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Wells Fargo Partners with Bilt Rewards and Mastercard
Bilt is a new entry to the credit card scene but it is already making a name for itself with an interesting rewards program that’s open to everyone, and unique card benefits. Now Bilt Rewards and Mastercard have partnered with Wells Fargo to issue the new Bilt Rewards Mastercard credit card that earns points on rent payments without a transaction fee.
Starting today, Wells Fargo has entered into a strategic partnership with Bilt Rewards, the leading loyalty program for renters, and Mastercard® to become the exclusive issuer of the Bilt Mastercard.
There are also new benefits such as earning interest of your points balance, homeownership concierge and more.
With Wells Fargo onboard, the new Bilt Mastercard will now be available for all 109 million renters across the country and everyone else. Until now the legacy Bilt Mastercard was only available through a waitlist. Those who already have that legacy Bilt Mastercard will remain with Cardworks for now but will eventually be moved over to Wells Fargo at some point in
Bilt Mastercard
The Bilt Mastercard offers a competitive 0-1-2-3 points earning structure, making it not only the go-to credit card for rent, but also for dining, travel, and everyday spend.
The 0-1-2-3 structure and additional card benefits include:
- No Annual Fee
- 1X Points on Rent: Earn 1x points on rent payments (up to 50,000 points each year)
- 2X Points on Travel: Earn 2x points on travel booked directly with airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and car rental agencies. Travel benefits and features include trip cancellation, auto rental collision damage waiver, Lyft credits, and no foreign currency conversion fee.
- 3X Points on Dining: Earn 3X points whether you’re at your favorite restaurant, lounge, or ordering in. Plus, get access to a 24/7 reservation concierge and DoorDash discounts.
- 1X Points on Other Purchases: Earn 1X point on other purchases, and enjoy premium benefits like cell phone protection, purchase security, auto rental collision damage waiver and more.
- APPLY HERE
The Bilt Mastercard also features World Elite Mastercard benefits, which includes access to exclusive offers with select merchants, Zero Liability and Price Protection, access to Priceless® Experiences and more. And developed by Mastercard exclusively for Bilt Mastercard cardholders, BiltProtect ensures that renters aren’t using up their credit line to finance rent by pulling funds directly from their linked bank account with each rent charge.
Bilt Rewards
Bilt Rewards is the leading loyalty program for renters. It was first launched in 2021 by an alliance of the nation’s largest multifamily property owners and managers including AvalonBay, Blackstone, Camden, Cushman & Wakefield, Equity Residential, GID, Related, SLGreen, Starwood, and Veritas among others. It currently represents over 2 million apartment units.
Anyone can earn points for paying rent through Bilt Rewards, even without having the Bilt Mastercard. Bilt Rewards members will start by earning 250 points per rent payment However, the card enables you to accumulate points more quickly. Cardholders must use their card at least 5 times within each statement period in order to receive points for the cycle.
- If your rent payment is less than $250, you will earn 250 points for that rent payment (rent payments can only be made to one rental property per month).
- If you do not make at least 5 transactions that post to your account in a statement period you’ll earn a flat 250 points when you use your Bilt Mastercard to pay rent through the Bilt App.
Bilt members and cardholders can redeem their points for travel across over 100 major hotel and airline partners (through points transfers); fitness classes at the country’s top boutique studios including: SoulCycle, Solidcore, Rumble and Y7; limited-edition and exclusive collections of art and home decor through the Bilt Collection; and can even use their points for rent credits.
Bilt Rewards will also be the first program to let members redeem points towards a down payment on a home through Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration. That means that by paying rent, cardholders can lower their future mortgage costs, making home ownership more affordable in the future.
Benefits
In today’s announcement, Bilt has also revealed added member benefits that include:
- Interest on Points (Silver, Gold, Platinum) – Bilt will pay interest in the form of points to a member’s Bilt Rewards account every month, based on their average daily points balance for each 30-day period. The rate will be based on the FDIC published national savings rate. This will not be a huge boost to your points balance, but it’s a rare perk that we don’t see in other programs.
- Bilt’s Homeownership Concierge (Gold, Platinum) – Members who opt to redeem Bilt Points towards their home down payment can utilize the help of a dedicated concierge that will walk members through the home buying process step-by-step.
- Bonus Points on New Leases or Renewals (Silver, Gold, Platinum) – Bilt will
deposit up to 50% bonus points on topof points issued by landlords to members
for signing for new tenant leases and lease renewal, depending on member
status. - Complimentary Bilt Collection Gift (Platinum) – Upon reaching Platinum status, members will receive a complimentary gift from the Bilt Collection – an exclusive and curated assortment of home decor and art.
Status Tiers
Bilt’s status structure is based on total points earned over the calendar year, vs. monthly points accumulation. Points can be earned from any source such as rent transactions, non-rent transactions, in-network bonus points and more.
The Bilt status structure is as follows:
- Blue – anyone enrolled in Bilt Rewards with under 25,000 points
- Silver – 25,000 points earned
- Gold – 50,000 points earned
- Platinum – 100,000 points earned
Status earned between January 1 and June 30 each year will expire January 31 of the following year. Status earned between July 1 and December 31 will remain active the rest of the year in which it was earned and the entire following year.
| Benefits | Blue | Silver | Gold | Platinum |
| Transfer to Partners 1:1 | 2K Increments | 1K Increments | 1K Increments | 1K Increments |
| Earn Interest on Points | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Report to Credit Bureaus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Homeownership Concierge | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Gift | No | No | No | Yes |
| Bonus on New Leases/Renewals | Yes | 10% | 25% | 50% |
Redeeming Rewards
Now that you know everything you need about earning rewards with the new Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard, and by paying rent, let’s see how you can use your points.
The most popular option is to transfer your points to travel partners. That can get you even more value if you are familiar with the 11 programs and take advantage of sweet spots. With these airline and hotel transfer partners, members can book award flights to almost anywhere in the world via the SkyTeam, Oneworld and Star Alliance networks and book free hotel nights on six continents.
Points redemption include:
- Travel – Bilt Rewards points can be redeemed for travel across over 100 major airlines and hotels via 1:1 transfer partnerships. 1:1 Transfer partners include:
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Aeroplan
- Emirates Skywards
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- Turkish Miles & Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- United MileagePlus
- Asia Miles
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Hotels and Resorts
- Fitness – Redeem points for group classes or subscriptions with the country’s top
fitness studios starting at 1,600 Bilt Points.
o Fitness partners to-date include: SoulCycle, Solidcore, Rumble, Y7 - The Bilt Collection – Use points towards an exclusive, curated and limited-edition
collection of home decor, art & novelty items housed within the Bilt App. Items begin at
5,000 points. - Rent Credit – Use points towards rent payments.
- Future Mortgage – Unique to Bilt, renters can redeem points towards a future
mortgage on a new home when the financing is originated through Bilt.
APPLY for BILT MASTERCARD
Conclusion
This is an interesting credit card that offers renters the option to pay monthly rent with a credit card without any fees. You can earn 1x point on rent payments (up to 50,000 points each year). The card also earns 2x points on travel booked directly with airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and car rental agencies, and 3X points or dining, including takeout.
The rewards become more valuable thanks to Bilt Rewards. You can transfer these points to 11 airline and hotels partners at a ratio of 1:1. You can also earn interest on your points balance.
The Bilt Mastercard is now available to everyone with Wells Fargo onboard. And it is still a no-fee Mastercard which comes with World Elite Mastercard benefits.
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