Bilt Cash Walgreens Redemption Issues
It appears that one of the ways that I have been using my Bilt Cash is having some major issues this month. We have reports in the MTM Diamond Group of a Bilt Cash Walgreens redemption issue. This is hopefully a short term glitch, but I don’t love Bilt’s solution thus far for it.
Update 5/6/26: Some Guidance On Getting This To Work
I recently tried to use my gift card in store and it kept giving off an error. This was true even though I had added it to my Apple wallet. It appears that this is a known issue that Raise is still working on to correct.
On tip that was shared with me is to tell the cashier to press PAYMENT on their screen before scanning the gift card. Apparently the bar code prompts the system to load the gift card instead of use it as a payment, and that is causing the problems. Hopefully this helps some people be able to use these. I have not tried this yet, but let me know if it works for you.
-Original Article Below-
What Is Happening?
It appears the Walgreens gift cards you get for redeeming your Bilt Cash are not working. At this point I am not sure if it is just the gift cards issued from the month of April or if all are now fruit of the poisonous tree. I am currently sitting on a couple of months worth of gift cards, so it will be interesting to see if all gift cards have now “gone bad”.
Diamond member Holly was told by Walgreens managers that they were informed not to accept these gift cards for the time being. If you try to order products online instead, the order will simply not process.
She did not try to add the gift cards to her mobile wallet and check out that way. That may in fact be a workaround here, but I think it might be a long shot of working. Let me know if you have tried paying via mobile wallet with your April Bilt Cash redemption down below.
Bilt’s Response
Holly reached out via Bilt chat to inform them of the Walgreens gift card issue from her Bilt Cash redemption. They said that they were aware of the issue and that they would be refunding her the $10 in Bilt Cash she used.
I don’t like this as the resolution, since this is the bare minimum that should happen. However, with Bilt Cash expiring at the end of each year you only get so many tries / options to redeem it. Basically telling people tough luck this month (maybe more) on one of their redemption options is not okay with such a terrible expiration policy in place. They should be issuing a $10 statement credit since this was actual currency expected to be used out in the world.
Bilt Cash Walgreens Redemption Issues
Hopefully Bilt and Walgreens gets this figured out soon. Even better, hopefully using a mobile wallet with the gift card gets around these issues. I am skeptical that will work though, as I assume this is some sort of funding issue.
Either way, Bilt needs to start issuing actual credit for these unusable redemptions instead of just returning the Bilt Cash. They made this funny money have a ticking timebomb of expiration, so they don’t get to just punt redemptions a month or more because of it.
Let me know if you have any data points on the Bilt Cash Walgreens redemption issues down below, or in the MTM Facebook Group.
Is it just me or does it seem like Bilt hired IT their people from a pool of those who were fired from BA for being incompetent?
I have a feeling they jumped into partnerships with people that didn’t really have stuff ironed out. Almost like it was last minute slapping things together even though they had been working on all of this for a year.
DP: May 6th.
I just used two Walgreens gift cards courtesy of Bilt for an online pickup order. Stacked with manufacturer coupons, etc. No issues.
Prior use of gift cards online and in-store had no issues.
DP: May. 7th.
I just did an in-store redemption of another GC and the clerk stated she had never previously processed a purchase using a GC. We worked through it. I’m sensing a training opportunity exists at Walgreens.
So weird that they aren’t used to people redeeming gift cards there. Thanks for the DPs!
The payment suggestion likely works. I used mine for April from my wallet app a few days ago. The cashier asked me how much I wanted to load. I looked at her confused and said it has $10 on it already. She clicked a couple of buttons and voila it worked. So this sounds like she did just what you said and clicked payment first before rescanning it.
Good news – thanks Sam!
I just tried to use mine by adding it to my apple wallet in store for the first time. The cashier scanned the bar code but said it was coming up that I needed to add money to the gift card. She scanned it several times and it would not work, just kept saying add money……..
I added in some updated guidance. Hopefully it helps!
This is what my BILT AI Concierge says… which seems… wrong…
To clarify how this works: Bilt Cash redemptions for Walgreens aren’t traditional gift cards or account credits that you “add” to a Walgreens balance. Instead, they function as reimbursements for eligible purchases you’ve already made.
Here is the move to get that credit applied:
1. Shop as usual: Go to Walgreens (or Duane Reade) and make your purchase. You can use your Bilt Palladium Card or any card linked to your Bilt Wallet.
2. Use your phone number: At checkout, make sure to provide the phone number associated with your Bilt account. This is how the systems
“talk” to each other and match the transaction to your rewards.
3. Submit for reimbursement: Once the transaction appears in your Bilt app (usually within a few days), you’ll see the option to apply your $10 Walgreens credit to that specific purchase. Bilt then essentially pays you back for that amount.
Because it’s a reimbursement model, the store associates won’t see a “gift card” in their system, and the Walgreens website won’t accept it as a payment method at checkout.
If you’ve already made a purchase and don’t see the option to apply your credit in the Pharmacy section of the Bilt app after a few days, let me know and I can look into it for you.
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Ask the Bilt Concierge…
I haven’t used the one for April yet, but adding them to Google Wallet and having the cashier scan the barcode in the Wallet app in person when paying worked well so far. I couldn’t get it to work with an online order either as it just kept asking me for another method of payment and then ended up just charging that.
I used both my husband’s and my Walgreens “gift cards” from our April Bilt cash in store towards a $24 purchase with no issues. I did print them out so that the clerk could scan them. But I would advise against anyone accruing these over a period of months.
Same here. Worked fine.
On a side note, I’ve experienced hang-ups with e-gift cards purchased via Door Dash. About a year ago, there was a massive disconnect for thousands of users who bought Zift multi-cards. Door Dash said they were “fulfilled” so credit card issuers wouldn’t issue refunds. Literally, weeks later, when I was ready to mentally write it off, my Zift card finally worked.
Separately, there is currently an issue with the Amex Resy credit when purchasing gift cards online just before calendar quarter end. DoC has reported on it and suggests it relates to Amex trying allocate the purchase to one calendar quarter or the next.
These are different specifics from what Mark is reporting. But, for me, gift cards have been problematic in general.
I saw the issues with Resy. I just go buy my gift card in person if I need to for that to ensure there are no issues there.
Yep