You might not have believed it could happen, but Bilt somehow managed to make “Bilt 2.0” even more confusing.
The rewards company’s launch of its revamped portfolio of credit cards has been everywhere this week. Some Bilt members were thrilled with the new program; others were irate, but most people seemed flummoxed in trying to wrap their minds around it. Even the New York Times called it, “The most confusing rewards program we’ve ever seen.”
Little did we know, Bilt was just getting started.
In a Friday-afternoon email to members, Bilt founder Ankur Jain announced yet another layer of complexity to the board game-like rules. Now, Bilt cardholders can choose between two different ways to earn rewards on housing payments: by using Bilt Cash or by opting into a second track that depends on the proportion of your housing payment that you spend each month on the credit card.
And no, I’m not joking.
Jain says:
However, I’ve also seen real and reasonable confusion about the new value proposition—especially around rent and mortgage points. That’s on me, and we’re fixing it.
And here’s the fix:
With all that in mind, we are introducing a new, simpler option to earn fee-free rewards on rent and mortgage: now up to 1.25X on each payment.
You will now be able to choose one of the two options for how you want to be rewarded on housing payments with the new Bilt Card 2.0. The core benefits of each card are not changing. This is only an update to how you earn rewards on housing payments.
Option 1: A simple, fee-free way to earn rewards on housing.
Pay your full rent or mortgage every month with no transaction fee
Earn points on housing automatically in lieu of earning Bilt Cash
The more you use your card for everyday spend, the higher your points multiplier on housing, now up to 1.25x:
Points on Housing
Minimum everyday spend as a % of monthly rent / mortgage
Example of $2,000 rent
0.5x points
Spend at least 25% of monthly rent
$500 in everyday spend
0.75x points
Spend at least 50% of monthly rent
$1,000 in everyday spend
1x points
Spend at least 75% of monthly rent
$1,500 in everyday spend
1.25x points
Spend the same or more as your monthly rent
$2,000 in everyday spend
You’ll see your progress to each tier clearly in the app each month.
Just like today, if you don’t hit the minimum spend requirement, you still earn 250 points per month. Bilt Card 2.0 also removes the 100,000 rent point cap that existed with Card 1.0, so you can now earn unlimited points on housing payments.
Option 2:
If you prefer the original, fee-free structure we launched Card 2.0 with, it’s still available for you:
Earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases, in addition to base points. Think of Bilt Cash as “choose your own reward”.
Pay your full rent or mortgage every month with no transaction fee
You can use as little or as much of your Bilt Cash to increase the total points you earn on housing that month and you do not ever pay anything out of pocket.
You can also redeem Bilt Cash dollar-for-dollar for monthly credits across the Bilt ecosystem (with monthly, merchant-specific caps), or for exclusive benefits like higher transfer bonuses and special access to experiences.
The more you use your card for everyday spend, the more Bilt Cash you earn. We’ll continue adding new ways to spend Bilt Cash as the ecosystem grows.
You choose the option that works the best for you when you activate your card. You can change at any time, and your choice will take effect the following month.
Wow. I don’t know whether this makes things simpler.
Regardless, here’s what I glean:
Option 1 (aka “Simple”)
You choose to NOT earn Bilt Cash on credit card spend, at all. Instead, you can choose to earn points on your mortgage based on how your monthly credit card spending corresponds to your mortgage payment, with the rate of earning not fixed but depending on the multiple of your mortgage payment you spent (I actually laughed writing that).
Let’s say I had a $1,000 rent payment:
- If I spend 25% of my rent on my Bilt credit card ($250), I get a 0.5x multiplier on the $1,000 payment for a total of 500 points
- If I spend 50% of my rent on my Bilt credit card ($500), I get a 0.75x multiplier on the $1,000 payment for a total of 750 points
- If I spend 75% of my rent on my Bilt credit card ($750), I get a 1x multiplier on the $1,000 payment for a total of 1,000 points
- If I spend 100%+ of my rent on my Bilt credit card ($1000 or more), I get a 1.25x multiplier on the $1,000 payment for a total of 1,250 points
Ok, got that straight?
