Bilt Mastercard: Is it Worth it?

Until recently, earning credit card rewards for rent was generally a losing proposition. Payment processors such as Plastiq and Venmo have long allowed credit card holders to charge rental payments, but only while tacking on fees of around 3% for the privilege. Those transaction fees largely offset the value of any rewards earned, curbing the benefit of paying rent by card in the first place.

That changed in June 2021 when the Bilt Rewards Alliance launched the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, an innovative product that rewards cardholders without charging fees for rental transactions.

The card, which has no annual fee, isn’t a one-trick pony, as it also features competitive earning rates, useful benefits and a high-end roster of airline and hotel transfer partners.

However, with such a unique focus on renters, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card isn’t for everyone. Learn more about what the card does (and doesn’t) offer and see whether it’s a good fit for you.

The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card stands out for offering the ability to pay rent and earn rewards on a credit card with no additional fees.

Cardholders earn 1 point per dollar on rental payments made through the Bilt app, with a minimum of 250 points earned for each payment (even if it’s under $250). For example, if you pay $2,000 each month in rent, you could earn 24,000 points annually by making those payments with the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card.

Several key restrictions apply: You’re limited to one rental payment to a single property each month, and rewards for rental payments are capped at 100,000 points per calendar year.

Additionally, you must use your Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card to make five transactions to earn rewards in a given statement period. If you don’t hit that threshold, you’ll earn a flat 250 points on rental payments and won’t earn rewards on other purchases.

Despite those restrictions, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card provides unique opportunities to renters. Using the card for rental payments allows you to earn rewards for an expense that would otherwise yield no return.

Unlike paying by check or direct deposit, paying by card also gets you the benefit of a grace period for repayment (which could be useful if your monthly finances are tight) and the convenience of scheduling payments through the Bilt app.

Finally, using the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card can help you build credit through payments that might otherwise not be reported to credit bureaus.

On top of points from rental payments, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card earns 3 points per dollar on dining purchases and 2 points per dollar on travel purchases (including airlines, hotels, motels, resorts, cruise lines and car rental agencies).

Cardholders can also earn up to 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides after linking their Lyft and Bilt accounts. That reward structure is competitive with other credit cards that have no annual fee.

Other purchases generally earn at the base rate of 1 point per dollar.

Bilt Rewards points can be redeemed through the Bilt Travel Portal for flights, hotels, rental cars and activities at a fixed rate of 1.25 cents per point.

Bilt points can also be transferred to airline and hotel partners like Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Hyatt and Marriott, and Bilt offers occasional bonuses that make transfers to select programs temporarily more rewarding. Other redemption options (like credits toward rental payments or merchandise) provide significantly less value.

The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card comes with assorted travel benefits like trip cancellation and interruption protection, trip delay reimbursement and a car rental collision damage waiver. It also offers 90 days of theft and damage protection for purchases and up to $800 of cellphone protection when you use the card to pay your monthly cellphone bill.

Cardholders also get other World Elite Mastercard benefits and pay no foreign transaction fees for purchases made outside the U.S.

Bilt doesn’t offer a typical welcome bonus for the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, though Bilt members can earn 2,500 points for referring new cardholders, with an additional 10,000 points awarded for every fifth successful referral.

Finally, Bilt Rewards elite members can earn interest on their points balance (based on the published national savings rate from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.). Once you earn 25,000 points or more in a calendar year, you’ll begin accruing interest. The interest comes in the form of bonus points based on your average daily points balance for each 30-day period.

For renters who are otherwise unable to earn rewards from rental payments, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card is an easy win. As a conservative example, consider a cardholder who puts $1,000 of rent and $50 of dining purchases (in five or more transactions) on the card each month.

Those charges would earn 13,800 points annually, which are worth $172.50 of travel booked through the Bilt Travel Portal or significantly more when transferred to airline and hotel partners. Without Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, the bulk of that value would be left on the table.

The card is also a good fit for those who spend a lot on dining. While the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card isn’t the best credit card for restaurant spending, the 3x rewards rate is good enough to put it in the conversation, especially since many cards that offer a superior return for dining also charge an annual fee.

Contrarily, if you’re not a renter and you don’t spend much on dining, then the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card is a poor fit. You can get a better return on spending and roughly comparable benefits from cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, both of which charge no annual fee and offer a welcome bonus.

The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card is also less than ideal if you’re an infrequent traveler or have a strong preference for cash back rewards. Bilt Rewards points have a solid floor of value and immense upside when redeemed for travel, but they offer pedestrian value as statement credits or other cash equivalents.

The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card offers compelling benefits for a card with no annual fee, though it’s ultimately a niche product. If you pay monthly rent and travel at least occasionally, then the card is likely to be a valuable addition to your wallet.