A third-party collections agency's reporting error triggered mistaken collection notices for about 1,850 Bilt cardholders, costing some up to 60 credit-score points. Bilt says corrections are coming within three business days.
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About 1,850 Bilt cardholders received mistaken collection notices that, in some cases, cost them 50 or 60 points off their credit score, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (Aug. 4).
A Bilt spokesperson said in the report that the incident was caused by a third-party collections agency’s reporting error. It affected customers with a card that Bilt stopped offering in 2022.
After discovering the issue on Friday (July 31), Bilt offered to work directly with customers. Corrections should appear on credit reports within three business days. Affected cardholders will receive 2,500 Bilt rewards points, redeemable for about $50 on specified purchases, the report said.
These mistaken collection notices arrived a little over two months after Sen. Elizabeth Warren sought answers from Bilt about problems related to its cards. Soon after Bilt introduced new cards in February following the end of its partnership with Wells Fargo, cardholders began to complain on social media about delayed rent payments and difficulty contacting customer service.
“Bilt’s systems appear to have failed many customers attempting to make rent and mortgage payments,” Warren wrote in a letter to Bilt Rewards CEO Ankur Jain.
In a statement provided to PYMNTS at the time, a Bilt spokesperson said: “While the transition to the Bilt Card 2.0 in February represents an even more exciting future that offers our membership richer rewards and greater flexibility, the transition also attracted unexpectedly high demand, and some of our members experienced gaps in service that are simply unacceptable to us.”
In June, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said in a press release that it was working with Bilt to address credit card customer concerns stemming from the FinTech’s transition from Wells Fargo to a new banking partner earlier in the year. Bilt notified the agency that it “proactively reached out to the limited number of potentially affected customers” and offered to reimburse them for overdraft fees, late fees or insufficient funds fees tied to the transition, the CFPB said.
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