Option 2 (aka “Earn Bilt Cash”)
This is a modified version of the “old system,” which was put into place – checks notes – two days ago!
In this option, you choose to earn 4% Bilt Cash on all credit card spend:
- You can unlock up to 1x on rent by using Bilt Cash at a value of $30 in Bilt Cash for each 1,000 points (you can use more or less Bilt Cash depending on the total cost of your rent or mortgage)
- You can no longer choose to pay a 3% fee on the amount not covered by Bilt Cash. If you don’t have enough Bilt Cash to unlock the full rewards amount of your housing payment, will not earn 1x points on whatever the uncovered amount is.
For instance, if your rent costs $1,000 and you have $30 in Bilt Cash, you can use that $30 to unlock 1,000 points on that housing payment. If you only have $15 in Bilt cash, you can only unlock 500 points on your housing payment.
Quick Thoughts
Well, I’m pooped. I can’t imagine how you feel.
We’ve spent a good chunk of this week trying to metabolize the maze of Bilt 2.0, find answers to the numerous questions we have (we’re still in the dark about what Bilt Cash redemptions look like, hotel credits, and more), update guide and card pages, and write content. Now, we’re out of date again. After two days.
I honestly don’t understand who thought it would somehow be a good idea to add another significant layer of program complexity and change the initial terms within 48 hours of launch, but here we are.
There’s nothing about this change that makes things “simpler.” In option one, why have different levels of earning based on the percentage of your housing payment that you spend on the credit card? Why give people not only two earned reward currencies, but two options for earning rewards on housing payments to begin with?
I went from needing a piece of paper and a pen to be able to explain Bilt 2.0 to needing a PowerPoint…and there’s still so much we don’t know about the new program. To me, it increasingly feels like Bilt 2.0 was released not as a product, but more as a concept that we’re seeing fleshed out and beta-tested in real time.
For some folks, that might be exciting. But I’m already exhausted.
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My mortgage just isn’t that significant in relation to my annual spend or various points earn. I’ll skip the BS and stick with the other 4-5 major currencies and/or specific programs. All of them are simple to understand and don’t require a lot of thought to maximize earning rates.
I’d like to take advantage of a Bilt’s exclusive transfer partners but not at the cost of complexity and confusion.
I don’t see what stops people from earning points on any promissory note/regularly scheduled payment you have with another person. Payments go thru ACH and “mortgage/rent payments” to individuals are allowed. 4% extra cash is fantastic. I could see folks inventing payments to P!/2 in accounts they also control to deplete their cash pile and earn points. I haven’t used Plastiq in a very long time, but I remember the auto loan payments I made to earn points had to be to a legit company/lender at least. To me this all just sounds like marketing: “pay your mortgage/rent with credit card rewards,” but the reality is they just want you using the card for spend and you can use your resulting Bilt Cash really however you want, with some parameters per transaction. Not many real guardrails, as hard as they seem to be trying, spells disaster for this program. Yey us I guess
Remember that episode of Friends where Joey auditions to be the host of a new game show called “Bamboozled?” That’s all I can think about when I read about the new Bilt cards.
“You spin the Wheel of Mayhem to go up the Ladder of Chance. You go past the Mud Hut, through the Rainbow Ring to get to the Golden Monkey, you yank his tail and boom – you’re in Paradise Pond!”
This is what Bilt has become, and we’ve all been Bamboozled.
They could’ve named the Palladium card the Wicked Wango card instead.
Just called WF and closed my Bilt card. I have to admit, I feel a small amount of happiness now. I had been reading all of these posts and emails from Bilt trying to figure out how I was going to make it work. Then it hit me. If it takes that much energy to decide what one to try for and what it all means, then it’s a loser. My next closure is likely the sapphire reserve. These two cards are a master class on how to confuse and frustrate people. They have taken the strate elites bizarre dining bonus thinking and applied it to both cards in total. Relief.
