Bilt Credit Card (not just for renters!)

 Bilt was set up as a credit card for renters.  Normally rent payments have to be made through a bank account, not a credit card, and so that recurring monthly purchase never earns any points/rewards.  That's where Bilt came in a few years ago and changed everything.  They allow you to use their card to make one rent payment monthly (it goes through like an ACH payment or they can also send an actual check if required).

For a long time I was actually jealous that I didn't pay rent.  The reason why........, this card has offered some INSANE transfer bonuses in the past.  For example:  100 - 150% transfer bonuses to airlines like Virgin, Air France, Hawaiian, and Aeroplan.  Points also transfer to Alaska Airlines (which is a rare one), Hyatt (the best hotel point program out there!), and lots of others too.  See why I was jealous that I could't participate in this awesome program?!?!

Then I learned that I actually could participate and ALL OF YOU CAN TOO!!!!  You can own a home and use the Bilt card to pay your monthly utility bill, your wifi bill, HOA bill, Cable bill, or cell phone bill.  So there are LOTS of options.  Obviously you want to choose a bill to pay that won't take a credit card, or requires payment through a bank.  Any bill that can be paid by credit card without a fee should be paid by a different credit card of your choosing.  Bilt is helping you pick one bill (chose your highest one for the most points) that has to be done through a bank account and letting you earn points on that one bill each month.  You only get one ACH type payment per month, if you mess with this, they will catch you and can shut down the account, so don't do that.  It should be a reoccurring payment, always the same place and roughly the same amount so as not to have your account flagged.

The Bilt card has NO ANNUAL FEE.  The one CATCH, is that in order to earn your points each month, you must make a total of at least 5 transactions on the card each and every month.  Bilt earns 1x point on rent, 3x points on restaurants, and 2x points on travel purchases.  PLUS on the 1st of every month they double your earnings, so you'd get 6x points on restaurants, 4x on travel, and 2x points on everything else that day EXCEPT RENT.  Rent is ALWAYS earning 1x points.  To make it easy, you could simply fill up a tank of gas (stopping and restarting a new transaction 4 times).  Or on the first of every month you could reload your amazon gift card balance 4 times (you can do as little as $1 if you want).  Or you could set the Bilt card to do 4 other automatic bills each month so that you never have to think about it.

When you sign up for the card  you may or may not receive a bonus, it is totally random.  But be prepared for the bonus spend in case you are lucky enough to get the bonus offer.  The offer typically comes to you by email after you have been approved, and usually on the day your card is delivered to your home.  The email will say something like...... Congratulations, you can earn 5x points on your Bilt card for the next 5 days (capped at 50k bonus points).  So if you have a large bill, you may want to time your credit card application with that bill.  For example a large trip purchase, Christmas shopping, Ski passes, Braces for kids, etc.  There are some reports of people never getting the email but they tested the card and it was earning 5x points for 5 days.  There are also reports of people being approved for the card but only getting a very low line of credit (like $2k), in some of these cases there was success in calling Wells Fargo (this is the bank that is behind Bilt) and asking for a credit line increase (ask for way more than you need because they will counter offer lower).

Finally, don't forget that you AND your spouse can each get a Bilt card and take care of 2 different ACH payments monthly.

My experience with the application process:

My 21 yr old son with almost no income was immediately approved after doing an online "identity verification" which involved taking a picture of his face and his Drivers License.  The whole process from application to approval was just a few minutes.

My husband's application immediately went into "pending" status.  After a couple days without any further emails or explanations from Wells Fargo, we called the number in their first email that told us it was "pending" and asked for further explanation.  They told us that they needed "identity verification" and that I needed to fax in a picture of my husband's driver's license and 2 bills that have his name and address on them.  What the heck????  Why did my son's application have a much easier process - I don't know!  So, I went to a Wells Fargo branch so they could fax the documents over for me.  A few hours later I got an email that said "we cannot give you a credit card at this time."  I figured that was a denial, but we called in to see if there was anything they could do.  Turns out, it was not a "denial" and the application was actually still "pending", they simply had a problem with one of the documents I sent over and so I needed to send it again.  Wow, what a joke!  I wanted to share just in case you get the same vague emails.  Moral of the story.................call them, maybe even a few times if needed!