Can I pay rent with a credit card?

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who rent a home, you may have asked yourself: Can I pay rent with a credit card? There are several reasons you might want to pay rent with a credit card — whether it’s a one-off situation (perhaps you don’t quite have the money this month) or something you’d like to do indefinitely. After all, you can earn a lot of credit card rewards by funneling such a large bill through the right credit card.

In short, it is possible for just about anyone to pay rent with a credit card. But you’ll usually be charged a hefty fee, and you could even suffer a temporary drop in your credit score.

Let’s take a look at how to pay rent with a credit card, and explore whether it’s a good idea for your situation.

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What are the pros and cons of paying rent with a credit card?

Pros

The option to pay rent with a credit card is extremely convenient. It’s easy, often immediate and ensures that a bank payment via ACH or check doesn’t bounce.

In most cases, you’ll even earn credit card rewards for your payment. Many of the services that make credit card payments for renters possible process your card as a regular purchase. This means lots of airline miles, hotel points or cash back could be hitting your account for each rent payment.

Cons

Again, there are almost always fees associated with using your credit card to pay rent. These fees can more than negate the credit card rewards you’ll earn for the expense.

As we’ll cover shortly, a sizable charge like rent can potentially hurt your credit score. Credit utilization (also called “amounts owed”) is the ratio of credit you’re using compared to your available credit — and it accounts for up to 30% of your overall score. If your balances are routinely high, your credit score could drop.

How do I pay rent with a credit card?

Bilt Rewards

Bilt Rewards is a unique program that allows you to pay rent with a credit card with no transaction fees. Here’s how it works: Bilt has partnered with more than two million properties nationwide that accept credit card payments via the Bilt app.

Bilt also issues the Bilt Mastercard?. This unlocks the ability to pay rent with your card at properties outside the Bilt Rewards Alliance. Even if your rental doesn’t accept credit card payments at all, Bilt will pay your rent on your behalf. They will mail a check to your landlord and put it on your credit card statement, and if you pay via ACH or Venmo, Bilt will provide an account and routing number for you to use.

The Bilt Mastercard earns 1 point per dollar on rent payments without a transaction fee (on up to 100,000 points each calendar year), 2 points per dollar on travel (when booked through the Bilt Travel Portal or directly with an airline, hotel, car rental or cruise company), 3 points per dollar on dining and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases. At least five transactions must be made per statement period to earn these points (see rewards & benefits). This means you’ll effortlessly rack up many thousands of points per year on spending you’ve got to make anyway.

Peer-to-peer payment

Depending on how flexible your landlord is, you may be able to use peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps such as Venmo and PayPal to settle your rent. The catch is that your landlord won’t be able to receive your money unless they’ve also got an account with the payment platform.

When you use your credit card with Venmo and PayPal, transactions will process like a regular purchase. In other words, you’ll earn credit card rewards for paying your rent. But be prepared to pay transaction fees (2.9% + 30 cents per transaction with PayPal; 3% with Venmo).

Plastiq

Plastiq lets you use a credit card for purchases that don’t otherwise accept credit cards. Serving as a middleman between your payment method and your landlord, you can simply pay Plastiq and the company will mail a check to whichever address you request.

Plastiq charges fees for its service — 2.9% per transaction at the time of writing.

Rent-oriented websites

Your landlord may request that you pay your rent through sites like Zillow or Apartments.com. These platforms allow you to pay with a credit card, though there will be fees similar to other options (often 2.75% or more).

Cash advance

With a cash advance, you can effectively trade a portion of your credit line for cash. You can do this by:

• Inserting your credit card into an ATM. Enter your credit card’s PIN and you can withdraw money just like a debit card.
• Requesting “convenience checks” associated with your credit card. When a convenience check is cashed, it uses part of your credit limit.

Credit cards offer cash advance limits that are often a small fraction of your overall credit line. If you absolutely need cash to pay your rent, it could be a fair option. But the fees associated with cash advances should make it your very last resort.

What are the fees associated with paying rent with a credit card?

