For many people, hire or mortgage funds are amongst our highest month-to-month bills. And loads of the time, you are caught making these funds by financial institution accounts as a substitute of utilizing credit cards to earn valuable travel rewards in your spending.
However it does not should be that approach. In truth, there are a lot of firms in the marketplace that make it doable to make hire or mortgage funds with a bank card — and earn rewards whereas doing so. Plus, Bilt added the power to earn worthwhile Bilt Factors on mortgage payments (along with rent) in its sweeping refresh earlier this 12 months, providing another choice.
This is what you want to find out about paying for housing bills with a bank card.
Paying your hire or mortgage with out charges
It is fairly uncommon to search out an house advanced or landlord keen to just accept bank card funds with out an interchange charge. Nonetheless, it is value citing once you go house searching, as a result of lease funds may end up in vital rewards.
For instance, in case your hire is $1,500 month-to-month, and also you pay with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees), the cardboard will earn 1.5% money again (which will be transformed to 1.5 Final Rewards factors per greenback spent, should you pair it with an eligible card). After 12 funds (spending $18,000 on hire), you’ll have earned $270 in money again or 27,000 Final Rewards factors, value about $554 per TPG’s April 2026 valuations.
Nonetheless, you may possible be charged a processing charge on hire funds made with a bank card.
Utilizing Bilt to earn factors
You’ll be able to earn worthwhile Bilt factors on housing bills with out paying a transaction charge should you maintain a Bilt bank card and use the Bilt program to pay your rent or mortgage.
So long as you pay with considered one of Bilt’s three credit cards and permit Bilt to debit the hire or mortgage cost out of your financial institution through automated clearing home, you possibly can unlock factors in your hire — all whereas avoiding any transaction charges.
There are some additional steps members must take to make sure they will earn factors on their hire or mortgage funds. And, because the Bilt program was revamped early this year, these funds not go towards a credit score line, so they don’t seem to be precisely bank card funds.
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Nonetheless, that is how I pay my month-to-month hire, since I love collecting valuable Bilt points. Per TPG’s April 2026 valuations, Bilt factors are value 2.2 cents every.
I’ve the premium Bilt Palladium Card (see rates and fees), however the identical goes should you carry the mid-tier Bilt Obsidian Card (see rates and fees) or no-annual-fee Bilt Blue Card (see rates and fees).
An important consideration right here is that Bilt members have to pick out a pathway to earn rewards on these funds. There are two choices:
Bilt Money (as much as $100 of Bilt Money earned rolls over to the subsequent 12 months): With this methodology, you may earn 4% again in Bilt Cash on all nonhousing purchases made along with your Bilt card. Then, you possibly can redeem Bilt Money for numerous rewards, together with unlocking Bilt factors on housing funds at a price of three cents per level to unlock as much as 1 level per greenback spent on Bilt housing funds every month.
For example, should you pay $1,000 for hire every month, you would redeem as much as $30 of Bilt Money per thirty days to unlock as much as 1,000 Bilt factors per thirty days. So, you’d must spend $750 on nonhousing purchases along with your Bilt card to earn $30 in Bilt Money.
Housing-only rewards: You’ll be able to nonetheless earn Bilt factors on housing, whether or not you’ve gotten one of many Bilt bank cards or not. In case you select to make your housing funds with an eligible Visa, Mastercard, American Categorical or Uncover bank card, you may pay a processing charge and often earn 1 level per $2 spent (excluding hire fee charges). In case you pay hire through Bilt with a debit card or every other sort of bank card, you may earn 250 factors per month-to-month fee.
Lastly, you possibly can pay hire by Bilt with an eligible Atmos Rewards card to earn 3 Atmos Rewards factors per greenback spent on hire*. It’s also possible to pay with an eligible United MileagePlus card to earn 2 United miles per greenback spent on hire*.
*On as much as $50,000 per 12 months.
Associated: Should you pay your rent or mortgage with Bilt? We crunch the numbers
Paying your hire with a bank card
Some third-party service suppliers will assist you to pay your hire, mortgage and virtually every other invoice with a variety of bank cards and debit playing cards. Nonetheless, you may should pay a charge.
