Most reward cards ignore the biggest bill in your month. Bilt was built around it. If you pay rent or a mortgage, the Bilt Mastercard family lets you earn points on that payment with no transaction fee, and the points are the transferable kind. The catch is that the rules are more detailed than the marketing. This guide works through them as Bilt's help pages describe them on 10 October 2026.
How rent works
Rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt are pulled from a bank account you link. They do not use your credit line, and Bilt does not charge a transaction fee on them. Bilt also offers free credit reporting for on-time rent payments made through it, which helps if you are building credit as a newcomer.
Because the payment comes from your bank, it is not card spending. That matters for sign-up offers: the Palladium bonus asks for $4,000 of non-housing purchases within 90 days, so your rent will not help you reach it.
The three cards
Each member can hold only one Bilt Card at a time, so this is a choice, not a stack. Obsidian lets you pick dining or groceries for the year, which makes it the card for people with a clear habit. Palladium's fee buys 2X on everything else plus $400 in hotel credit, $200 in Bilt Cash and Priority Pass. Add up the credits you will really use before you pay $495.
The choice that matters: two ways to be paid on rent
You choose one of two bonus options, and you can change it in the app. After the first statement period a change takes effect on the first day of the next billing cycle.
Housing-only
Rent earns 0.5X to 1.25X points, set by the share of your rent that you also spend on everyday purchases in the same billing cycle. You earn no Bilt Cash on everyday spend.
Flexible Bilt Cash
You earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend, on top of the card's points. Bilt Cash unlocks up to 1X points on rent at $30 of Bilt Cash per 1,000 points, and works dollar for dollar elsewhere in Bilt.
The first thresholds are the ones to watch. Under Housing-only you need everyday spend of at least 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of rent to reach 0.5X, 0.75X, 1X and 1.25X. Under Flexible, every $1 you spend earns 4 cents of Bilt Cash, and $30 of Bilt Cash is worth 1,000 housing points, so each dollar spent unlocks about 1.33 points, up to the 1X cap. Below about 75% of rent, Housing-only pays more housing points. Between 75% and 100% both pay 1X, and Flexible leaves Bilt Cash over. At 100% or more it is 1.25X points against 1X plus Bilt Cash, and the better one depends on how you value points and whether you will use the cash: Bilt Cash expires at the end of the calendar year and only $100 carries over.
Where the points go
Bilt Points transfer to more than twenty airline and hotel programmes, mostly at 1:1. The list includes United, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates, and Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and IHG. Accor converts at 3:2 and Amtrak at 2:1. The minimum transfer is 2,000 points for members at Blue status and 1,000 for Silver and above, always in steps of 1,000, and a transfer can take up to 72 hours. Bilt says its list changes, so check it before you commit. For how to choose where to send flexible points, see where to send flexible points and transferable points.
Who should pass
Good fit
- You pay rent or a mortgage that your landlord can accept through Bilt, and you would otherwise earn nothing on it.
- You can put close to a full month's rent in everyday spend on the card, which lifts the housing multiplier.
- You want transferable points to airlines and hotels, and no foreign transaction fee.
Poor fit
- You do not pay rent, or your landlord will not take a payment from Bilt.
- You want a second or third card in the same family, since only one is allowed.
- You need a credit line increase soon. Bilt said they were not available for these cards.
Rates, fees and offers change. The card pages and the terms on the day you apply are the ones that count, and the issuer is Column N.A., with Cardless as the servicer. This site takes no referral fees.
Questions people ask
Do I need to spend on the card to earn points on rent?
Under Housing-only the multiplier depends on your everyday spend that billing cycle, and below the first threshold Bilt still pays a floor of 250 points. Under Flexible Bilt Cash you turn Bilt Cash earned on everyday spend into housing points.
Does rent paid through Bilt count as card spending?
No. Bilt says housing payments are debited from your linked bank account and do not use your credit line, so they do not count toward the Palladium welcome offer, which asks for non-housing purchases.
Can I hold more than one Bilt card?
No. Bilt allows each member one Bilt Card at a time, and credit line increases were not available when its help page was updated in September 2026.
What happens to my points if I cancel the card?
Bilt says your existing Bilt Points and Bilt Cash stay in your account and you remain a Bilt member, but you stop earning with the card.
Sources
Written from these pages and checked against them on October 10, 2026. Programs and rules change, so check the provider’s current terms before you decide.
Cards in this guide
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- #bilt mastercard
- #rent rewards
- #housing
- #bilt cash
- #transfer partners
- #world elite
- #no foreign transaction fee
General information, not financial, legal or travel advice. Your own card terms and the provider’s current rules always come first.