Kairos, a portfolio of brands that invest in solutions for healthcare, partnered with the nation’s leading real estate owners to launch Bilt Rewards, a program that allows renters to earn points on paying rent. They also offer Bilt Mastercard, a credit card that allows cardholders to pay rent and earn points with no fees.
More than 2 million rental units throughout the country will now be able to earn rewards through monthly rent payments and renting-related events, such as signing a lease or referring a tenant. Some of these owners and operators include AMLI Residential, AvalonBay Communities, Blackstone, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield, Equity Residential, GID-Windsor Communities, Lennar Corporation, The Moinian Group, Morgan Properties, Related Companies, SL Green Realty Corp., Starwood Capital Group, Trammell Crow Residential, Veritas Investments and more.
“Housing is the single largest expense for the vast majority of Americans," said Bilt CEO and founder Ankur Jain. "Until today, rent has been the only major expense you couldn't earn points on without fees. Over a renter's lifetime, that's thousands upon thousands of dollars that they've never been able to earn something back on. With the launch of the new Bilt Rewards program, renters will now be able to travel, shop, or even start thinking about purchasing a future home just by paying their rent."
Bilt rewards can also be redeemed for travel with over 100 major airlines and hotels via a partnership with American Airlines AAdvantage, Emirates Skywards, KLM-Air France FlyingBlue, World of Hyatt loyalty program, and more.
The Bilt programs are dedicated to building pathways to homeownership for renters. Kairos is the only company to win approval from Fannie Mae and The Federal Housing Administration to redeem points towards down payments on home mortgages.
"Bilt Rewards is the most innovative loyalty program to launch in a generation. Just by paying rent, you can now earn points to travel the world, or even buy a home,” said Bilt senior loyalty advisor, Brian Kelley, who is also founder and CEO of The Points Guy.
The first-of-its-kind co-brand credit card enables renters to pay rent with no fees, while also meeting the digital needs of today’s consumers. Renters who enroll in Bilt Rewards and pay with Bilt Mastercard can pay rent at any apartment or rental unit in the U.S with no fee, and can earn up to 2 times the points on rent and 1 times the points for every non-rent purchase. The Bilt Mastercard will be issued by Evolve Bank & Trust.
To ensure that consumers are not risking debt to finance rent, the Mastercard is built with BiltProtect. This enables the card to be used as a debit card for rent transactions, directly pulling funds from a linked bank account. Credit lines are open for other purchases, while still enabling cardholders to earn points on paying rent.
For more information on Bilt Rewards and Bilt Mastercard, visit BiltRewards.com.