This is a chart of two third-party fee suppliers that settle for bank cards, together with their respective charges.
| Firm | Charges | Playing cards accepted for hire funds |
|---|---|---|
|
2.99% |
|
|
|
ACH funds: $1.95 |
|
|
|
Credit score: 3% |
|
Plastiq is by far the most well-liked service. It additionally runs occasional promotions that additional scale back the charges. With Venmo, you may incur a 3% charge when paying one other consumer with a bank card, however you will not pay any further charges when paying with a debit card.
That stated, the charge for paying your hire with a bank card through Plastiq has elevated a number of instances over the previous few years.
Associated: How to earn points and pay lower fees with Plastiq
Paying your mortgage with a bank card
It’s typically unimaginable to make mortgage funds with a bank card, until you need to incur excessive charges (as with hire).
Nonetheless, Plastiq means that you can make these funds by its program should you pay with a Diners Membership, Uncover or Mastercard card. American Categorical and Visa playing cards should not eligible.
And Plastiq sometimes rolls out promotions for brand spanking new customers that provide decrease charges. In case you choose in for Plastiq throughout a 2%-fee promo, you would come out forward by paying your mortgage with the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees).
The Citi Double Money card earns 2 ThankYou factors per greenback — 1 level once you make the acquisition and 1 level once you pay your invoice. In case you pay a $2,000 mortgage by Plastiq throughout a 2% promo, you may pay $40 in charges and earn $76 value of factors, per TPG’s April 2026 valuations.
Associated: These are the best credit cards for everyday spending
When does it make sense to pay a charge?
There are some choose cases through which it is smart to pay a charge to make housing funds with a bank card and earn factors or miles.
For one, should you’re working to fulfill a minimum spending requirement to earn a welcome supply, particularly with playing cards requiring $5,000 or extra inside a specified time interval, it might make sense to place hire on the cardboard.
The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see rates and fees) requires you to spend $6,000 within the first three months from account opening to earn 75,000 bonus factors. That bonus is value $1,425, per TPG’s April valuations, so in case your charges are lower than that quantity (and you do not have different strategies to fulfill the spending requirement), it might make sense to incur them.
In any case, calculate the worth of the factors or miles you may earn to find out if they’re value greater than the charge you may pay. If the charges for paying with a bank card are better than the worth of the rewards you may earn, it is possible not your best option to pay your hire or mortgage with a bank card.
Nonetheless, when Plastiq has promos, or should you get sufficient family and friends members to enroll by your promo code (which provides you fee-free {dollars}), you possibly can come out forward.
Associated: Should I pay with a rewards credit card even if it incurs fees?
Greatest bank cards to pay your hire or mortgage
In the case of the most effective bank cards for paying your hire or mortgage, I would suggest one which earns greater than 1 level or mile per greenback spent on all purchases, in addition to playing cards that combine properly with the Bilt ecosystem.
Playing cards with standout welcome offers are additionally value contemplating.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card: Earn 100,000 bonus factors and a 25,000-point International Companion Award after spending $6,500 or extra on purchases throughout the first 90 days from opening your account. Moreover, obtain a 50% flight low cost code for a qualifying future flight after opening your account.
- Bilt Palladium Card: Earn 50,000 bonus factors and Bilt Gold standing (by the remainder of the calendar 12 months through which it was earned and the next calendar 12 months) after spending $4,000 on nonhousing purchases within the first three months from account opening. Cardholders additionally obtain $300 in Bilt Money upon approval.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Citi Double Cash: Earn $200 money again after you spend $1,500 on purchases within the first six months from account opening.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earn a $250 bonus after spending $500 on purchases throughout the first three months from account opening.
- United Quest℠ Card (see rates and fees): Earn 90,000 bonus miles and three,000 PQPs after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Plus, earn 10,000 bonus miles after including a certified consumer within the first three months from account opening.
Associated: How to choose the best credit card for you
Backside line
In case you resolve to pay your housing bills with a bank card, there are a lot of routes you possibly can take.
In case you aren’t fortunate sufficient to barter a fee-free fee methodology, you could need to use one of many third-party fee suppliers. Or, should you go together with Bilt, you may must consider the way you need to earn rewards — and the truth that your housing fee will likely be pulled immediately out of your checking account by ACH.
In any other case, it is best to anticipate to pay transaction charges should you choose to pay hire or a mortgage with a bank card, typically. However, should you’re working to fulfill a high-value welcome bonus, the place the worth outweighs how a lot you may pay in processing charges, it might make sense to pay with a bank card regardless.
Associated: New TPG Bilt calculator helps you easily maximize the Bilt 2.0 program
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