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What is BillPay? How does it work?

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What is BillPay?

BillPay is Bilt's feature for paying housing related charges outside of Bilt’s property network, providing enhanced security by ensuring only payments you specifically authorize are processed. With BillPay, members can pay rent via:

  • Online payment portal (available to all Bilt members)
  • Venmo or PayPal (exclusively for Bilt Mastercard® holders)
  • Check (exclusively for Bilt Mastercard® holders)

For members who started paying rent with Bilt through an online payment portal, Venmo, or PayPal before March 17: BillPay is replacing your previous Rent Rewards account. The main change is the addition of a pre-authorization step to enhance security, but see below for the complete steps for setting up your BillPay account. If you were paying by check, you don’t need to change anything.

How does BillPay work?

You can review how to use BillPay by Bilt in the following video: 

Before making your rent payment in your property's payment portal you'll need to authorize the payment amount through your Bilt account. Make sure to include any additional charges from your property such as utilities to ensure your payment can process successfully. For your convenience, we allow payments up to 110% of your authorized amount to accommodate small differences between what you authorize and what you pay. From the time you authorize your payment, you'll have five (5) days to submit the payment through your property's regular payment portal. Please note that payments submitted without prior authorization through Bilt will be blocked, and you'll receive an email explaining why.

To authorize a payment using BillPay, start by logging into your Bilt account:

  • Head to the "Pay Rent" tab
  • Enter the amount you would like to authorize
  • Select how you pay your rent 
  • Choose your payment method
  • Confirm your rent amount to authorize the payment
    • If it is your first time using your BillPay Account in your online payment portal, view / add your BillPay routing and account number to your online payment portal
  • Select "Complete" to finish and save your information

Why has Bilt created BillPay?

The BillPay feature allows members to pay rent at properties outside the Bilt network with enhanced security by ensuring only payments you specifically authorize are processed. This improvement builds the foundation for upcoming features, including our mortgage rewards program expected to launch this year and future bill payment options.

For members who started paying rent with Bilt through an online payment portal, Venmo, or PayPal before March 17: BillPay is replacing your previous rent payment process. The main change is the addition of a pre-authorization step to enhance security. If you were paying by check, you don’t need to change anything.

If I used to pay rent with Bilt through an online payment portal before March 17th, when do I need to set up my BillPay Account by?

For members who started paying rent with Bilt through an online payment portal, Venmo, or PayPal before March 17: The current account and routing numbers you use to pay rent will expire on April 29, 2025. Before that date, you will need to authorize your rent payment via the BillPay process described above, which will give you your new BillPay account and routing numbers to enter into your property's payment portal. For members who already have a BillPay account with the routing number 121145307, you do not need to add new account and routing numbers to your payment portal, but you do need to authorize your rent payment.

You can continue to use your expiring routing and account number for April rent if you choose, as long as your payment is submitted before April 29, 2025. However, after April 29, 2025, any payments charged to your old account and routing number will fail.

For members who started paying rent with Bilt through an online payment portal, Venmo, or PayPal after March 17: You'll set up your BillPay account the first time you make a rent payment, so no deadline applies to you.

If I paid rent using Bilt before BillPay launched, does anything change with the Bilt Points I've earned?

No, all Bilt points in your account will remain. BillPay does not affect your rewards, Bilt point balance, redemption opportunities or how you can earn Bilt points.

How do I pay my rent with a check?

If you have the Bilt Mastercard® and pay your rent by check, your rent payment process stays the same under BillPay. If you have your check payments set up already, we will continue to mail your landlord a check and the payment will get charged to your Bilt Mastercard®.

If you’re new to Bilt, have the Bilt Mastercard®, and want to pay your rent by check then:

  • Open the Bilt app and navigate to the Pay rent tab
  • Enter your monthly rent amount in the designated field
  • Tap Next and select Check as your payment method
  • Enter your check payment details
  • Select your preferred delivery method for the rent check: USPS, FedEx 2Day® or FedEx Standard Overnight® (additional fees may apply to FedEx deliveries)
  • Tap Next to review your payment information
  • Then tap Pay to submit your check payment

Bilt Members without the Bilt Mastercard are unable to pay their rent by check, Venmo or PayPal, but can pay through an online payment portal.

For more details about check payments, visit the article here. 

Can I make my payment authorization automatic (i.e. 'auto-authorization')?

  • Yes, there is an auto-authorization option available.
    • After setting up your BillPay for the first time, you can enable auto-authorization by selecting "Auto-authorize online rent payments" under "Rent payments settings", below your authorization.
    • Choose the day of the month and payment amount you want automatically authorized each month.
    • You can return at any time to change the payment date or amount.

Why don't I see the "auto-authorize" feature in my app?

The ability to auto-authorize is available on the newest version of the Bilt mobile application and the Bilt website. If you're on the mobile application, please update the Bilt application from the Apple or Google App Stores.

Is there a limit to the number of payments I can make via BillPay? Can I make separate payments for rent, utilities, etc.?

