Ankur Jain showed up to The Real Deal’s New York City Real Estate Forum to preach the gospel of Bilt Rewards.
The popular fintech startup allows renters to pay rent with a credit card that earns reward points, and eliminates fees for landlords.
Everyone wants points to buy more stuff, travel or book hotels. And Jain said the inspiration came from capitalizing on the largest expense for most people: rent. “We came in and said hold on a sec, there’s all this value around the home,” said Jain.
“You have local businesses spending huge amounts of money to reach customers when they move in. You have airlines and hotels who bill these massive rewards programs,” Jain said. “Then you have $700 billion a year of rent flowing through a 1995 website to collect rent and there is nothing happening out of it.”
Bilt launched in 2022, and the company almost immediately took off. A $150 million fundraising round boosted its valuation to $1.5 billion and earned it unicorn status, the highly coveted marker for startups worth $1 billion or more.
“People saw it and said, ‘they are paying the same thing I’m paying, but they are making money on resident loyalty and getting more on time payments,’” said Jain. “Now you suddenly feel behind.”
Jain said the company is sitting on $400 million of cash. He claims the company has been profitable or operating at break-even for the past three years. And he would like to expand internationally.
In early 2024, Bilt raised $200 million in an equity round, increasing its valuation to $3.1 billion. Ken Chenault, the former chief executive officer of American Express Co., joined the company during the same time as chairman.
The company has partnered with megalandlords like Greystar, Avalon Bay Communities and Related Companies. It recently launched an initiative with Invitation Homes, the single-family rental behemoth, to allow renters to earn points on payments.
But Bilt’s sudden rise has also warranted skepticism.
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2024 that a partnership between Bilt and Wells Fargo resulted in Wells losing $10 million a month because of faulty projections that cardholders would carry balances resulting in interest income for Wells Fargo. But instead, customers paid off their rent within days of using their cards, according to the Journal. Bilt called the Journal’s reporting an inaccurate representation of the partnership.
None of these concerns seemed evident as cheerful and eager Jain spoke to a crowd of landlords, brokers, and hustlers.
“We are sitting here focused on how to build a decades-long business around housing,” Jain said. “Because housing is the place people live. It’s the biggest expense. It’s the center of the community.”
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