Bilt Now Offers Rewards for Paying Your Mortgage: How It Works and What to Watch For
Since 2021, Bilt has been allowing tenants to earn rewards on their rent payments. Now it's extending that offer to homeowners. From Feb. 7, they can earn points, which turn into cash, on mortgage payments as well as on other purchases.
Payment Mechanics
Most purchases through Bilt are made the same way as with any other payment card. But mortgage payments are handled differently.
They are quickly deducted in full from the member's checking account. So, one can't build mortgage debt or pay extra card interest. For these transactions, Bilt is acting as a payment platform rather than a credit card provider.
There are no transaction fees on mortgage payments. And Bilt members can earn up to 1.25 Bilt points on their mortgage and rent payments, which varies by the amount they spend. Members get $50 in Bilt cash for every 25,000 Bilt points they earn.
Members aren't required to have a card, but those who want one can choose from a suite of three, each with a different annual fee (one has none) and reward level:
- Bilt Palladium Card ($495 annual fee) — Double points and 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Fully featured with lots of benefits to compete with other premium plastic.
- Bilt Obsidian Card ($95 annual fee) — 3X points on dining or grocery; 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Some features and offers.
- Bilt Blue Card (no annual fee) — 1X points on everyday spend; 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend.
Some Issues
When The New York Times explored Bilt's new offering on Jan. 14, it encountered two key issues.
First, it was nervous about whether Bilt's infrastructure would scale quickly enough to meet demand. Last year, Citi's new Strata Elite card locked some customers out of their accounts without explanation for weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If a company with Citi's pedigree and experience could encounter such an issue, might Bilt, founded in 2019, also face teething problems with its new offering? The worst a card glitch is likely to cause is some embarrassment at a checkout. But a late mortgage payment can harm a credit score and delay opportunities to refinance.
"Doing business with any start-up has risks," said The Times. "As with any new payment system that you switch to — including long-established ones — it’s prudent to check that your important bills are getting paid."
The Times's second issue was the extreme complexity of Bilt's rewards offering. "Our personal finance editor has the older Bilt card, and he and Ron [Lieber, a columnist for The Times's Your Money section] are Bilt members," its article said. "Even so, it took the three of us scores of Slack messages and several days (and counting) to sort out the details of what Bilt introduced on [Jan. 14]."
Bilt recognizes that its program is complicated. On Jan. 16, it published a statement on its website by its founder, Ankur Jain, seeking to explain how the housing rewards work. Readers can judge how successful that attempt was.
Should You Switch to Bilt for Your Mortgage Payments?
The longer homeowners wait before enrolling in a rewards program for mortgage payments, the less money they will save. However, some may be bothered by the issues The Times uncovered.
Readers must make up their own minds about whether they apply now or wait to see how the program shapes up.
