Run the numbers on $2,000 of rent. A 2.9% card fee adds $58 to each payment, while 2% cash back on the rent earns $40, so the card loses you more than $200 a year.
That fee is the price of paying by card instead of from your bank account. Apartments.com charges renters 2.75% to pay with a card and Zillow charges 2.95%, while a bank transfer costs nothing on either. A card comes out ahead only when its reward rate beats the fee, and most flat-rate cards pay back 1% to 2.5%.
Two exceptions flip the math. One is paying no fee at all. Bilt’s credit cards pay rent through Bilt with no transaction fee, even when your landlord charges a card fee, and some landlords absorb card fees instead of passing them on. The other is a sign-up bonus. If one $2,000 rent payment completes a new card’s spending requirement, $58 in fees for a $200 bonus is a good trade.
A short cash gap is the third exception, and the riskiest. A card fee can cost less than a late fee, but only if you pay the full statement balance by its due date, which on most cards keeps the purchase interest-free. Carry it past that date, and at 22%, close to the average card rate the Federal Reserve reports, $2,000 costs about $37 a month in interest.
Even if you pay in full, a rent charge still on the card when the statement closes goes into the balance most issuers report to the credit bureaus. On a $5,000 limit, $2,000 of rent puts 40% of the card’s limit in use, which can lower your score. Keep rent off the card in the months before you apply for a mortgage or car loan.
Before your next payment, open your portal’s payment page and compare its card fee with your card’s reward rate. If the fee is higher and none of the three exceptions applies, pay from your bank account.
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