Bilt has been marketing the exciting release of the Bilt 2.0 cards for a while and the announcement is finally here. All three cards are very different from the core Bilt World Elite Mastercard. The three cards are the Bilt Blue Card, Bilt Obsidian Card and Bilt Palladium Card—Blue at no annual fee, Obsidian at $95, and Palladium at $495.

While all the cards earn 1x points on rent and mortgage spend, Bilt has also introduced the (confusing) concept of Bilt Cash.

What is Bilt Cash?

Bilt Cash is a new concept that Bilt has rolled out for all three of their new cards. You now earn 4% "Bilt Cash" from your spend on these cards:

• So, $750 of spend on any of the cards earns $30 Bilt Cash.
• Then, you can convert your Bilt Cash into Bilt points. Every $3 of Bilt Cash unlocks 100 Bilt Points, up to a maximum of 1 Point per $1 of your payment amount.
• So when you spend $750 on your Bilt card, you earn $30 in Bilt cash that then becomes 1,000 Bilt points (when redeemed against rent).

This means $1 in spend earns 1.33 Bilt Points when redeeming against rent.

*Alternatively, you can also redeem Bilt cash for neighborhood dining experiences, hotel bookings, Lyft credits etc. As far as we know, it can be redeemed dollar for dollar (1:1), which is huge if you value Bilt Cash at face value.

Bilt Cash is essentially a way to force people to put spend on their cards.

What is the Bilt Blue card?

The Bilt card is the cheapest option of them all as it has no annual fee. Here are all the perks and benefits of having the Bilt Blue card:

• 1X points on everyday spend
• 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend
• $100 in Bilt Cash on account opening
• Earn both Bilt Points and Bilt Cash with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees

The $100 of Bilt Cash welcome bonus, when redeemed against your rent or mortgage, is worth 3,333 Bilt points.

What is the Bilt Obsidian card?

The Bilt Obsidian card is the new midtier Bilt card sitting in between the Bilt Blue card and Bilt Palladium card, at a $95 annual fee. Here are the benefits you get with the Bilt Obsidian card:

• 3X points on dining or grocery (grocery up to $25K/year), 2X on travel, 1X on all other everyday spend
• 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend
• Up to $100 in annual Bilt Travel Hotel credits (Up to $50 semiannual)
• $200 in Bilt Cash on account opening
• Trip Delay Insurance, no foreign transaction fees

The $200 of Bilt Cash welcome bonus, when redeemed against your rent or mortgage, is worth 6,666 Bilt points.

What is the Bilt Palladium card?

The Bilt Palladium card is the most premium card out of the three new Bilt cards and it comes with lots of bells and whistles. Here are all the perks and benefits that come with the Bilt Palladium card at a $495 annual fee:

• 2X points on everyday spend
• 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend
• First-ever, limited-time 50,000-point sign-up bonus + Gold Status (after qualifying spend)
• $300 in Bilt Cash on account opening
• Up to $600 in annual credits ($400 Bilt Travel semiannual Hotel credits + $200 in Bilt Cash)
• Additional premium benefits, including Priority Pass access, purchase protection, no foreign transaction fees, authorized users

If you redeem the $300 in Bilt Cash upon account opening against your rent or mortgage, you get 10,000 Bilt points.

The annual $200 of Bilt Cash, when redeemed against your rent or mortgage, is worth 6,666 Bilt points.

Are the changes on the new Bilt cards good for cardholders?

On the surface, these cards seem uninteresting/complex.

However, if you run the numbers, you start to realize some interesting trends. The key one is as follows:

Earning 4% Bilt Cash is effectively the same thing as earning an additional 1.33x Bilt points per $1 of spend on the new Bilt cards.

Why? Because 4% Bilt cash can be redeemed against your rent at a rate of $3 Bilt Cash = 100 Bilt Points. So every $1 you spend becomes 1.33x Bilt points when you redeem Bilt Cash against rent.

This changes the math tremendously.

• Bilt Blue: earns effectively 2.33x Bilt points on everyday spend*
• Bilt Obisidian: earns effectively 4.33x Bilt points on your 3x category spend, 3.33x on your 2x category spend, 2.33x on your everyday spending*
• Bilt Palladium: earns effectively 3.33x Bilt points on all your spend*

*When redeeming Bilt Cash against your rent. $3 Bilt Cash unlocks 100 Bilt Points when using Bilt Cash on monthly rent payments

We think the new Bilt cards can be enormous winners for the right people.

How does the Bilt Blue card compare to the Citi Double Cash® Card?

If you have monthly rent or mortgage spend, the Bilt Blue card beats the Citi Double Cash® Card in terms of pure raw earnings.

