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Bilt Rewards made a big splash by enabling people to earn valuable Bilt Points on rent. Its transferable Points are among the most valuable in the industry, and Bilt now works directly with one out of every four rental properties in the country. Now, the program has made changes in 2026 that affect how you earn Points on your rent payment.
If you're thinking about using Bilt to earn rewards on rent, this guide has everything you need to get started.
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What to Know About Paying Rent Through Bilt Rewards
Before we dive in, it's helpful to understand how the Bilt Rewards program works, as the program has completely evolved in 2026. Bilt has a network of apartment owners, known as the “Bilt Rewards Alliance,” that are more deeply integrated into the program than other landlords.
If you're renting at one of these properties, you'll likely see Bilt branding around the building and receive a personal invitation to join Bilt when you move in. And sometimes signing a new lease (or renewing) at one of these properties can come with bonus Bilt Points.
You can pay rent at a Bilt Rewards Alliance property through the Bilt app or website by linking your address to your account. If your property is part of the network, you'll see the Bilt Rewards Alliance badge underneath it.
Renters at Bilt Rewards Alliance properties now need a Bilt Rewards credit card to potentially earn Bilt Points on their housing payment with no fee. We'll go into the details of how to earn Points on rent later in the post. If you'd like to continue paying your rent through the Bilt program without earning Points, you may do so at no additional fee.
What if my apartment isn't a part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance?
The great news is that you can still earn Bilt Points even if your building isn't in the Bilt Rewards Alliance. It takes a few extra steps, and there may be convenience fees, but it's doable. For these kinds of rentals, you'll use BillPay for Home.
With this new system, you can pay rent through:
- Bilt's online portal (available to all Bilt members)
- Check payments (only for Bilt card holders)
- Venmo payments (only for Bilt card holders)
Bank account payments processed through Plaid earn just 250 Bilt Points and are subject to a $1.95 processing fee. Debit card transactions incur a $9.95 processing fee and also earn just 250 Bilt Points.
A new feature of the Bilt 2.0 program is the ability to pay for multiple rental properties, which wasn't possible in the old program. In addition, you can pay your mortgage through the Bilt 2.0 program, but since the focus of this post is rent, we'll set that aside for another post.
Can I use any credit card for rent payments?
You can make your rent payment with any credit card through the Bilt program. There's a catch, though: non-Bilt credit cards are subject to a 3% transaction fee, and they earn one Bilt Point per $2 spent on rent. The major exception is the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® card and Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card, which earn 3x Alaska Miles per $1 spent on rent, up to $50,000 per year.
Alternatively, you can earn rewards on rent with one of these Bilt cards:
- The Bilt Blue Card earns up to 1X Points on rent and mortgage payments. This card has a $0 annual fee.
- The Bilt Obsidian Card earns up to 1X Points on rent and mortgage payments. This card has a $95 annual fee.
- The Bilt Palladium Card earns up to 1X Points on rent and mortgage payments. This card has a $495 annual fee.
$0
- Up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments
- 1X points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases
$95
- Up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments
- 1X points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases
- 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.
- 2X points on travel
$495
- Up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments
- 2X points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases
To earn Bilt Points with no convenience fees on your rent, you'll have a few hoops to jump through each month.
How to Earn Points on Your Rent Through Bilt
With the new program, there are two ways in which to earn Bilt Points with a Bilt credit card, fee-free. Members will need to choose whether to earn Bilt Cash or Points on housing automatically.
With the first option, every purchase on your Bilt credit card would earn 4% Bilt Cash on all eligible purchases. Bilt Cash can be redeemed for many things, including towards transaction fees on Points-earning rent payments. The redemption rate is at 3 cents of Bilt Cash per fee-free Bilt Point.
For example, a $1,000 monthly housing payment would incur a $30 transaction fee to earn Points on the full rent. A member would redeem $30 of Bilt Cash to earn 1,000 Bilt Points on the rent payment for that month. If a user runs out of Bilt Cash, there's no way to earn Bilt Points fee-free on housing payments.
If you select the second option, you'll forgo earning Bilt Cash with your credit card. Instead, you'll unlock fee-free, Points-earning housing payments by spending a percentage of your housing payment each month.
- Spend 25% of your monthly rent to earn 0.5x Bilt Points each month
- Spend 50% of your monthly rent to earn 0.75x Bilt Points each month
- Spend 75% of your monthly rent to earn 1x Bilt Points each month
- Spend 100% of your monthly rent to earn 1.25x Bilt Points each month
As you can see, this option could potentially see you earning more than 1X Bilt Points per $1 of rent, but at the cost of earning Bilt Cash. This could mean missing out on higher Rent Day bonuses, Points Accelerators, and other redemption options that may earn you more Bilt Points. It all depends on your monthly spending and total housing payments.
Steps to Make a Rent Payment Through Bilt
If you're a Bilt Rewards Alliance member, you'll pay rent directly in the Bilt app or on the website. After linking your property, go to the Home tab.
From there, click Make a Payment and select your payment method. You'll also be able to select Bilt Cash to redeem against any convenience fees.
Then, select “Pay” to make your payment. Keep in mind, rent payments are now only processed via ACH payments with the new program. The old program allowed rent payments on your Bilt credit card. Unfortunately, that's no longer possible.
Our Take
If you're renting, it makes sense to use a Bilt credit card to earn Bilt Points on rent with no convenience fees, provided you complete the required steps. Otherwise, you'll want to carefully weigh the costs of any fees associated with your payment method. While Bilt Points are valuable, those fees can add up fast if you're using a different credit card. So, just be mindful of this (and crunch the numbers) before you start paying your rent through Bilt.
This piece doesn’t address the frustration that was expressed by many last month when this began: those of us who pay with the Alaska Visa. There has been much confusion and misinformation from Bilt about this. Last month, I received 500 points for paying with the AS Visa, compared to zero previously. I heard of others who received full points and others who received nothing. I used the ever-frustrating iMessage chat to contact Bilt, which is the only way we seem to be able to communicate with them. As a Platinum member, I’m supposed to receive priority and excellent service, but it’s clear it’s still handled by those outside the U.S. who don’t work for the company. There are long waits and incorrect answers followed by ghosting.
I was told that I didn’t receive full points as I paid at the beginning of the month before this new policy went into effect. And yet I received 500 before the policy began (vs none in prior months), so that seemed incorrect. At any rate, it’s the 15th of May, and I’ve still received zero Bilt points for my AS Visa rent payment at the beginning of this month. I suspect I’m not alone with the continued frustration and inconsistency.