My big question is on BILT Cash. If we get 4% BILT cash and it’s valued at $1 per $1 in the portal, then BILT cash is insane value, so long as you spend it before year end. My question is can BILT cash actually be used dollar for dollar on the travel portal? I keep hearing there are caps which will confuse the whole calculation.
The BILT model benefits those with low rent and higher spend. If your rent is high and spend is low-med, you’re basically screwed. If your rent is low and spend is high, then you probably would benefit. But I’d run spreadsheets and comparisons on each card you want to compare, to see which has the highest net value.
Cancel.
I think that’s the rub—what BILT cash can be used for besides earning the right to get 1 point per dollar for rent/mortgage is nebulous. BILT cash should be called Shrute bucks or Stanley nickels.
In all seriousness, What?
Cancel the card.
Bilt is being very dishonest, and I no longer feel comfortable using their financial services. I heard they do a soft pull when you sign up for Bilt 2.0, even though it should just be a simple migration. The best move is to juice Wells Fargo cash until February, transfer all your points, and close the account.
Cancel the card.
If the multipliers work as described above, then Option 1 would be preferred when your non-rent spend is:
• Less than $187.50 (since at least 250 points is given regardless of non-rent spend)
• Between 25% to 37.5% of your rent/mortgage payment
• Between 50% to 56.25% of your rent/mortgage payment
Introducing the second option certainly results in some oddities when trying to determine which option is best.
Option 1 could be viewed as opening up a sweet spot for lower spenders able to hit in the 25% of rent spend, as was noted by commenters below. For example, with the $95 card you could effectively get 5X points if able to precisely hit 25% of your rent/mortgage spend in one of the 3X bonus categories each month.
However, you are likely to be quite disappointed if you come up anywhere short of the 25% threshold. In addition, if your monthly spend is variable and the program requires one to choose Option 1 or 2 in advance, then you might be better off playing it safe with Option 2 (fixed 1.33 points/$).
If the multipliers work as described above, then Option 1 would be preferred when your non-rent spend is:
• Less than $187.50 (since at least 250 points is given regardless of non-rent spend)
• Between 25% to 37.5% of your rent/mortgage payment
• Between 50% to 56.25% of your rent/mortgage payment
Introducing the second option certainly results in some oddities when trying to determine which option is best.
Option 1 could be viewed as opening up a sweet spot for lower spenders able to hit 25% of rent spend, as was noted by commenters below. For example, with the $95 card you could effectively get 5X points/$ if able to precisely hit 25% of your rent/mortgage spend in one of the 3X bonus categories each month. However, you are likely to be quite disappointed if you come up anywhere short of the 25% threshold. In addition, if your monthly spend is variable and the program requires one to choose Option 1 or 2 in advance, then you might be better off playing it safe with Option 2 (fixed 1.33 points/$).
Hello. You mentioned wanting both an obsidian and a palladium in your household. Can you explain why?
I don’t get it. The only company that seems to understand what consumers want is Capital One. It’s easy, 2% on everything, good transfers, and loungers. I only wish I could get the card and regret closing it.
This is stressful. I don’t want to worry that I won’t receive my rent points, because I didn’t spend sufficiently. No one spends the same every month. I don’t need a card to push me to spend more and I don’t want the stress either.
Further, Bilt was dishonest. This is not simple and there is a fee for paying rent if you don’t achieve the minimum. Do they not understand that they cannot be dishonest when it comes to financial products.
Also, did they watch the Citi Strata Elite disaster. I didn’t think it could get worse, and yet here we are.
This card was created for people who MS. No normal and sane person, needs this card in their life for the perhaps modest gain. I am an original Bilt user and so disappointed by this card. They really need to bring ordinary points people onto their team who really understand what consumers want: a simple card, with good multipliers and transfer partners. I am happy to pay, but don’t make me pay and work for it.
> there is a fee for paying rent if you don’t achieve the minimum.