The Double Cash earns up to 2% cashback on all spend (1% for spend, 1% when you pay your statement).

The Bilt Blue card effectively earns 2.33x transferable points on all spend (when factoring in the 4% Bilt Cash earnings)

Alternatively, the Bilt Cash 4% earnings could be valued very highly alone, depending on what vendors you can redeem it with.

How does the Bilt Blue card compare to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card?

Bilt Blue earns more points than the $95 annual fee Venture Rewards per $1 spent, up to your rent/mortgage divided by 1.33.

Again, with the Bilt Blue, you get 1.33x more points through Bilt Cash. So, you effectively get 2.33x on all your spend, which beats out the Venture which earns 2x miles. And Bilt’s transfer partners are better than Capital One’s!

How does the Bilt Obsidian compare to the Citi Strata Premier® Card card?

The Citi Strata Premier card is an underrated card that has some incredibly strong categories in its own right, such as 3x on restaurants, supermarkets, and air travel/hotels.

Compared 1:1 without rent/mortgage expenses, the Strata Premier is definitely the better card for the same annual fee. Not to mention, the Strata Premier has a huge welcome bonus that makes it hard for the Bilt Obsidian to compete with.

However, once you factor in that 4% Bilt Cash, the Bilt Obsidian starts to become very interesting. Depending on which category you select, you’ll effectively earn 4.33x on your grocery or dining spend (up to $25k/year) when redeeming your Bilt Cash against your rent or mortgage.

It’s close, but I think the Strata Premier provides more significant short term value with its bonus, whereas the Bilt Obsidian punches above its weight with the incredibly strong 4.33x in grocery or dining. However, the Strata Premier’s coverage is generally stronger, so the Obsidian needs to be partnered with another card.

How does the Bilt Palladium compare to the Robinhood Gold card?

I don’t even think this is a hot take—the Bilt Palladium crushes the Robinhood Gold card.

Bilt Palladium earns 2x on all purchases. But, it also earns 4% Bilt Cash on all purchases:

1. If you redeem that Bilt Cash against your rent, you earn an additional 1.33x Bilt Points per $1 spent on the card (effectively 3.33x Bilt points on all spend)
2. If you redeem that Bilt Cash in other ways (eg neighborhood experiences, Lyft credits), then it’s just 4% cashback ontop

So in the bear case, you earn 3.33x Bilt points per $1 spent on the Palladium AND you can transfer those points to partners like Hyatt. Even if you value Hyatt points conservatively, that’s almost 5% back on ALL spend.

Of course, there’s an enormous $495 annual fee that I’m not factoring in here, but the credits/benefits provided make it relatively worth the breakage. It’s still a headache, but for 3.33x points on all spend, may be worth it.

For me, I’d be looking to leverage the $200 annual Bilt Cash + maybe one of the Bilt Hotel credits. Not looking to have to spend too much time with the breakage on these credits in particular. The bonus is useful for guaranteeing value, at least in the first year.

Misconception: do I need to spend up to my rent per month to earn Bilt points at all?

No. There is no requirement for you to spend any amount on the card. Rather, the more you spend, the more Bilt Cash you earn. You can then redeem Bilt Cash against your rent/mortgage.

For example, say your rent is $1,000 per month. You can spend $0 that month or you can spend $2,000 that month on your Bilt cards:

• If you spend $0, you earn $0 Bilt Cash
• If you spend $2,000, you earn $80 Bilt Cash. $80 Bilt Cash can be converted into 2,666 Bilt points

Bilt Cash expires in the calendar year it was earned. So, Bilt Cash earned during 2026 will expire at the end of the year. However, you can rollover up to $100 in Bilt Cash every year.

How can I get one of the new Bilt cards if I had the old Bilt card?

If you are a current Bilt cardholder, you “preorder” and select from one of the three cards up until January 30, 2026. Your new card will arrive by February 6th and then you’ll be able to use it starting February 7th.

Can I apply for a Bilt card now if I don’t have one already?

No. You’ll need to wait until February 07, 2026.

It seems as though Bilt is trying to cater to current Bilt cardholders for initial preorders—it makes sense as Bilt is trying to reward customers for their loyalty while the Bilt World Elite Mastercard is being converted to the Wells Fargo Autograph card.

Final Remarks

The new Bilt cards are complex vehicles redesigned entirely to force users to spend regularly on them. While the new rewards structure is a headache to understand, after removing the cobwebs, it’s clear that the new Bilt cards are extremely strong cards with a lot of potential to replace a lot of the core cards we’ve all been familiar with.

However, to make the most of the Bilt Cards, you must have mortgage or rent payments. If you don’t, these cards struggle against the incumbents & are not worth getting.