Bilt 2.0 Details Are Leaking Ahead of Next Week’s Launch—Three Cards, New Fees, New Rules

Bilt is refreshing their credit card and moving from Wells Fargo to Amex. There will be three cards, not just one, and details will be announced next week. However some enterprising members found card details in Bilt code and those are now being widely discussed.

Since there are other cards buried in the code – Home ($0), Titanium ($95), and Platinum ($495) – along with different value propositions I’m not so sure the leak that is going around is exactly the final, full version that’ll be announced soon.

However here’s the best idea we have so far of what Bilt will be offering:

Bilt Blue Card

Annual fee: $0

Welcome bonus: $100 Bilt Cash

Rewards:
4% Bilt Cash on everyday spend
1X points on rent, mortgage, and everyday spend

Benefits:
No foreign transaction fees
Neighborhood Benefits program
Use Bilt Cash to waive rent and mortgage transaction fees

Bilt Obsidian Card

Annual fee: $95
Welcome bonus: $200 Bilt Cash

Rewards:
4% Bilt Cash on everyday spend
3X points on dining or grocery (choice of one; grocery up to $25K/year)
2X points on travel
1X points on rent, mortgage, and everyday spend

Benefits:
$100 Bilt Travel hotel credit ($50 every six months)
Cellular Telephone Protection
Use Bilt Cash to waive rent and mortgage transaction fees

Bilt Palladium Card

Annual fee: $495

Welcome bonus:
50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status (after $4,000 spend in first 3 months)
$300 Bilt Cash

Rewards:
4% Bilt Cash on everyday spend
2X points on everyday spend
1X points on rent and mortgage

Benefits:
$400 Bilt Travel hotel credit ($200 every six months)
$200 Bilt Cash annually
Priority Pass
Use Bilt Cash to waive rent and mortgage transaction fees

Edit – Added note as per u/Adventurous-Bad2072 – rent/mortgage will not be “fee free” instead you will offset it with Bilt cash. You earn 4% Bilt cash on non rent spend.

They’ll award points for rent and mortgage payments, but for that to be free you’ll need to spend 75% of the payment on non-rent and mortgage spend. Otherwise there’s a fee, but you can use Bilt Cash (earned from a card’s initial bonus or from spend or milestone rewards) to cover it. One of the problems with the original Bilt card is that cardmembers were using it to pay rent but not enough other spend.

Here’s how I’m thinking of this. At the amount of your rent or mortgage payment you’re earning an extra 1.3 points per dollar. So, say you escrow property taxes and insurance and your mortgage payment is $4,000 per month. Spend $3,000 monthly on the $495 card and you’ll earn 10,000 points each month. That’s actually a pretty great return.

I don’t love another $200 hotel credit every six months, just because I’m already loaded up on hotel credits from Amex Platinum, Sapphire Reserve, and Strata Elite. But these can be direct book hotels through Bilt’s portal, so honestly this is going to be pretty easy to use. That helps cover the card’s hefty annual fee, so it’s not just an expensive card buying another Priority Pass. We don’t know terms on the Priority Pass either yet – whether it covers guests, whether it covers non-lounge participating locations.

Ultimately what could make these cards really valuable is earning Bilt cash to spend with their partners or to qualify for elite status-based Rent Day benefits like big transfer bonuses. A 4% rebate in Bilt cash to spend with merchants in Bilt’s network – on top of points – could be… wow.

Here’s why I don’t think the no annual fee card makes sense, though – you need to spend $3,000 on that card to get $4,000 in rent or mortgage payment fee-free. But you’re only earning 1 point per dollar on that $3,000 in spend. The $95 card, if it earns 3x on your choice of dining or groceries, could offer the highest return on spend provided that you’re looking at a $2,000 rent or mortgage payment and can max out spending in the category.

Interestingly, one named card in various iterations of the products is Obsidian, and that appears to offer Mirror finish for $50 which is a little odd. Amex Platinum at a much higher fee includes this free, their version is cool, but I wouldn’t pay extra for it. Again, we don’t know if that’s actually final or was just someone’s idea that got loaded up onto a server.

Of course since Obsidian may not even be one of the final products, it’s unclear that Mirror finish (or Mirror finish for pay) is in the final version. And we’ll have to wait until next week to see.

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