit cards. For buildings that do not accept credit card or digital payments, cardholders simply pay their rent through the Bilt App, and a check will be sent to landlords on the cardholder’s behalf.

All Bilt Rewards members can earn 250 points per rent payment. But Bilt Mastercard cardholders can accumulate points faster. They must however, use their card at least 5 times within each statement period in order to receive points for the cycle. And:

• If your rent payment is less than $250, you will earn 250 points for that rent payment (rent payments can only be made to one rental property per month).
• If you do not make at least 5 transactions that post to your account in a statement period you’ll earn a flat 250 points when you use your Bilt Mastercard to pay rent through the Bilt App. There is no minimum dollar amount of the transactions or amount of spend required and your rent payment is included in your count.

More Benefits

Bilt has also revealed added member benefits that include:

• Interest on Points (Silver, Gold, Platinum) – Bilt will pay interest in the form of points to a member’s Bilt Rewards account every month, based on their average daily points balance for each 30-day period. The rate will be based on the FDIC published national savings rate. This will not be a huge boost to your points balance, but it’s a rare perk that we don’t see in other programs.
• Bilt’s Homeownership Concierge (Gold, Platinum) – Members who opt to redeem Bilt Points towards their home down payment can utilize the help of a dedicated concierge that will walk members through the home buying process step-by-step.
• Bonus Points on New Leases or Renewals (Silver, Gold, Platinum) – Bilt will deposit up to 50% bonus points on topof points issued by landlords to members for signing for new tenant leases and lease renewal, depending on member status.
• Complimentary Bilt Collection Gift (Platinum) – Upon reaching Platinum status, members will receive a complimentary gift from the Bilt Collection – an exclusive and curated assortment of home decor and art.

Bilt Rewards Status Tiers

Bilt’s status structure is based on total points earned over the calendar year, vs. monthly points accumulation. Points can be earned from any source such as rent transactions, non-rent transactions, in-network bonus points and more. There are currently four tiers. You are automatically a Blue tier member when you first enroll in the program.

• Blue – anyone enrolled in Bilt Rewards with under 25,000 points
• Silver – 25,000 points earned
• Gold – 50,000 points earned
• Platinum – 100,000 points earned

Welcome Bonus

The Bilt Mastercard doesn’t have an advertised bonus. But currently there’s an offer that’s being sent to new cardholders once they are approved. For 5 days from the email you receive once you receive your card, you will earn a total of 5 rewards points. That’s 1 base point plus 4 bonus points for every $1 you spend on net purchases. This bonus excludes rent payments. Also you will not earn double points on Bilt Rent Day (1st of month) if it falls during these 5 days.

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 posted transactions in a statement period using your Bilt Mastercard to earn points, including bonus points for this promotional offer.

We have also seen a targeted bonus of $100 for select applicants.

Bilt Rewards Referral Program

You can receive 2,500 Bilt Points for every Bilt Mastercard applicant you refer that results in an approved account. For each five (5) successful referrals you make, you will get an additional 10,000 Bilt Points. These points are in addition to the 12,500 (2,500 x 5) Bilt Points you will earn from the referrals themselves. You can receive no more than 90 rounds of 5 Referral Bonuses (which translates to a maximum of 2,025,000 Bilt Points) through this offer.

For a referral to qualify, they must:

• Have not previously opened a Bilt Mastercard issued by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
• Apply through the unique URL with your referral code (that Bilt will provide to you)
• Their application must be submitted before the offer ends, which may be:
  • 12/31/2023; or
  • An earlier date determined by us in our discretion, and with notice of such deadline provided to you at least two weeks in advance. Notice will be provided to you through email.

If a referral submits more than one application, whether using referral codes provided by someone else or not, credit for the referral will be given to the application that results in an approved account.

If you have the Bilt Mastercard, or apply now, you need to download the latest version of the Bilt app to start inviting friends and family members right away.

Guru’s Wrap-up

This is an interesting credit card that sets itself apart from the competition by allowing members to pay rent and earn points with no transaction fees on rent payments. You can also earn 3X on dining and 2X on travel purchases, which are decent rates but not the best. 

The Bilt Mastercard is now issued by Wells Fargo and is available to everyone. Those who have the legacy card will keep the current card for at least a few more months. There are plans to eventually make the transition to the new Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard. The old and the new card come with no annual fee.

The Bilt Rewards program lets you redeem points in a few different way, but travel partners will probably be your best bet and the best value. There are 11 to choose from, with nine airlines and two hotel programs, including World of Hyatt.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the new Bilt Mastercard, and whether it’s worth applying.