UWM and Bilt Launch Partnership To Revolutionize Mortgages With Rewards for Homeowners

Earning rewards points on your mortgage payments has finally become a reality. 

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and Bilt, announced on Tuesday a historic strategic partnership that they promise will reimagine “the mortgage experience” through the entire homeownership journey.

Starting in early 2026, UWM mortgage customers—both new and existing—will be able to earn Bilt Points for each on-time mortgage payment. UWM becomes the first mortgage platform to let its borrowers earn rewards that can be used for everything from gift cards to travel.

The announcement follows Bilt’s latest $10.75 billion valuation, with UWM investing $100 million as part of the partnership.

“Partnering with UWM to bring nearly a million of their existing customers and future customers to be the first to get rewards on mortgage is a huge step,” Ankur Jain, founder and CEO of Bilt, tells Realtor.com®. 

“Buying a home needs to be easy and seamless from a technology perspective. But we believe that the human touch of having someone local who can help you through that personal major financial decision is so critical to creating a transparent, easy to understand path to home ownership. There is nobody in the world that has a network of people on the ground in every neighborhood other than UWM.” 

The neighborhood benefits 

Since 2021, Bilt has allowed renters to earn points on rent payments. Through the Bilt ecosystem, users earn points on rent, dining, and travel, with no fees for landlords. The program covers more than 2 million units and is integrated into property portfolios from major players like Blackstone, Related, and AvalonBay.

Through this partnership, these exclusive “Neighborhood Benefits” will now be available to UWM mortgage customers—and the offerings are expanding.

“Part of the reason that we took our time on launching a mortgage option was to build a customer experience based on where you live,” Jain adds. “It's not just the four walls of your apartment, it's the neighborhood: the restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacies, gyms. We really wanted to make sure we had built up the scale of our neighborhood program before we launched, given that this expands our reach to so much more diverse, geographical locations.”

The homebuying journey 

For renters looking to become homeowners, the Bilt-UWM partnership will offer a seamless transition. Bilt already reports rent payments to all three major credit bureaus, which can help build credit and make it easier to qualify for a mortgage through UWM and get guidance from their brokerage team members.

“There's a natural alignment between what Bilt has done and what UWM does,” Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of UWM, tells Realtor.com.

“From making the process faster, easier for consumers to the technology focus that Ankur and their company has, it’s all really aligned with what we believe at UWM. Everything's got to be seamless to the consumer.” 

“My hope is that that dramatically simplifies and opens up what people realize is possible from a home purchase perspective,” adds Jain. 

The phased rollout of services between UWM and Bilt will begin in early 2026. Full product details, implementation timelines, and the transition process for existing UWM customers will be announced in the coming months.