Are the new Bilt credit cards worth it?

Bilt Rewards launched in 2021 as an organization providing loyalty factors on hire funds, and to this present day, it supplies the solely means in the US to earn factors on what’s, for many individuals, the largest fee of their month-to-month funds. Its Bilt Points, that are earned on hire or different bills, can then be handled like all different credit card factors, together with transferring them to airline and lodge companions. That straightforward and handy worth proposition is altering radically with the Feb. 7 launch of three new Bilt credit cards.

Those new Bilt cards will nonetheless earn rewards for paying hire, however they’ll now embrace mortgages too, doubtlessly broadening their attraction. Still, the new cards introduce a sophisticated rewards construction.

Under the earlier Bilt system, you simply had to make use of your Bilt card for no less than 5 transactions a month to unlock incomes rewards on hire. Now it’s important to select between two choices. One is incomes a new forex referred to as Bilt Cash, which you should utilize for quite a lot of purchases. The different is a rewards system the place the factors you earn in your hire or mortgage fee are tied to how a lot you spend in your Bilt credit card on issues different than housing, as a proportion of how a lot you pay in hire or mortgage. That’s a far cry from “just make five transactions a month, and you’ll earn a Bilt Point for every dollar you pay on rent, with no fees involved.”

If all this seems like numerous work, that’s as a result of it’s. While it’s nonetheless true that Bilt earns rewards on housing funds that different credit cards wouldn’t get you, the Bilt ecosystem now asks customers to make choices, and perceive numbers, that different transferable credit card factors don’t.

You’ll have to think about that complication when deciding whether or not to use for one in all the new Bilt cards. Those embrace the Bilt Blue Card (no annual charge, see rates & fees), the mid-tier Bilt Obsidian Card ($95 annual charge, see rates & fees) and the prime Bilt Palladium Card ($495 annual charge, see rates & fees.) They take the place of the present Wells Fargo Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card and are issued by Column, a federally chartered financial institution, and serviced by a fintech firm referred to as Cardless.

With a new Bilt card, you could select between incomes Bilt Cash or utilizing incomes tiers primarily based in your month-to-month spending. If you select the incomes tiers, you possibly can earn as much as 1.25 factors per greenback of your housing fee. You can change your choice at any time, although, with the change taking impact the following month.

In this text, we’ll go over the Bilt system, describe every of the three new cards and present you some options.

Bilt Cash launched this yr, with the rollout of the new cards. You earn Bilt Cash on all of your non-housing funds made utilizing a Bilt card, and it may be used to pay at retailers in Bilt’s community at a 1:1 equivalency with precise US {dollars}. All Bilt cards earn 4% Bilt Cash, in addition to Bilt Points, on non-housing spending.

You’ll additionally earn 1,000 Bilt factors for each $30 of Bilt Cash you earn. Bilt Cash expires at the finish of every yr, with solely a most of $100 that may be rolled over.

As for really utilizing Bilt Cash, starting Feb. 1, 2026, members can redeem it on eligible purchases at checkout in the Bilt app or on bilt.com. Bilt Cash can be utilized for issues together with however not restricted to the following:

Also, word that these hire or mortgage funds received’t be charged to your Bilt card however pulled out of your checking account, so you could make certain to have sufficient in the account when Bilt takes the money to cowl the fee it made in your behalf to your landlord or lender.

The different possibility is a tiered rewards system, wherein the variety of Bilt Points you earn on every greenback of your housing fee is tied to how a lot you employ your Bilt credit card for different spending, relative to the dimension of your hire or mortgage fee.

For instance, in case your non-housing spending is 25% of your month-to-month housing spending, you earn 0.5 factors per greenback on housing. If it’s 75%, you earn 1 level per greenback. At 100%, you earn 1.25 factors per greenback.

when you don’t cost sufficient non-housing spend to your Bilt credit card to fulfill or exceed that threshold, you’ll earn factors solely on the portion of your fee that may be coated by no matter quantity of Bilt Cash you’ve earned.

Bilt Points don’t expire, not like Bilt Cash.

The Bilt Blue Card is the introductory card in the Bilt lineup however nonetheless earns factors on hire or mortgage funds with out charging transaction charges. It additionally doesn’t cost an annual charge.

It earns factors and Bilt Cash as follows:

It doesn’t have many perks besides cellphone safety when you use it to pay your cellphone invoice, however it additionally doesn’t cost international transaction charges or charges so as to add approved customers. While it’s a really fundamental card, it might work for many who need to have only one card and earn factors on hire or mortgage spending.

Bilt Points are transferrable to many journey companions, together with Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Hyatt Hotels, which is why they’re thought-about extremely useful by factors consultants, at 2.2 cents every according to The Points Guy.

The Bilt Obsidian Card is Bilt’s mid-tier possibility. For a comparatively small $95 annual charge, card holders can earn Bilt Points at an elevated fee on both eating or grocery spending, in addition to 4% Bilt Cash on all non-housing purchases. Like with the different Bilt cards, that is along with factors earned on hire or mortgage funds.

The Bilt Obsidian Card earns factors and Bilt Cash as follows:

The card’s fundamental profit is as much as $100 in Bilt Travel credit towards lodge bookings, accessible as as much as $50 in every half of the yr, however the profit’s utility is proscribed by the requirement for a minimal keep of two nights. You’ll additionally get trip-delay insurance coverage. There aren’t any international transaction charges, however including approved customers prices $50 per person.

