How To Use the BILT Mastercard to Pay For Utilities and Utility Bills
The Basics of the Bilt Mastercard
If you haven’t already heard, the BILT Rewards Mastercard has been taking the credit card world by storm with its offering of unique benefits and rewards. However, the Bilt Mastercard’s biggest selling point is that it allows you to earn points on rent and other eligible expenses which typically need to be paid with a debit card or bank transfer. Imagine all the money you’ve spent on rent and apartments in your life—now imagine if you had been earning points on all those payments! There could be hundreds of thousands of points that you’ve missed out on because you didn’t have the BILT card.
This might sound impossible or too good to be true, but BILT has developed a specific system to enable this form of payment reward. The general outline of the BILT card’s system is as follows:
Bilt gives you a unique account and routing number to manually set up "bank" ACH payments on whatever apartment management process or platform you use.
You make the rent payment through BILT’s payment portal by using your BILT card
After the payment is processed, BILT then sends the money directly to your landlord/management company via ACH/wire/check
Your landlord/management company receives the payment and you get points back that can be redeemed for travel, discounts on rent, or even a down payment on a future home!
Not only does this system allow you to save money on any fees you’d normally have to pay, but it also lets you earn valuable points to fund your next vacation! If you’re interested in learning more about the basics of this card, make sure to check out our review where we go in-depth into the pros and cons of the Bilt Card.
However, what we want to discuss today is a benefit of the BILT card that very few people know about:
The BILT Rewards Mastercard can actually be used for far more types of payment than just rent, and can actually be used for utilities, HOA payments, security deposits, and more! While these are all extremely common forms of payment, we’re going to focus on the most common: utilities.
Using the Bilt Mastercard for Utilities
While the card is often used for rent, one of the lesser-known uses for the Bilt Mastercard is the ability to use its ACH payment system to pay for your utility bills, including water, electricity, gas, and more! Since even those who own property (and therefore can’t use their card for rent) still have to pay utility bills, being able to get points from your utility payments is a benefit that almost anyone with the BILT card can capitalize on. Typically, these utility payments must be made with a debit card or a direct bank transfer. However, just as with rent payments, you’re able to use BILT’s system to pay for any utility payments to earn points without having to worry about any fees or add-ons.
The Basics of the BILT Mastercard
How to Set Up Your Bilt Mastercard for Utility Payments
However, we see a lot of confusion online regarding how to set up the BILT system with utility payments.
Essentially, to set up your Bilt Mastercard for utility payments, you will need to create a BILT Rewards account and link your BILT credit card—once you have done this, you can add your utility providers to your account as payment recipients. When you are ready to make a utility payment, simply select the utility provider from your list and enter the amount you would like to pay. Once you submit the payment (just as you would with rent), BILT sends the money and you earn points! Just make sure to check that your utility provider accepts checks or ACH payments before making any payments, as Bilt will send the respective money directly to your utility company.
Benefits of Using the Bilt Mastercard to Pay for Utilities
There are clear benefits to using the BILT Mastercard instead of a debit card/bank account to pay for your utilities. The most obvious is that you can finally earn points on your monthly utility payments, which can easily net you upwards of 30,000-50,000 points per year, up to a BILT limit of 100,000. These points can be redeemed for a variety of purposes, but perhaps most valuably for a direct transfer to a wide selection of travel partners (American Airlines, Air Canada, United, World of Hyatt, and more). BILT is actually the only airline partner of American Airlines, making this card an even more valuable acquisition for any AA frequent fliers. Amazingly, you can even use the BILT points to help save on rent or for a down payment on a future home! Essentially, by using the BILT card you are effectively able to make your own rent cheaper.
Another great feature of using the BILT card for utilities is that you can protect your credit by using BiltProtect. Essentially, BiltProtect is a feature that allows you to make big payments with your BILT Mastercard without dipping into your available credit. This means that you retain your credit for the rest of your spending and don’t have to worry about fitting any other purchases under your credit limit. This can also help you avoid carrying a balance on your card and incurring any dangerous interest charges.
Bilt Transfer Partners, including American, United, and more!
While this is all brilliant, there is one major downside. Unfortunately, BILT has recently changed its system to only permit one ACH-based payment per month, significantly reducing the usefulness of being able to pay utility payments as most people’s biggest payment each month is rent (frankly, this decreases the overall value of the card slightly). However, if you’re committed to using your BILT card to earn points on utility payments, there are some ways around this:
If you live alone and don’t have a lot of spare cash, it is still advisable to use the payment system on the BILT card to pay for whichever payment is the largest (for most people, this will be a monthly rent payment). On the other side, if you do have some spare cash and can afford to pay a few extra months of rent ahead, you can pay several months of rent in one month, and then use the BILT card to pay for utilities in the following months!
If you live with roommates or a partner, you should also consider having them get the BILT card so that each person can make one ACH payment per month (such as one for rent and one for utilities), allowing you to maximize your collective points!
Overall, the Bilt Mastercard is a great option for anyone who wants to earn points on their utilities and other eligible expenses, all for no annual fee. By using the Bilt Mastercard to pay for your utilities, you can earn rare points on ACH payments that you can redeem for all sorts of amazing travel experiences, a discount on rent, or even a down payment on a future home. Make sure to check out what other unique things you can use the Bilt card’s specialty properties for as well, and if you’re looking for credit cards to cover other spending categories make sure to look at our recommendations here!