Bilt Obsidian Card: Fine for Foodies, Complex for Rent
The Bottom Line
4.5
The card is ideal for those who spend big on dining or groceries, and who value transferable travel points. But for those seeking simplicity, especially when it comes to earning rewards on housing, it's a hard sell.
Rates, fees and offers
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$95
Rewards rate
1x-3x
Bonus offer
$200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
Intro APR
N/A
Ongoing APR
APR: 26.74%-34.74% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: 31.74%-34.74%, Variable
Balance Transfer APR: 26.74%-34.74%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
5% or $5, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
$0
More details from Bilt
More details from Bilt
- Earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments.
- 1X points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel.
- Welcome offer: $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
- $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $50 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- Redeem Bilt Cash for dollar-for-dollar value toward fitness classes, hotel bookings, Home Delivery orders, Lyft rides, and more. Bilt Cardholders can also use Bilt Cash to cover transaction fees on rent and mortgage payments. At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Earn additional points through Bilt Neighborhood Benefits™ when you use your Obsidian Card at Bilt's network of 50,000+ merchants.
- No foreign transaction fees.
Pros and Cons
Pros
New cardholder bonus offer
Bonus categories
Flexible rewards redemption
Cons
Has annual fee
Complicated redemptions
Detailed Review
The $95-annual-fee Bilt Obsidian Card — issued by Column N.A. Bank and serviced by Cardless — is the middle-tier option among Bilt's three-card portfolio.
Like all Bilt cards, this one lets you earn rewards on rent, mortgage payments and HOA fees, up to 1.25x back. But to optimize those earnings, you'll have to jump through some hoops, including keeping close tabs on your spending and, potentially, juggling two different rewards currencies.
Fortunately, independent of any rewards on housing expenses, the Bilt Obsidian Card also earns competitive rates on everyday, non-rent/mortgage purchases. And those rewards are highly valuable and flexible, thanks to Bilt's list of more than 20 airline and hotel transfer partners.
In fact, if you’re willing to make the Bilt Obsidian Card one of your go-to cards for groceries or dining, you may not even want to bother with using it to pay for housing.
The new Bilt cards — the Bilt Blue Card, Bilt Obsidian Card and Bilt Palladium Card — replace the pre-existing Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card. That original card, issued by Wells Fargo, stopped accepting applications in October 2025 and will be deactivated on Feb. 7, 2026. Existing holders of the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card can upgrade to one of the new Bilt cards with no hard pull on your credit scores. Those who decide not to upgrade to one of the three new Bilt cards will be automatically transitioned to the Wells Fargo Autograph® Card. If you don’t want that card, Bilt says it will close your Wells Fargo account upon request.
Bilt Obsidian Card: Basics
Annual fee: $95.
Welcome bonus: $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
Rewards:
Option 1:
Earn 3x Bilt Points on dining or groceries (on up to $25K in spending per year in the grocery category). Your choice category may be changed once a year.
Earn 2x Bilt Points on travel.
Earn 1x Bilt Point on everyday (non-housing) purchases.
Earn up to 1.25x Bilt Points on housing payments — depending on how much non-housing spending you put on the card:
Non-housing spending as % of monthly housing payment | Points earned per $1 on housing |
|---|---|
25%. | 0.5x points. |
50%. | 0.75x points. |
75%. | 1x points. |
100% or more. | 1.25x points. |
If you don't meet the minimum spending requirement at all, you'll earn 250 Bilt Points per month on housing payments.
Option 2:
Earn 3x Bilt Points on dining or groceries (on up to $25K in spending per year in the grocery category) + 4% back in Bilt Cash. Your choice category may be changed once a year.
Earn 2x Bilt Points on travel + 4% back in Bilt Cash.
Earn 1x Bilt Points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on other everyday purchases.
Earn 1x Bilt Point on rent/mortgage — though to "unlock" these points, you'll need to have amassed Bilt Cash.
There are multiple ways to redeem Bilt Cash (see below). But to earn any rewards on housing under this option, you'll need to use your Bilt Cash to cover a 3% transaction fee on those housing payments. (For every $30 in Bilt Cash you spend for this purpose, you’ll earn 1,000 Bilt Points on your rent or mortgage payment.)
Note that you must select one of these options when you activate your Bilt card, but you can change it at any time.
Redemption options:
Bilt Points may be redeemed for a statement credit (at a value of 0.55 cents per point), a credit toward a home down payment (1.5 cents per point), booking travel in Bilt’s travel portal (1.5 cents per point), and more. Cardholders can also transfer their points to one of Bilt’s excellent travel partners for outsized value. When used this way, NerdWallet values Bilt Points at about 1.8 cents each.
Complete list of Bilt transfer partners
British Airways Club (Avios).
Bilt Cash, on the other hand, is more limited in terms of redemption. $1 in Bilt Cash typically equals $1 you can use toward offsetting the 3% fee you'd otherwise incur to earn rewards on your housing payments (under Option 2 above). But you can also use Bilt Cash — again, typically on a dollar-for-dollar basis — toward things like hotel bookings, Lyft rides, fitness classes, GoPuff orders and access to partner transfer bonuses. Bilt Cash can be used to "buy" Bilt Points, but you can't directly transfer Bilt Cash to travel partners.
If you select Option 2, you can also use Bilt Cash up to five times per year to earn an extra Bilt Point per $1 spent on everyday spending categories. This is available only for the Bilt Obsidian Card and Bilt Palladium Card. Once activated, you’ll earn extra points on up to $5,000 in spending.
