Paying Rent With a Credit Card: What to Know Before You Try

If you’re among the 45 million American households renting, your monthly rent is likely one of your biggest expenses. What if you could pay rent with a credit card? Paying with plastic could give you a few extra weeks to cover the bill or even help you earn rewards.

Some property owners or rental companies make it easy to pay rent via an online portal, whereas others require a third-party service or some type of workaround. If your landlord offers it as an option, keep in mind there may be expensive fees and drawbacks. Below, we explain all the different ways you can pay rent with a credit card, how they work and what they cost.

Ways to pay rent with a credit card

Generally, if you’re willing to jump through enough hoops, you can pay rent with a credit card, though that doesn’t mean you should. It’s safer and cheaper to pay rent with a check or an ACH transfer directly from your bank account.

Financial experts warn that you should only put rent on your credit card if you’re confident you can pay off the full balance before the due date. Otherwise you could easily rack up credit card debt and hefty interest charges.

Like any decision, make sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

☑️ Directly through your landlord

Some landlords and rental companies let you pay rent with a credit card using an online portal or through a tool like Square. There are typically additional costs, and the landlord will likely pass those on to you during the transaction.

For instance, Square charges processing fees between 2.6% (plus 10 cents) and 3.5% (plus 15 cents) depending on whether a transaction is completed in person, online or manually entered.

If your landlord accepts rent via PayPal and you want to pay with a credit card, you’ll pay a few of at least 2.99%. You could also pay your rent through Venmo if your landlord lets you, but you’ll fork over a 3% fee.

Rent payments made directly to your landlord through an online payment portal generally count as “purchases” for the sake of credit card rewards and 0% introductory APR offers, though your credit card issuer may have different rules.

While credit cards don’t specifically list rent as an excluded purchase for the purposes of rewards, call your card issuer to make sure the payment counts for points. Even so, the processing fees often outweigh any rewards you earn on the transaction, unless you’re able to reach a minimum spending requirement to receive a welcome bonus.

☑️ With a third-party payment service

You can use a service called Plastiq to pay your rent with a credit card without requiring your landlord’s cooperation. You enter your landlord’s payment address and information before charging your card. From there, your landlord can be paid via ACH transfer or a paper check sent by mail.

Plastiq charges a 2.9% fee for card payments, which will be tacked on to your charge upfront. Plastiq filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, although it is still operating and servicing customers. The website remains up, but the company’s future is uncertain.

Plastiq payments typically earn credit card rewards and count toward the minimum spend requirement for a welcome bonus, although depending on your credit card type, you may have limitations on what kinds of bills you can pay through the service.

☑️ On a landlord management platform

Some apps and websites let you pay rent with a credit card, but they usually require upfront fees from renters for the privilege of using their services. You also have to get your landlord on board with using them.

For instance, an app called DoorLoop, which helps landlords collect rent payments and manage other aspects of their rental business, also allows tenants to pay with credit cards. However, this app charges renters a 3.25% fee to pay with a credit card.

TurboTenant is another platform that offers similar services to landlords, but it charges a processing fee of around 3.49% to pay rent with a credit card. Most cash-back credit cards offer a maximum of 2% back on everyday purchases, so paying a fee of 3% to pay rent with a credit card won’t offer a net benefit.

Consider a specialty credit card to pay rent

A unique rewards credit card called the Bilt Mastercard* lets you earn rewards on purchases, including rent payments. Cardholders can pay rent with the Bilt Mastercard with no transaction fees, provided their landlord accepts ACH payments or checks.

Since most landlords waive processing fees for electronic bank-to-bank payments, the Bilt card gives you a routing and account number to pay rent through a landlord’s online payment portal, as if you were paying from a bank account.

You can also opt to have Bilt mail a check directly to your landlord, or you can turn on the BiltProtect feature to have the rent charge paid off from a connected bank account so the “purchase” doesn’t cut into your available credit.

This credit card has no annual fee, and cardholders earn 1X Bilt Points on rent payments (up to 100,000 points per year), 2X points on eligible travel purchases and 3X points on dining. You have to make at least five purchases on the card each statement period to earn rewards. Rewards can be redeemed for travel, merchandise, payments toward rent or a future home down payment and more.

Earn Rewards for Paying Rent or Mortgage on a Credit Card? Yes, Please

What to know if you use a credit card for rent

Paying rent with a credit card can be especially convenient in an emergency situation when you’re a bit behind financially and want to avoid your landlord’s late fees. Credit card companies typically give you a grace period before you have to pay the bill and interest starts to accrue.

However, before you pay your rent with a credit card, make a plan to pay your balance in full by the statement balance due date. If you don’t, any rewards you earn will be instantly erased by steep interest charges. Most credit cards offer around 2% cash back on purchases, but average credit card APRs are around 20%. Aside from this, consider the potential impacts on your overall finances.

Credit score: Using a credit card to make regular purchases and paying your bill on time in full each month is a good way to build credit. However, putting large expenses like rent on your credit card could raise your credit utilization ratio or increase the likelihood of missing payments or carrying a balance, which could hurt your score. If you want to build credit, services like Experian Boost let you report your rent payments to the credit bureau Experian without putting your payment on your credit card.

Credit limit: Your ability to charge rent to a credit card may depend on your credit limit. Even if you have room in your credit limit to cover rent easily, charging a large rent payment will increase your credit utilization ratio, which is the percentage of credit you’re currently using in relation to the total available. A high credit utilization ratio could hurt your credit score.

Transaction fees: Even if your landlord allows direct rent payments with credit, you’ll almost always be saddled with additional fees, making your rent more expensive. These fees can be more than you think: A 3% processing fee on a $2,000 rent payment adds up to $60 per month and $720 in fees per year.

Rewards: If you’re pursuing a generous welcome bonus with a minimum spending requirement, paying rent with a credit card for a few months could make sense. However, when it comes to ongoing rewards on most run-of-the-mill rewards credit cards, the extra fees you’ll pay to cover rent with a credit card almost always exceed the value of the rewards you’ll earn. If you want to pay rent with a credit card without any fees, look into the Bilt Mastercard.

*All information about the Bilt Mastercard has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.