How to Pay Rent with a Credit Card and Earn Points

For most people, rent is their biggest monthly expense. It’s a payment you have to make. Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t earn you any rewards. Most landlords don’t accept credit cards directly. If they do, they often charge high fees. This means you miss out on valuable points or cash back. However, there are smart ways to pay rent with a credit card. These methods help you earn rewards on this major expense. In this guide, I will show you the best options I’ve found for both the US and Canada

The Benefits of Paying Rent with a Credit Card

Why should you pay rent with a credit card? The primary reason for me is simple. I want to earn valuable travel rewards on a large, consistent expense. This helps me build my points balance much faster for my next trip.

Another key benefit is meeting minimum spend requirements for new credit card welcome bonuses. These bonuses are the fastest way to earn a lot of points. A large rent payment can help you hit that spending target easily without disrupting your everyday wallet set up. It ensures you don’t miss out on tens of thousands of bonus points.

Paying Rent in the US: The BILT Rewards Mastercard

In the United States, the best solution is the BILT Rewards Mastercard. This card launched a few years ago. It has been an absolute game-changer for renters. The BILT Mastercard has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.

How BILT Works (No Fees!)

The unique part about BILT is how it lets you pay rent without fees. When you get the card, BILT gives you a unique bank account and routing number. You can use this information in your apartment’s online rent payment portal. You can also use it with services like Venmo.

Your landlord or rent portal sees this as a standard ACH bank payment. BILT sends the payment for you. Then, BILT charges the same rent amount to your BILT Mastercard. You pay no transaction fees for this service. This process allows you to use a credit card for rent seamlessly.

The Value of BILT Points

You earn 1x points on rent payments using this method (up to a certain limit per year). BILT points are especially valuable. They transfer 1:1 to many excellent airline and hotel partners. These include:

• World of Hyatt
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Emirates Skywards
• British Airways Executive Club
• United MileagePlus
• And many more!

Given the valuable partners and no annual fee, I think the BILT Mastercard is a no-brainer if you pay rent in the US. Your rent payments can help you unlock amazing travel experiences like flying Emirates Business Class or flying the amazing Qatar Airways Qsuites using your BILT points.

My BILT Referral Link

Here is my BILT Mastercard referral link – Using this link to apply for the card helps support my content at no cost to you! THANK YOU 🫶🏼

Paying Rent in Canada: Using Chexy

In Canada, my favorite option is a service called Chexy. Chexy allows you to pay your important bills with a credit card. This includes rent, taxes, childcare, utilities, and condo fees.

How Chexy Works (and the 1.75% Fee)

Chexy acts as an intermediary. You pay Chexy with your credit card. Chexy then pays your landlord or biller. They use methods your landlord already accepts. This includes Interac e-Transfer, bill pay, or Pre-Authorized Debits. This means you should be able to use the service in most cases.

Chexy charges a flat fee of 1.75% per transaction. Because of this fee, you want to use a credit card that gives you a good return. Your rewards should be worth at least 1.75% to break even. Ideally, they should be worth more.

Strategy 1: Meeting Welcome Bonuses

I find Chexy is perfect for hitting large welcome bonus spending requirements. Some premium cards require you to spend thousands of dollars in a few months. Putting your large rent payment on the card through Chexy makes this much easier.

For example, the standard welcome bonus on the American Express Gold card is 70,000 points which you get once you spend $1000 every month for the first 12 months. This is an easy bonus to hit by plugging in your card with Chexy and paying rent.

Strategy 2: Earning Net Cash Back

Chexy can also be used to earn a profit. A fantastic example is the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite card. This card earns 4% cash back on recurring payments. This is for up to $25,000 in payments per year. Rent payments made through Chexy often code as a recurring payment.

This means you earn 4% cash back from your credit card. After paying Chexy’s 1.75% fee, you are netting 2.25% cash back in your pocket every single month. This is an amazing return on your biggest expense.

My Chexy Referral Link

Here is my Chexy referral link – Using this link gives you $15 off your first payment and helps support my content! THANK YOU 🫶🏼

Conclusion: Start Earning Rewards on Your Biggest Expense

Rent is a payment you have to make no matter what. So why not earn something back from it? Instead of getting no rewards, you can add a significant amount of points or cash back to your wallet. These rent payments can help fuel your next vacation.

In the US, BILT offers a fee-free way to earn valuable, transferable points. In Canada, Chexy opens the door to meeting bonuses and earning net cash back. I highly recommend looking into these services. Start earning rewards on your biggest expense today!