Convenience fees

If your apartment complex accepts credit card payments, it almost certainly incurs a convenience fee equal to a fixed percentage of your bill. Common fees hover between 2% and 3%, as the landlord will pass along some (or all) of the processing fee they’re charged when accepting your credit card.

Payment platform fees

If you’re using payment apps like Venmo, PayPal or Cash App to pay your landlord with a credit card, you will be charged a flat percentage of your total transaction amount. Expect to pay around 3% when sending money from your credit card.

One exception is Amex Send, which allows you to transfer money from your American Express card to Venmo and PayPal accounts fee-free. The tradeoff is that you won’t earn rewards.

Cash advance fees

If you initiate a cash advance to pay your rent, you’ll pay a cash advance fee. This is generally 5% of your transaction or $10, whichever is more.

To boot, you’ll immediately start to incur interest at a rate often higher than regular purchases. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Card comes with a 20.99% - 27.99% Variable APR. But its cash advance APR is higher.

How does paying rent with a credit card affect my credit score?

Credit utilization

As one of your largest expenses, paying rent with a credit card could severely affect your credit utilization ratio, which accounts for up to 30% of your overall credit score. Credit bureaus calculate credit utilization both per-card and overall.

For example, let’s say you’ve got two credit cards, each with a credit line of $5,000 and no balance. If you use one of your cards to pay your monthly rent of $2,000, your credit utilization will be:

• 40% utilization with one credit card ($2,000 / $5,000 = 40%).
• 20% utilization overall ($2,000 / $10,000 = 20%).

The rule of thumb is to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30%. Any higher and your credit score might suffer.

Using your credit cards for other monthly expenses will only increase your amounts owed, which could cause your credit score to dip. But you can avoid negative impact by paying off your credit card balance shortly after your rent transaction posts to your account. This will immediately lower your credit utilization by reducing the amount of available credit you’re using on the card. Card issuers usually report your balance information to the credit bureaus every 30 days, most often (but not always) when your card statement closes. By paying off the transaction quickly, you’ll reduce the likelihood of the issuer reporting a higher utilization on the card.

Possible missed payments

If you get into the habit of putting rent on your credit card, it can be easy to think you’ve got more spending money than you actually do. Before you know it, you may have racked up many thousands of dollars in credit card debt and even find yourself in a situation where you’re unable to keep up with credit card minimum payments.

Missing a payment is the absolute worst thing you can do for your credit. Payment history makes up 35% of your overall credit score.

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When should I pay rent with a credit card?

The question of “How can I pay rent with a credit card?” should be chased with considering whether you should. Because the fees associated with paying rent using a credit card are often steep, it’s rarely a good idea to do it. There are some exceptions, however.

The rewards you earn offset the fees

Rent is one of the biggest of life’s myriad expenses. Rent.com reports that the national median rent price hovers around $2,000 per month.

Slapping a $2,000 bill on a simple 2% cash rewards credit card such as the Wells Fargo Active Cash? Card (Rates & Fees) could result in $480 per year ($2,000 rent x 12 months x 2% = $480). But the convenience fees you’ll often pay can more than offset your earnings.

If the credit card you’re using nets you more value than you’re shelling out in fees, it’s a win. Here are a few instances when credit card rewards can offset the fees:

• You’ve opened a new credit card and you’re struggling to meet the minimum spending required to achieve a welcome bonus. Depending on the offer, temporarily paying your rent with your new card can translate into many hundreds of dollars in value.
• Your credit card offers a bonus for a specific amount of spending. For example, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass? Card (terms apply) offers 165,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months. This could be worth $1,000+, depending on how you use it.
• You’re using the Bilt Mastercard? to pay your rent. Bilt doesn’t charge transaction fees for rent payments.

Your cash funds are extremely low

If your finances are in emergency mode due to debt, unemployment or unforeseen expenses, cash is king. Your primary focus should be to keep a roof over your head and food on your table.

Paying rent with a credit card can help you to keep cash in the bank for other necessities. It goes without saying that you should prioritize paying your credit card balances down, but using your credit card can be a short-term solution if you’re cash-strapped.

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