I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Be aware that websites may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Bilt gets a lot of attention for its credit cards. They had a rocky roll out and I think people undervalue those as a result.
The Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees) has a $495 annual fee and earns 2X points on everyday spending.
If you’re maximizing the value proposition of spending alongside housing payments, it can earn 3.3 Bilt Points per dollar on most of your spending. I’ve ever written how to turn this into a 4x on everything card. And I’ve then taken advantage of 100% and even 125% transfer bonuses to their partners. No card can match this, which is why it’s the primary card that I use for spending (when I’m not trying to earn another card’s initial bonus).
But you don’t need a Bilt Rewards credit card to earn points in the program or transfer them to partners. Just joining the program lets you earn points on Dining (their own bespoke partnerships plus Rewards Network restaurants); Lyft; Walgreens; fitness bookings (SoulCycle, Y7, CorePower Yoga, Barry’s, AKT, BFT, CycleBar, Pure Barre, Row House, Rumble Boxing, and YogaSix); travel portal (even earn a point per dollar on flights); Rakuten shopping portal; BLADE; Metropolis parking; GoPuff and more.
Bilt has the most – and best – transfer partners overall:
- Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Iberia Plus, British Airways Club, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Southwest Airlines, Aer Lingus Aer Club
- Hotels: World Of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Accor ALL – Accor Live Limitless, Wyndham Rewards
A lot of people live in apartments where Bilt processes rent (“1 in 4 U.S. rental buildings now in the Bilt network”), aside from using their cards to earn points on rent and mortgage. Bilt expects to process over $100 billion in housing payments in 2026. That’s about 5% of the market.
They’ve reported over 5 million members and said that 15% had cobrand credit cards. That’s about 750,000 cardmembers. But it also means over 4 million people have Bilt accounts but not Bilt cards.
People link their cards to their accounts to earn points with Bilt partners. Just 11% of cards linked in a Bilt wallet are their cobrands. They report that linked cards break down as 56% Visa, 32% Mastercard, 9% Amex and 3% ‘other’.
I also think their Bilt Blue Card (See rates and fees) is the best $0 annual fee points transfer card in the market. If you’re maximizing the value proposition of spending alongside housing payments, then the card allows you to earn up to 2.3 transferable points per dollar on your spending. And these are the most valuable points you can earn.
And Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) which has a $95 annual fee earns 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining (your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year), and 2X points on travel. If you’re maximizing the value proposition of spending alongside housing payments, it can earn 4.3 points per dollar on grocery or dining. And then take advantage of transfer bonuses!
Most of Bilt’s program isn’t about the cards. They’re property manager software, payments and leasing; resident loyalty; merchant customer acquisition and checkout; and a smaller premium card business.
What originally interested me in Bilt is that they solved the distribution problem figuring out how to reach high value customers in a way that no one else had done it before. I wrote in 2021 that they were going to be a very big deal because they had customers everyone wanted – in their homes, through their housing payments, in a very sticky way.
But if you are not looking for another credit card, Bilt is still pretty interesting: link your existing cards, take the stacked local rewards, use the neighborhood benefits, and use your existing rewards cards. That’s how Bilt describes most of their members. I’m finding that there’s no richer program out there now, but I am watchful over my mortgage payment to make sure it completes (it has with no glitches).
The reason that Bilt raised money at over a $10 billion valuation last summer (and I don’t know what terms or liquidation preference goes into that number, but it’s still impressive) is that they’ve done something novel and significant in using housing relationships as a distribution platform. They’ve acquired customers in a really unique way. They’re high value customers. And they’ve developed a model to monetize and reward those customers richly at the same time.
It’s one of the most ambitious projects we’ve seen in loyalty marketing since the original launch of American AAdvantage in 1981 – and people forget that American initially only rolled that program out as a test.
Bespoke? Puke.