Only $100 of Bilt Cash rolls over from year to year. Any remaining amount expires after Dec. 31.
APR: The ongoing APR is 26.74%-34.74% Variable APR.
Foreign transaction fee: $0.
Other benefits:
$100 Bilt Travel portal hotel credit, given out semi-annually in two credits, per calendar year. (Minimum two-night stay required.)
The three Bilt cards at a glance
The Bilt Obsidian Card is the mid-level option of the three Bilt cards, offering more perks than the Bilt Blue Card, but fewer than you'll get with the Bilt Palladium Card.
Bilt Blue Card
Bilt Obsidian Card
Bilt Palladium CardUp to 1.25x points.
Up to 1.25x points.
Up to 1.25x points.
1x points on everyday purchases.
3x points on your choice of dining or grocery (on up to $25K in spending per year in the grocery category). Your choice category may be changed once a year.
2x points on travel.
1x points on everyday purchases.
2x points on everyday purchases.
$100 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
$200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 3 months + $300 of Bilt Cash.
None.
None.
Annual $200 Bilt Cash credit.
Multiple transfer partners.
Multiple transfer partners.
$100 Bilt Travel portal hotel credit, split semi-annually, per calendar year. (Minimum two-night stay required.)
Multiple transfer partners.
$400 Bilt Travel portal hotel credit, split semi-annually, per calendar year. (Minimum two-night stay required.)
Priority Pass airport lounge access. (Two guests allowed on every visit.)
$0.
$50.
$95.
The ongoing APR is 26.74%-34.74% Variable APR
The ongoing APR is 26.74%-34.74% Variable APR
The ongoing APR is 26.74%-34.74% Variable APR
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
High-value, flexible rewards in popular categories
In addition to its rewards on housing payments, the Bilt Obsidian Card can also be a top-of-wallet option for its generous earnings on dining or groceries — especially given the high value and versatility of Bilt Points.
For both rewards options highlighted above, you can earn 3x Bilt Points on your choice of dining or groceries (there’s a $25,000 yearly cap on grocery spending). Even with the cap on grocery spending, you could spend around $2,000 per month and still enjoy the bonus rate.
On top of that, if you choose Option 2, you'll also be earning 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday (non-housing-related spending). Those rates stacked together make the Bilt Obsidian Card one of the most generous credit cards on the market for foodies.
Note that you must choose your 3x bonus category within 30 days of card approval, otherwise the default choice is dining. Cardholders can change their bonus category yearly, but only in January.
Travel credit that can justify the card's fee
The Bilt Obsidian Card offers a $100 yearly hotel credit that can be used to book hotels through Bilt’s travel portal. That credit alone can offset the card’s $95 annual fee. Just note that this benefit is doled out semi-annually in two credits, and that there's a minimum two-night stay required.
» LEARN: How much points and miles are worth
Welcome offer
New Bilt Obsidian Card holders receive $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved. That would be enough to "buy" you several months of "free" rewards on housing payments (under Option 2 above).
Drawbacks and Considerations
It’s complicated
The Bilt Obsidian Card requires juggling on many fronts. You’ll first need to do some math to decide which rewards option to choose — and both come with their own set of headaches.
If you select Option 1 (the non-Bilt Cash earning option), you'll have to track your spending closely and commit to putting put a significant amount of it on one card to maximize your housing rewards.
Option 2 also requires close monitoring. You'll need to keep track of two different rewards currencies, on top of multiple bonus categories and spending caps. And you'll need to understand precisely how Bilt Cash works in this system.
For instance, if you have a $3,000 housing payment, you’ll need to redeem $90 of Bilt Cash to earn your full tranche of 3,000 Bilt Points ($30 of Bilt Cash unlocks 1,000 Bilt Points on your rent or mortgage payment). If you don’t have enough Bilt Cash, you can just redeem what you have. In that same $3,000 mortgage example, if you have only $60 of Bilt Cash, that would cover the transaction fee on $2,000 of your housing payment (3% of $2,000 is $60). So you'd end up with 2,000 Bilt Points, but not the full 3,000.
Whew. Got all that?
Annual fee
The card's $95 annual fee isn't outrageous by any stretch, and as noted above, it offers enough value back to offset that cost, especially if you spend a lot on dining or groceries.
But even then, you can find similarly rewarding cards that cost less. The $0-annual-fee Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, for example, earns an unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target), on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services. It also features a welcome offer: Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. (see rates and fees).
Plus, it's worth noting that the previous version of the Bilt card — the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, which is no longer available — charged no annual fee and was much simpler to manage.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
The Bilt Obsidian Card advertises rewards on rent with no out-of-pocket fees. But its main value lies in its grocery or dining rewards.
Otherwise, the card's two different rewards-earning options and currencies requires a lot of juggling to maximize. Most would be better off with a simpler grocery, dining or travel card, even if it means sacrificing the ability to earn fee-free rewards on housing.
Information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card not reviewed by or provided by Capital One.
Value simplicity? Try this alternative
This card earns 3% cash back on dining, at grocery stores (not including Walmart and Target), on entertainment and on popular streaming services. It also earns 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 8% back on Capital One Entertainment purchases and 1% cash back on all other purchases. The card has an annual fee of $0.
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Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
About the author
Funto Omojola
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
