Bilt’s messy transition to its new “Bilt 2.0” credit card program is drawing fresh scrutiny, this time on Capitol Hill – including allegations from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that the company’s new way of handling rent and mortgage payments might violate federal law.
Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee – and once viewed as a leading presidential contender who ran in 2020 – sent a sharply worded letter to Bilt CEO Ankur Jain this week, demanding answers over widespread customer complaints tied to the company’s transition away from Wells Fargo earlier this year. Alongside accusations of missing payments, delayed transactions, and poor customer service, Warren questioned whether Bilt’s revamped payment structure complies with the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
Specifically, Warren took aim at Bilt’s decision to immediately debit cardholders’ linked bank accounts for rent and mortgage payments rather than processing those charges like a traditional credit card purchase – eliminating the ability for cardholders to effectively “float” a housing payment until their statement comes due.
“Bilt appears to be treating its credit cards as debit cards for a subset of purchases and credit cards for others,” Warren wrote in the letter.
In response to Warren’s letter, a Bilt spokesperson did not directly address any allegations and said that any issues with the move away from Wells Fargo were the result of “unexpectedly high demand,” later noting that “some of our members experienced gaps in service that are simply unacceptable to us.”
“We increased our customer service capabilities to address this and proactively communicated with any impacted members. All outstanding issues relating to the card transition in February have been addressed and resolved,” the rewards company said.
That was just one in a litany of concerns Warren raised.
The senator also referenced some Bilt customers who reported rent or mortgage payments that “never reached their landlord or lender, were rejected or returned, or only were delivered after a significant delay.” Others allegedly struggled to make payments on balances tied to their old Wells Fargo accounts or saw balances transferred without their authorization.
It’s not every day that a fast-growing rewards startup – not a banking giant like Chase or American Express – gets called out directly by one of Washington’s most prominent financial watchdogs. Warren’s letter outlines a long list of alleged problems that surfaced during Bilt’s rocky rollout earlier this year, when the company migrated customers from Wells Fargo-issued Bilt cards to a new three-card portfolio powered by the fintech company Cardless.
To make matters worse, Bilt's shoddy customer service – powered by an AI chatbot – led some members to spend days trying to reach a real person … all while dealing with time-sensitive financial transactions like rent and mortgage payments.
Warren’s letter also points to a reported 1,300% increase in complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in February alone during the transition. That's a pretty astounding 13x increase – no wonder the feds took notice.
The senator is asking Bilt to provide a detailed response by June 9, including how many customers experienced delayed or missing payments, how much money was affected, and what steps the company is taking to prevent it from happening again.
Bilt has publicly acknowledged many of the headaches during that transition in recent months. In an open letter published in March, Jain admitted the company’s customer service “didn’t reflect the standard we set for our members.”
While Bilt has grown quickly by offering travelers a rare way to earn points on housing payments, it still operates largely outside the mainstream awareness of most Americans. Warren’s involvement dramatically raises the stakes for the company and could bring far more attention to its recent problems.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
