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| Bilt updates how you earn on housing spending |
| by Brian Kelly |
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Hi everyone,
There’s been a ton of buzz this week about the brand-new Bilt cards that just dropped. So I want to share everything I know about Bilt 2.0. Full disclosure: I am a Bilt adviser and investor.
If you never really paid attention to Bilt because you didn’t pay rent and thought it wasn’t a program for you, there’s good news because now, you can earn points on paying your mortgage. However, it’s not like the old model, you now need to put everyday spending on the cards to qualify to earn points on your housing payments — more on that in the details below.
And even if you think you heard this all a few days ago in the initial launch, know that as of Friday, the Bilt CEO sent an update pivoting things a bit and adding an extra option for members who want to choose how they earn points on housing payments with Bilt.
Now, I know some of this is bad news for those who were able to maximize the gravy train of earning up to 100,000 points a year on rent by simply making five purchases a month on the old Bilt Mastercard®. That was never sustainable for the long term, and now in its place, Bilt has created a system that rewards you with points on housing, based on how much everyday spending you put on your Bilt card, which, I think, makes sense.
The main tweaks just announced to Bilt 2.0 are:- You will have two options for structuring your rewards for housing each month. You can opt for the originally announced plan (4% Bilt Cash) or utilize new earning tiers based on your monthly everyday spending on a Bilt card.
- If you choose to earn rewards on your housing payments under the just-announced tiered structure option, you can earn up to 1.25 points per dollar spent on housing payments, an increase from before.
- Both options allow you to earn fee-free points on rent or mortgage payments.
I think these changes are fair and show that the CEO has heard members’ feedback. Even if you don’t spend at the top-tier levels, I still think Bilt Points are valuable and worth earning as they are TPG’s highest-value currency (according to our January 2026 valuations), and this 2.0 system will allow both renters and homeowners to earn points on housing payments.
Does paying your rent or mortgage through Bilt make sense for you?
It all depends on how much money you spend outside of housing per month and whether you want to shift spending away from other credit cards where you may be earning more.
And I want to stress this point — your mortgage or rental company doesn’t need to accept credit cards; it will just pull from your linked checking or savings account. So you can pay any rent or mortgage through the platform (for your kids at college, parents, etc.) — it’s a game changer.
I have a substantial mortgage and a substantial amount of spending these days, so I’m not getting huge multipliers on some other cards for a lot of my everyday spending. I stand to make out much better with the Bilt Palladium Card, which offers a rich 2 points per dollar on all spending with points that can transfer to World of Hyatt, Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards and more.
That will be my catch-all card going forward.
If you’re still not thrilled about the Bilt changes, I would recommend giving it a year — I know it has a lot of exciting things in the works and more lucrative transfer bonuses (Bilt is the only credit card that routinely offers up to 100% transfer bonuses), so I’d say stick it out, earn a welcome bonus and after a year, make a final decision on whether it works for you.
If you’re an existing cardholder, getting a 2.0 card won’t incur a hard inquiry on your credit report, and if you select your card by Jan. 30, Bilt will transfer your card number and current balance to your new account.
You can apply here and compare the three cards side by side or even via the Bilt app.
The information for the Bilt Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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| Photo Credit: JONNO RATTMAN. |
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