The Bilt Mastercard from Wells Fargo is a relatively new credit card that offers a unique value proposition compared to almost any other credit card out there. With the Bilt Mastercard, you can earn points on your rent payments, even if your landlord or payment platform doesn't normally accept credit cards. Not only is this a complete game-changer for heavy credit card users, but it also represents a big shift in what credit cards can be used for, opening up a whole new possible category of spend. There is excitement and buzz around this card, so let’s discuss: is the Bilt Mastercard right for you?

BILT Mastercard Basics

In order to figure out if this card is worth it for you, we need to start by going over the basics. While the Bilt Mastercard can be used as a regular credit card (which we’ll come back to later), the clear value of this card comes from the ability to pay rent with the card and earn Bilt reward points WITHOUT any fees. For those who are unaware, the vast majority of renters currently:

1. Are unable to pay rent with a credit card (their landlord doesn’t have a system for it)

   OR

2. Are forced to pay huge fees to use a credit card (which negate the benefits of using the card)

In both of these situations, it is normally impossible to earn any useful points on your rent purchases. The Bilt card was created in an effort to change that.

So, How Does the BILT Mastercard Work?

At its simplest, the Bilt Mastercard allows you to pay rent with the Bilt card using the following system:

First, you are assigned a “dummy” bank account number (via ACH, or automated clearing house) on the Bilt back-end. When it comes time to pay your rent, all you do is submit your payment in the Bilt Rewards app, after which BILT uses the ACH number (rather than the card number) to send the money directly to your landlord without any fees! This system is frankly brilliant and seems to work extremely well from my personal use, and I haven’t had any issues with late payments or technical glitches. As well, the user interface is pretty exceptional, and doesn’t really leave anything to be desired; it even works if your landlord wants payments using Venmo or Paypal!

With the BILT system, you can easily get points for paying your rent. However, did you know there is a wide range of other things you can use the BILT card for? Many have had success using the Bilt card’s special system for the following payments as well:

• Utilities and Utility bills: The BILT Mastercard can be used to pay for your water, gas, and electricity bills. All you have to do is fill out the BILT payment system and then you’ll get 1x points for bills that you normally would have to pay with a direct bank transfer! Paying your utility bills with the BILT card is a great way to earn thousands of extra points on something you’re already paying every month. However, it’s important to make sure your utility providers can accept this system before paying.

• Electric Utility bills: Cable, internet, and cell phones can be paid for using the Bilt card regardless of if they are a package deal or paid for individually.

• HOA/Condo fees: While the vast majority of people who use the Bilt card are renters, the card can even be valuable for those who own property as well. While the Bilt card cannot be used for mortgage payments, it can be used for homeowners association and condo fees (which can be thousands of dollars every year).

• University/College Housing: With housing payments often breaking 5 digits annually, paying for housing through the Bilt card is a no-brainer.

Other Benefits of the BILT Mastercard

While the Bilt Mastercard’s main benefit is its ability to be used for payments that typically can’t be made by card, it also has many other benefits and card properties:

• 0$ Annual Fee: You don’t have to worry about any yearly fee with this card.

• Biltprotect: Biltprotect is a system that allows you to pay your rent without taking from your available credit. This means that not only does the rent payment not count towards your credit limit, but it also is taking the money straight from your bank account. This is one of the only cases in the entire market where what is (essentially) a direct bank transfer is earning you credit card points.

• No Foreign Transaction Fees: With no FTFs, you're free to use the card internationally without worry.

• Travel benefits: The Bilt Mastercard offers a variety of travel benefits, including travel protection and rental car damage waivers.

• Spending Bonuses: In addition to the rent payments, the Bilt Mastercard also gives you 3x Bilt points on dining, 2x points on travel, and 1x points on (basically) everything else. This means that it is fairly easy to earn a large number of points through your normal spending. As well, on “rent day” (the 1st of each month), you earn double points on all your purchases!

• Unique Point Rewards: While the Bilt card has a lot of the standard redemption options for any points you earn, you can actually use your Bilt points to help save on your rent payments or even to help make a down payment on a future home!

• Good Transfer Partners: If you don’t want to use your points towards rent or housing, Bilt has a shockingly good collection of transfer partners to choose from, including World of Hyatt and FlyingBlue.

Considerations

While the BILT card is an excellent card, it is important to keep in mind any potential issues or downsides of the card so that you’re making a fully informed decision.

While not an issue with the card itself, Wells Fargo was hit with a huge series of BIN attacks which resulted in many fraudulent charges being applied to people’s Bilt Mastercard. While this is a risk with credit cards from any provider, people were reporting that the Bilt card was hit particularly badly. The issue seems to have been addressed with almost no reported instances of this type of fraud in the past few months, but it’s still smart to keep an extra close eye on your credit account in the first few weeks of getting the card. It does seem like Bilt has been pretty transparent and helpful with the entire thing, so if it does happen, it shouldn’t be too hard to get resolved.

Conclusion

As you can probably tell from how excited we are about this card, we think the Bilt Mastercard is one of the coolest and most unique cards out there on the market today. It is an incredible option for renters and offers a variety of extra benefits that make it easy and straightforward to get good value out of the card. Overall, if you’re currently renting and have a system that can use the Bilt set-up, there is essentially no reason not to get it and start earning points. With no annual fee, every point you earn is getting you a net positive value, and this card makes it exceptionally easy to both earn and use your points. If they ever add an annual fee, then you will have to do the math to see if the card still makes sense for you. But until then, whether you are a credit card pro with dozens of cards or a complete newbie to the credit card and points game, the Bilt Mastercard from Wells Fargo is likely going to be a great fit for you.

Overall Score: 4.9/5

*Disclaimer: The author of this article has not been paid or sponsored by Bilt or Wells Fargo in any way.