Credit Cards for Paying Rent in 2026: Bilt and Venmo Compared

Bilt's Blue, Obsidian and Palladium cards charge no transaction fee on rent paid through Bilt, and each earns up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage. Venmo's Visa card charges 3% when a credit card funds a payment to a person, which is more than its 1% rate on everything else. This page covers those four cards only, and cards from other issuers and standalone rent platforms are left out.

Financeradar data: as of October 25, 2026, 33 of the 58 personal credit cards on Financeradar's ranking charge no annual fee. More card data sits on credit card statistics.

Short answer: of the four, the Bilt Blue Card fits a renter who wants rent points without an annual fee. The Obsidian and Palladium cards pay the same rent rate for $95 and $495 a year, so their fees need a reason beyond rent.

Bilt's figures are as of October 25, 2026. Venmo's card costs carry Venmo's own date, June 27, 2024.

How rent works on the Bilt cards

Bilt's card pages say rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt carry no transaction fee. The Blue page adds that cardholders never pay a card convenience fee on rent, whatever a landlord's portal normally charges. Bilt's Blue card page says a renter paying $1,800 a month avoids up to $648 a year in portal fees, which is a 3% fee on that rent.

The method matters. Bilt gives each cardholder an account and routing number in its app, and the landlord's portal treats the payment as a bank transfer. Bilt's Palladium card page, as of October 25, 2026, says the credit card convenience fee "never triggers because no card number is being entered into the portal." (Bilt Palladium card) The Obsidian page says the charge posts to the Bilt Card and is paid off from a linked bank account within 24 hours.

Bilt prints its purchase APR in a Rates & Fees document that each card page links.

Bilt rent points scale with everyday spend

The rent reward is tied to how much a cardholder spends elsewhere; for that everyday spend, see our credit cards for groceries guide. The Blue, Obsidian and Palladium pages print the same tiers, using a $2,000 rent example. Everyday spend at 25% of the housing payment earns 0.5X, 50% earns 0.75X, 75% earns 1X, and 100% or more earns the top rate. Below 25%, the cycle earns 250 points.

Bilt's pages print no annual or monthly cap on housing rewards, and points post after the statement closes. This page assigns no dollar value to Bilt points, so the comparison below stays in points.

At the top tier, that rent earns 2,500 points a month, or 30,000 points a year. Blue charges nothing, so every point is extra. Obsidian and Palladium earn the same rent points as Blue, so on rent alone their fees buy nothing more. Their fees need benefits beyond rent to pay off. Palladium's fee is more than five times Obsidian's. Fee-bearing cards are a different test, as the World of Hyatt credit card review shows for a hotel card.

Venmo's Visa: the fee on card-funded payments to people

Venmo's fee page prints a 3.00% charge for sending money to people using a credit card, and a 3.00% charge for sending money to a Venmo or U.S. PayPal account using a credit card. The sender pays it. On the example rent sent to a person this way, the fee is $60 a month.

The card's rewards page gives 3% at Venmo checkout, when paying a business on Venmo, and when paying someone for goods or services on Venmo. It also gives 3% on dining and entertainment, including streaming, 1% on all other purchases, and an extra 1% on purchases split with a friend in Venmo within 30 days. The list names no rent category, so that everyday rate is the conservative case. At the 1% rate, the card returns $20 on $2,000 of rent against a $60 fee, so paying rent this way costs $40 a month more than the rewards return. Only a payment that earns the 3% rate, such as paying a business on Venmo, makes the rewards return match the 3% fee.

The card's other costs, from the same fee page: no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, late and returned payments up to $41 each, a $1.99 monthly paper statement fee, cash advances at $10 or 5% of the advance, whichever is greater, and a $2.00 minimum interest charge when interest applies.

Purchase APR is prime rate plus 11.99% (Account Type 1), 20.99% (Account Type 2) or 23.99% (Account Type 3). Cash advances carry prime plus 23.99%, and the penalty rate is prime plus 27.49%. Venmo's fee page dates its card costs "accurate as of June 27, 2024," so the rates may have moved since then (Venmo fee page).

Venmo's Visa card is issued by Synchrony Bank under a license from Visa USA, Inc., according to Venmo's card page.

Every fee printed for paying rent by card

Venmo's business-profile and goods-and-services fees fall on the person receiving the money, not the tenant.

Who each card fits

Bilt Blue Card. Fits a renter who pays rent through Bilt and wants housing points with no annual fee. The weakness is the spend rule: a month with less than a quarter of rent in everyday spend earns only 250 points, against 1,000 at the 25% tier. For a no-fee card that works outside rent, see travel credit cards with no annual fee.

Bilt Obsidian Card. Fits a renter who puts most everyday spending on the card, so the top rent tier is within reach. The $95 fee buys no higher rent rate than Blue, so on rent alone it costs more for the same points.

Bilt Palladium Card. Fits a household whose everyday spend is high enough to reach the top rent tier and whose other benefits justify $495 a year. The rent rate matches Blue and Obsidian, so the $495 fee is the largest cost in this group.

Venmo Visa Credit Card. Fits someone who already pays businesses through Venmo and wants the checkout rate on those payments. It does not fit rent paid to a person by card, because the fee on card-funded payments to people exceeds the everyday rate on everything else.

What reviewers say

Yahoo Finance's review of the Bilt card, published October 7, 2026, describes the rent rules of Bilt 2.0 and contrasts them with the original Bilt 1.0 card. The review says Bilt 1.0 offered "transaction fee-free rent payments if you made at least five transactions per billing cycle." Under Bilt 2.0, the review says rent points depend on spend elsewhere. See Yahoo Finance's Bilt card review.

AwardWallet's guide to paying rent with Bilt, published April 9, 2026, says "non-Bilt credit cards are subject to a 3% transaction fee," which is the same rate Venmo charges on card-funded payments to people. It also says debit card payments carry a $9.95 processing fee. See AwardWallet's guide to paying rent with Bilt.

For more context on card fees, see our credit card fees compared and credit card cash advance fees guides. The Venmo credit card review covers the card in more depth, and the charge card vs credit card comparison covers the card type.

FAQ

Does paying rent with a Bilt card cost a fee?

Not through Bilt. The Blue, Obsidian and Palladium pages each say rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt carry no transaction fee.

How much does Venmo charge to pay rent with a credit card?

Venmo prints a 3.00% fee for sending money to a person with a credit card. The sender pays it. On $2,000 of rent, that is $60 a month.

Which of these cards has no annual fee?

The Bilt Blue Card and the Venmo Visa Credit Card both list a $0 annual fee on their card pages. Obsidian is $95 a year and Palladium is $495.

How many points does Bilt pay on rent?

Up to 1.25X on rent and mortgage payments, based on everyday spend. At the lowest tier the rate is 0.5X, and at 100% or more the top rate applies.

Is paying rent by card worth it?

It depends on the route. Through Bilt, no fee applies, so the points are extra. Through Venmo's Visa, the fee on a card-funded payment to a person exceeds the everyday rewards rate, so paying rent this way costs more than the rewards return.

Who issues these cards?

Column N.A. issues the Bilt cards, and Cardless Inc. services them. Synchrony Bank issues the Venmo Visa Credit Card.

Do these cards charge foreign transaction fees?

Neither card charges a foreign transaction fee. As of October 25, 2026, Bilt's Blue card page says "No foreign transaction fees," and Venmo's card page says "No foreign transaction fee."

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current terms with each provider before you apply or pay rent by card. Financeradar may earn a commission from some links; it never affects rankings (how we make money).

Cite this: Financeradar, "Credit Cards for Paying Rent in 2026: Bilt and Venmo Compared", October 2026.