Bilt Lets Members Make Housing Payments via Venmo

Payments app Venmo has launched a partnership with housing and commerce platform Bilt.

The collaboration, announced Monday (Oct. 27), “brings rent payments, mortgage repayments, and neighborhood commerce into the Venmo experience, marking a major step in Venmo’s evolution from a peer-to-peer payments app to an everyday commerce platform,” the companies said in a news release provided to PYMNTS.

Beginning early next year, Bilt members will be able to make rent and mortgage payments and shop at local Bilt merchants with Venmo as well as existing payment options such as ACH, debit, and any linked credit card.

Members will be able to  make housing payments directly in the Bilt app, or within Venmo using their Venmo balance or linked payment methods.

“Millions of people already use Venmo to split rent with roommates and pay their landlords, now we’re making that experience even more seamless and rewarding,” said Diego Scotti, general manager of consumer at Venmo owner PayPal. “We’re thrilled to partner with a company that shares our relentless focus on innovation and the customer.”

“By combining Venmo’s reach, simplicity and social connectivity with Bilt’s rewarding rent and neighborhood commerce network, we’re giving millions of renters more flexibility with how they pay and more value every single month,” added Ankur Jain, Bilt’s founder and CEO.

PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster spoke with Jain earlier this month after Bilt launched a partnership with United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the country’s largest mortgage lender. That arrangement makes UWM the first mortgage platform to allow loan customers to earn rewards on their mortgage payments.

“Our belief is that similar to the neighborhood ecosystem we’ve been building with merchants, when you’re ready to buy a home, we want to use our tech to make it easy, but have a human in the neighborhood who can help you go through that process and answer all these questions,” Jain said.

“And so we’ve teamed up with UWM because they have the largest network of local brokers across the country. Now when you’re ready to buy a home, Bilt members can be paired with a UWM broker and seamlessly go through an application process through our joint tech platform,” he added.

Bilt also recently expanded its loyalty program for renters to include home delivery thanks to a collaboration with GoPuff. As covered here earlier this month, this service lets Bilt Members use the company’s app or website to order everyday essentials like paper towels or hand soap from local merchants, pay using a linked card or by redeeming Bilt Points, and have those goods brought to them in minutes.