Unless you elect to pay one to earn max points, there is no fee on option 1 or 2 if you miss the minimum spend. In fact, with option 2, there is no “minimum spend” Bilt Cash will apply in part or in full.
This rollout is shit, and the cards seem set up to fail, but this misunderstanding is still prevalent for some reason.
Yeah, I can’t imagine why there’s any misunderstanding with this clean, simple rollout. *Eye roll*
Yeah fair, they’ve made this annoyingly complicated for no reason.
So it you don’t meet the minimum spend there is a fee. Yet, he said you never pay a fee. So his statement is inaccurate and financial products cannot be inaccurate. There are clear rules on these issues.
…..if you don’t meet the minimum spend, there is no fee.
You really need to go back and read the card details.
There is no fee, but there are no points. His statement is very deceptive.
Happiness is not having to spend time running the maze to maybe find the cheese. Cancel or skip this dumpster fire.
As someone mentioned below, it seems the breakeven point is if you spend 75% of your mortgage on the CC which gives an effective points boost of 1.33 which is the rate of BILT cash.
Ex. Assume $1000 mortgage. The CC spend would be $750, which would earn 1000 pts. This would translate to 1.33 “bonus” points per dollar spent (1000 pts/$750 = 1.33).
This means that if your monthly spend is higher than 75% of your rent/mortgage, go with option B as the “flat” 1.33 rate from BILT cash is better than the 1.33 (75% of mortgage spend) – 1.25 (100% of mortgage spend) point rate. Anything below 75%, you are better off with Option A (1.5 bonus pts at 50%, 2 bonus pts at 25%).
One quirk is I believe you are also better off with Option B if you can’t make sure your spend falls close to each threshold break point. If you spend 25% of your mortgage, you get 0.5x multiplier. If you spend 49.99% of your mortgage, you still that same multiplier? In the example above, that means you earn an extra 500 bonus points whether you spend $250 or $499.99 a month.
So if you want to maximize pt/$ earning, not necessarily earn the most pts, spending exactly 25% of your mortgage would ensure 2pts/$ on all that spent.
What the new offer in the Bilt CEO’s email tells us about their plans for Bilt Cash:
Let’s look at the bottom line comparison.
Bilt 2.1 (Option 1) vs. Bilt 2.0 (Launch Math)
250 Bilt points = $40 Bilt Cash:
• Bilt says 1 point = 1.25¢ in the portal
• So 250 points = $3.125 of portal value
• Yet Bilt offers $40 Bilt Cash instead
That means Bilt is willing to give you up to 12.8× more face value in Bilt Cash than in points to get you to choose Bilt Cash.
Points are expensive to Bilt (durable, flexible, low breakage)
Bilt Cash is cheap and profitable to Bilt because it is:
• Closed-loop
• Expiring
• Behavior-steering
• Often margin-positive via portals/partners
12.8× is the incentive multiple Bilt needs to push you from points into Bilt Cash — because Bilt Cash is the real monetization engine.
Bilt doesn’t mind breaking even on your spend on the Bilt card itself, so long as you spend more in the travel portal.
This logic leads me to a prediction:
I believe Bilt Cash will be a discount coupon, not something you can spend entirely on its own.
My bet is Bilt’s goal is for Bilt Cash to be like an Amex offer. It’s a coupon discount on whatever you want in the portal, but you’ll still have to spend real money to use it.
What do you think the new math tells us? Comment below!
Comment.
My comment is that I don’t need a card that requires that much math. It is indicative of a company that doesn’t like its customers.
Thought BILT cash could be used dollar for dollar in travel portal. Now I’m hearing its only a coupon discount. We need some clarity.
Is normal non-bilt credit card at 3% fee gone? For those of us trying to hit SUBs on new cards
I think the update is easy to understand and simple. I dont understand why the author of this article find it “exhausted”.
Congrats on your superior comprehension skills Jo. I think you’re in the minority though. I personally find the update unclear and confusing.
Yep
Arf arf… great job, Jo!
Is this satire?
OK Mr. Jain, I mean Jo Chancson.