  • With BillPay, you can make up to three (3) eligible housing-related payments every 30 days for a single residential property. This allows you flexibility to make separate payments for different expenses such as rent, HOA fees, utilities, and internet—as long as these charges are billed directly by your property manager. Bilt has an internal team that validates all charges to ensure compliance with the Bilt Rewards Terms & Conditions and the Bilt Services Terms of Use.

Can I make multiple transactions under one authorization?

  • Yes, one authorization can account for multiple BillPay transactions.
    • For example, if your rent payment is $1,000 and utilities are $500, and both are being paid in the next 5 days, you can authorize $1,500.

How long does the authorization period last?

  • The authorization period lasts five (5) days. On the Pay Rent tab, members can see how long remains on their authorization.

What happens if my rent payment fails?

  • If your rent payment fails, you'll receive a notification via email and/or SMS from Bilt that your payment was not processed and the next steps you need to take.
  • Before April 29, 2025, if the payment fails because you did not make an authorization, Bilt will still process your rent payment. Any payments made with an insufficient authorization will not be processed.

I also pay for my utilities when I pay my rent. What amount should I authorize?

Non-rent housing-related expenses charged directly by your property manager can be paid using your BillPay account. As a result, we understand that exact rent amounts vary from month to month due to utilities, potential transaction costs from your online payment portal, and other slight fluctuations in variable monthly expenses. For this reason, we allow flexibility with payment amounts and you do not need to authorize the exact amount due each month. When you set a limit, you acknowledge and agree that we will allow payments up to 110% of this approved amount.

For example, if you authorize a payment of $2,500 any payment up to $2,750 will be approved.

If Bilt receives a payment request from your property manager below your authorization, you will only be charged for the requested payment (e.g., if you authorize $2,500 and your property manager charges your BillPay account $2,000, you will be charged only $2,000 and not the full $2,500 you have authorized in advance).

What should I do if I want to change the amount I authorized before paying rent to my landlord?

You can cancel any authorized amount at any time during the five (5) day authorization period. You will then need to set up a new authorization for any expected payment. You can easily do that from either the Bilt website or Bilt app in the "Pay Rent" tab.

If you'd like to cancel an authorized payment, please follow the steps below:

  • On the Bilt website: Head to the "Pay Rent" tab under "BillPay for Rent". Click "Edit" > "Cancel Authorization" > "Confirm"
  • In the Bilt app: Head to the "Pay Rent" tab under "BillPay for Rent". Click into your authorized payment amount > click "Edit" > scroll down to "cancel authorization" > click "Confirm"

What payment methods can I use to pay rent in BillPay by Bilt?

  • You can pay your rent in BillPay by using a credit or debit card (and soon by a linked bank account).
  • Fees may apply depending on the method of payment you use to fund your BillPay transaction.

How can I avoid transaction fees on rent using the Bilt Mastercard®?

  • To avoid transaction fees, you can pay rent with the Bilt Mastercard® when selecting your payment method. As always, Bilt Mastercard® cardholders earn one (1) Bilt point per dollar of rent without the transaction fees, up to 100,000 Bilt points per year.

What if my portal requires small deposits/micro-deposits?

  • If you're asked to provide the amount of two (2) small deposits to verify the account, you will receive an email and text message from Bilt with the amounts in two (2) to three (3) days.
  • If you're not asked for this, you can skip this step.

I'm being asked to include a bank name and/or address associated with my bank account and routing number. What should I enter?

  • The bank name associated with your BillPay account is Column N.A. and should be listed as a checking account.
  • If the bank address is needed to verify this payment method, the address is:1 Letterman Dr A4-700, San Francisco, CA 94129

Can I deposit money into my BillPay Account?

  • Usage of your BillPay Account is only for housing related payments in your payment portal to earn Bilt points on your housing related transaction. You may never deposit or transfer funds to this account.
  • Bilt will reject any funds deposited in your account that are not micro-deposits (see "What if my portal requires small deposits/micro-deposits?", above, for more information on micro-deposits).

What if a rent payment is returned to my BillPay Account?

  • If you receive a refund for a rent payment using your BillPay account, it will be returned to the originator (e.g., your property manager or landlord). You'll need to reach out to your property manager or landlord directly to request that your refund be deposited to another account.

Why can't I just use my Bilt Mastercard® in my property's online payment portal?

  • You can, but if you choose to use your Bilt Mastercard® to pay rent through your landlord's rent payment app or website, you may be charged a fee by their independently operated payment platform.

Can I use BillPay if I use Venmo®, PayPal® or similar providers to pay rent?

Yes, but only if you are a Bilt Mastercard® holder. Venmo®, PayPal® and similar payment providers are exclusively available as rent payment options for Bilt Mastercard® holders. If you are a Bilt Mastercard® holder using these services, you'll need to enter your BillPay routing and account numbers into that provider.

For members who started paying rent with Bilt through an online payment portal, Venmo, or PayPal before March 17: You'll need to update your Venmo®, PayPal® or similar account with your new routing and account number by April 29, 2025. Payments made against your old routing and account number will be rejected after this date.

For members who started paying rent with Bilt after December 16 and with the routing number 121145307: No changes are needed as you're already using the correct routing and account numbers.

Can I use BiltProtect with BillPay?

This does not affect BiltProtect. See the following page for additional information on BiltProtect.

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