The Bilt Palladium Card is dear to carry, with a $495 annual charge, however it may make sense for people who find themselves invested in the Bilt ecosystem and may use it typically sufficient to maximise earnings. It has the added advantage of incomes double factors on each buy that isn’t housing, without having to recollect classes.

The Bilt Palladium Card earns factors and Bilt Cash as follows:

As with the different Bilt cards, to earn the full 1.25 factors per greenback on housing funds you’ll have to spend the equal of your housing fee in non-housing purchases every month.

The Palladium’s perks are much more fascinating than these of the different two Bilt cards, to start with being a Priority Pass lounge membership that provides entry to greater than 1,000 airport lounges for the card holder and as much as two friends. A Priority Pass yearly membership prices $469 and doesn’t embrace visitor entry, so this profit alone is worth about as a lot as the whole annual charge. Another profit that may assist offset the annual charge is a Bilt Travel credit of as much as $400 towards lodge bookings in the Bilt Travel portal. This perk is proscribed, nonetheless, by being break up into two credit of as much as $200 for every half of the yr and by requiring a minimal keep of two nights.

In the first yr, the welcome bonus greater than offsets the value of holding the card. At 2.2 cents per level, 50,000 Bilt Points are equal to $1,100, greater than double the $495 annual charge. You’ll additionally get $200 in Bilt Cash deposited into your account yearly. There aren’t any international transaction charges, and including a licensed person prices $95 per person. Interestingly, every approved person will get their very own Priority Pass membership too.

A catch to bear in mind throughout tax season is that tax funds made with Bilt cards don’t earn factors. That’s an vital caveat when you’re pondering of utilizing the card to pay a tax invoice to fulfill the spending wanted for the welcome bonus. The card’s attraction can be restricted when you don’t hire or have a mortgage. People who discover Bilt’s rewards system too complicated could also be higher served by one other card, for instance one in all the best travel cards.

The intricacies of Bilt’s rewards system might show too complicated to handle for individuals who aren’t points-and-miles fanatics. If that describes you, there are credit cards on the market that could be a greater match than the Bilt Blue, Obsidian or Palladium. Let’s take a look at them so as.

Instead of the Bilt Blue card, it’s possible you’ll contemplate the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the Citi Double Cash® Card. Both supply elevated earnings on on a regular basis purchases with no need to consider particular classes or bonuses, and so they each earn easy money again, which is pretty much as good as cash in your pocket.

The Freedom Unlimited is amongst the best cash-back credit cards accessible, and it’s additionally one in all the best credit cards overall. It earns 3% money again on eating and drugstores, and a comparatively excessive 1.5% on every thing else. It provides some journey protections, like insurance coverage for automobile leases, making it a good selection for individuals who need only one card.

The Citi Double Cash could be one other good possibility for a catchall credit card, and it does even higher than the Freedom Unlimited on common purchases because it earns 2% money again on every thing (1% once you purchase and one other 1% once you repay these purchases.) It’s additionally amongst our favourite cards for common use, however beware that — like its direct Chase competitor — it fees international charges, which the Bilt Blue doesn’t.

Learn more and apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card.

There’s no scarcity of mid-tier credit cards with charges round $100, and our present favourite is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

With the similar $95 annual charge as the Bilt Obsidian, the Sapphire Preferred is the gateway to incomes Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which — like Bilt Points — are amongst the most respected, transferrable factors in the present day. The Sapphire Preferred is aimed principally at individuals who prefer to journey and eat out, because it earns 3 factors per greenback spent on eating worldwide, 5x factors on journey bought by means of the Chase Travel℠ portal and, by means of September 2027 and 5 factors per $1 spent on Lyft rides. On all different journey purchases, together with transit, you’ll earn 2x. It additionally earns 3x on choose streaming companies and on-line groceries (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale golf equipment). On every thing else, you’ll earn 1 level per greenback.

In widespread with the Obsidian, it fees no international charges.

Learn more and apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card.

In the extra rarefied environment of high-annual-fee cards, there’s a direct various to the Bilt Palladium card, with a far less complicated reward construction that constitutes its most tasty characteristic. That’s the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which fees a decrease annual charge of $395 and earns Capital One miles at the similar 2x flat fee.

Also like the Palladium, it presents airport lounge entry however provides entry to Capital One Lounges, on prime of a Priority Pass membership. We like that it presents elevated rewards on journey booked by means of Capital One Travel, plus annual credit and miles on every anniversary that assist make it worth the annual fee.

The Venture X Rewards works as a easy journey rewards card that doesn’t ask numerous its customers whereas rewarding them properly for his or her spending, or it may be a part of a complicated points-redemption technique. It’s your name, and that simplicity might make it extra interesting to many than the doubtlessly profitable however sophisticated math that the Bilt ecosystem requires.

Learn more and apply for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

According to NCS Underscored’s credit card methodology, we consider cards primarily based on quite a lot of elements, gauging their utility for real-world customers, not simply card consultants. The principal elements we contemplate are the following:

Senior cash editor Alberto Riva has been masking credit cards since 2017, after a protracted tenure main finance-focused newsrooms. He and his spouse have 21 credit cards between them and maximize their factors and miles earnings each day. His suggestions are grounded in real-world worth and backed by thorough evaluation, knowledgeable perception and a dedication to readability and transparency.