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The Built Rewards program has been around for the past few years, launching exciting promotions and adding new partners, all of which enable its members to earn points on rentals (up to 100,000 points per calendar year) with no-annual-fee. Built Mastercard® (See Rates and Fees).

However, 2024 has not been positive for the program, as it lost American Airlines as a transfer partner and recently announced a new, lower cap on bonus points during its monthly Rent Day offers. In addition, starting October 1, tax payments on built MasterCard will not earn bonus rewards during promotions.

Has Bilt lost its momentum? Or are these small changes that set the program for the future?

To help find the answers to these questions, we arranged a Q&A with Richard Kerr, Vice President of Travel at Built Rewards. And he shared some interesting insights into the program, including a peek behind the scenes at how Built uses data to inform its strategy.

This interview was conducted via email. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and compliance with TPG’s style guidelines.

Nick: First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, because we have a lot of readers who are loyal Built members.

Richard: It’s incredible to think that it’s been over three years since I had the opportunity to join the team that launched Built Rewards. As everyone here at TPG knows, I’ve spent years studying loyalty programs and writing incredibly nerdy pieces for TPG, and I hope some of that knowledge will shine through in the program we design.

Bilt has made some notable positive announcements in recent months, but it has also lost American as a transfer partner and has now implemented a cap on bonus points for rental days. Was the program too rewarding to be sustainable? Are we entering a new era of tightening benefits?

Certainly not; In fact, it is the opposite. Remember, Built today is a loyalty platform for the home and neighborhood, and we’re scaling for a more mass-market customer. While many early adopters were very points-savvy (and believe me, I love all of our gamers), we must invest in and expand benefits that appeal to as many members as possible — which means we’ll spend dollars Rethinking how and where we invest.

This kind of adaptability and willingness to change has been core to our identity since the beginning. I have a story to tell about my first 30 days of build. We’ve transformed the core value proposition of our Beta cobranded card to become the most popular, no-annual-fee card on the market (see Rates and Fees), offers earning rates and benefits that beat many premium cards. We’re always iterating and making changes based on what we learn and what members connect with the most.

Earlier this year, we began analyzing over two years of member behavior data and, in a real sense, found opportunities to adapt the product and reinvest resources in the areas of greatest concern to members. For example, only 15% of Built Rewards members own our cobranded Built Credit Card, and we’ve found that an incredibly small percentage of those are using disproportionate resources, detracting from what we can offer to a broader base.

Reinvesting in what members join most has allowed us to add benefits and benefits, not decrease them. We recently added Marriott, Hilton and Alaska Airlines as transfer partners. We just executed a transfer bonus of up to 100% on the Alaska Mileage Plan on July 1 – something unheard of during my tenure at TPG. with which Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card Paying with their card (for a 3% fee) can earn 3 miles per dollar spent on their rentals and Rent Days is now guaranteed to continue to deliver incredible value and reach even more members.

Can you shed some light on why the decision was taken to lower the cap on bonus points for Rent Day?

As for the Rent Day cap, we found that less than 2% of card members (or 0.3% of our total members) ever earned more than 1,000 bonus points during the Rent Day Double Points campaign. By capping this bonus at 1,000 points (effective Oct. 1), the outsize money that funds less than 2% of cardmembers can be better spent on making rental days bigger — like transfer bonuses in the Alaska Mileage Plan and bonus transfers of up to 150%. From Aeroplan (February 2024).

Cardmembers must use the Card five times in each statement period to earn points (see Rewards and benefits).

Was the same information used in the decision to remove bonus points on tax payments on Oct 1?

We discovered that bonus points on tax payments during the promotion accounted for 20% of our bonus category spend, yet only 0.8% of card members (or 0.12% of our total members) used the card for taxes. That is why the above Oct. As part of the 1 Rent Day update, tax payments will be excluded from bonus point promotions. This allows us to reinvest in benefits that all members can enjoy.

The initial change was buried in the terms and conditions attached to the email. Is this indicative of how you plan to share program updates moving forward?

This was a mistake on our part and we sincerely apologize. In Built’s three-year history, I don’t think we’ve gone more than a month without giving a press briefing because there are constant iterations on both the Built platform and partnerships. We have always provided advance notice of changes and communicated to members as transparently as possible prior to this error — and will continue to do so in the future.

More broadly, what other data do you use to inform the value proposition of both Built Rewards and Built MasterCard?

I want everyone to be able to monitor the purposeful data that different teams at Built are studying every day to understand member behavior and engagement. I have eight dashboard bookmarks alone on my toolbar that are critical to monitoring member engagement in various aspects of our very large travel program.

Twice a week, once in a team product review and once in a standing all-company meeting, the various teams share data to help inform decisions not only built by leadership, but also by the most junior employee who may be on a different team than the presenter but Have a fresh perspective.

How do you consider direct feedback from members?

Our members are passionate. Through social media (all our Instagram DMs and X mentions are busy), direct emails to our CEO or customer service tickets, we hear from members constantly. We modify the program directly from their feedback and requests:

• After launching our initial Built Neighborhood dining program, which allows members to earn points from any card linked to their Built account plus bonus points, we quickly expanded to 22,000 more restaurants around the US earlier this summer.
• After selling out our Rent Day dining experience in minutes each month, we expanded to 27 different restaurants for Rent Day on August 1 — starting with just 6,000 points.
• We’ve learned that many members enjoy special perks and unique experiences just as much as points and extended perks like status matches, free blade flights, exclusive SoulCycle perks with each class, and more.

Along these lines, what would you say to a cardholder who will be affected by these new caps and is considering canceling his/her/their card?

As a Points & Miles community leader for eight years before joining Built, I understand that this disproportionately affects gamers like me. However, it is the right move for most of our members. There is incredible value in free built platforms that didn’t exist anywhere three years ago. There will be more benefits and rewards added that most members can avail. If you’re passionate about a cause, help shape the program by getting involved in what matters most to you.

Can you shed any light on future announcements or developments in the pipeline that wouldn’t have been possible without these changes?

We have more partnerships on the horizon that will continue to make Built a comprehensive loyalty platform that rewards you at home, in your neighborhood and on the go. Not only are there more travel partners, but there are also more nationwide neighborhood partners. Again, we are extending the benefits by reallocating our investments.

You will also see rental days with multiple offers that allow more members to join on the first of every month. This creates sustainable value for the largest number of members. Every change, every iteration, aims to make Built the best program it can be — not just for the most attentive. Our philosophy is simple: continuous evolution through member engagement and feedback.

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