How I Pay Rent with No Fees and Earn Rewards Using This Credit Card

4 minute read

Two months back, I paid $130 in penalties—just because I was one day late paying my rent. Here’s what happened.

I’ve been using Fidelity Cash Management as my main checking account. I love it. It gives me 4% interest on my payroll deposits, no monthly fees, automatic overdraft protection, and a seamless way to manage all my spending and savings. I have written a blog post how it changed my finance and automate everything.

But… there was one problem.

My landlord uses a resident portal that doesn’t accept Fidelity. So every month, I had to manually transfer money to another bank just to pay my rent.

It sounds simple, but in reality? It was a recipe for mistakes.

Last time, I delayed the transfer by just a day. It crossed the 5th of the month—and I got hit with an penalty, which cost me $130. That was painful.

So I started digging. I asked myself:

“Is there any way I can automate rent payments—even when Fidelity doesn’t connect to my rent portal?” Also I want to set up Autopay, therefore, I do not need to worry about when salary hits my account

I love automating stuffs to reduce burden on me. At the end of the day I am a human and prone to mistake. Automation saves me.

🔍 The Fix: A Credit Card That Pays Rent Without Fees

That’s when I discovered the Bilt Mastercard.

Here’s how it works:

Bilt gives you a bank account and routing number you can use to pay rent directly in your resident portal—just like any checking account.
It charges zero transaction fees, which is rare for rent-related credit card payments.
And the best part?
You earn 1 point per $1 spent on rent.

Yes, that means I’m paying rent and earning rewards.

And since I route the rent payment through Bilt, my main Fidelity account remains untouched. I keep earning that 4% APY on my balance, while my rent gets paid automatically.

It’s like a win-win-win.

💡 Pro Tip: How to Unlock the Rewards

There’s just one rule with the Bilt card:
To earn rewards on rent, you must make at least 5 transactions per month.

So here’s what I do: I set up five small subscription payments (like $2–$10) using the Bilt card—think Spotify, ChatGPT, Google Drive, etc. That’s it. Done. I meet the 5-transaction limit and unlock the reward for my rent payment effortlessly.

🎯 Redeeming the Points: What You Need to Know

The points I earn from rent payments are flexible:

Amazon: ~$0.75 for every 100 points. Last time I used this.
Hotels & Flights: Often more than $1 per 100 points I did not have chance to explore this option
Transfer partners: If you’re into travel hacking, Bilt has airline/hotel partners too

Sure, it’s not a ton of money—but it’s free value on something I have to pay anyway. And in personal finance, small wins compound over time.

🧠 Final Thoughts: Streamlining My Rent + Maximizing Rewards

So let’s recap:

I avoided $130 rent penalties.
I automated my rent payments using a credit card.
I kept my 4% interest earnings with Fidelity untouched.
I now earn travel and cash-equivalent points just for paying rent.

If your landlord doesn’t accept your favorite checking account—or if you want to turn your biggest monthly expense into a rewarding habit—this setup might be the fix you’ve been looking for.

I’ve personally been using the Bilt Mastercard to earn points on rent and travel—it’s been a great way to build rewards with no fees. If you found this helpful, feel free to explore it via my referral link—I’ll get a few bonus points if you sign up, but no worries either way!

📌 Disclaimer

The information provided in this blog post is based on my personal experience and is for informational purposes only. I am not a financial advisor, and this content should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Please consult with a certified financial professional before making any financial decisions. Product features, terms, and conditions may change over time—always verify details with the official provider before proceeding.

👋 About Me

Hi, I’m Shuvangkar Das, a power systems researcher with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University. I work at the intersection of power electronics, DER, IBR, and AI — building greener, smarter, and more stable grids. Currently, I’m a Research Scientist at EPRI (though everything I share here reflects my personal experience, not my employer’s views).

Over the years, I’ve worked on real-world projects involving large scale EMT simulation and firmware development for grid-forming and grid following inverter and reinforcement learning (RL). I also publish technical content and share hands-on insights with the goal of making complex ideas accessible to engineers and researchers.

📺 Subscribe to my YouTube channel, where I share tutorials, code walk-throughs, and research productivity tips.

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