Earn Points On Rent? Pay Rent Using a Credit Card With Nuba Rewards

I don't know anyone who hasn't had to rent at least once in their life. For most of us, that means setting up a direct debit and watching a chunk of our salary (hope) disappear each month.

But what if you could pay your rent using a credit card instead? Depending on your card and circumstances, this could mean earning points, or working towards perks like a companion voucher. Whether this makes financial sense depends on the fees involved, which we'll cover below.

Nuba Rewards is a UK start-up bringing credit card rent payments to the British market. If you've heard of Bilt in the US, Nuba Rewards is positioning itself as the UK equivalent. Paying rent via credit card is common in many countries, so this might feel like the UK is simply catching up.

Just a quick heads-up: Signing up to Nuba Rewards via links on this article earns Points Well Made commission. Points Well Made is here to dish out the juicy details on miles and points, but we’re not your financial advisers. Any decisions you make regarding products featured on this site are your own responsibility, and you should always consider whether a product suits your personal circumstances. While we chat about all manner of lender goodies, we’re not a lender ourselves. Remember, you know you best.

So, How Do I Pay My Rent Using a Credit Card?

The process is straightforward: rather than paying your landlord directly, Nuba Rewards acts as the middleman. You pay Nuba using your chosen credit card, and they transfer the funds to your landlord via bank transfer. Your landlord receives payment as usual and doesn't need to be informed or involved in the arrangement.

The Cost

Nuba charges transaction fees for this convenience:

• 1.99% for Visa/Mastercard payments

• 2.49% for American Express payments

This means that on £1,000 of rent, you'd pay £19.90 or £24.90 in fees respectively. Whether this makes financial sense depends on your individual circumstances, a free bank transfer will be the more economical choice for many people. But there a few scenarios depending on your payment card that could make sense, more on that below.

The Sign-Up Process

Setting up a Nuba account involves four steps:

1. Identity verification – Standard KYC checks requiring ID

2. Tenancy confirmation – Submit your tenancy agreement and specify payment date and amount

3. Landlord details – Provide your landlord's payment information (no need to notify them in advance)

4. Payment – Pay your rent using your selected credit card

Anything Else I Should Know?

All rent funds received from you that are intended for landlords or agents are held in a segregated client account solely for that purpose. Their service fees are collected and maintained separately in a different account.

Nuba only allows rent to be paid through their website. Any payment that does not appear to be rent will be rejected.

Once Nuba processes your payment to your landlord, it's final and non-refundable through Nuba. If you need a refund (for example, if you overpaid or moved out), you must arrange this directly with your landlord or letting agent, Nuba cannot process refunds on rent already paid out.

If you dispute a payment with your card provider (initiate a chargeback) after Nuba has already sent the funds to your landlord, you will still owe Nuba the full amount and your account may be terminated.

Nuba cannot control processing delays from your card issuer, payment provider, or your landlord's bank. You are responsible for initiating payments early enough to ensure they reach your landlord on time. Nuba will not be liable for late payment consequences.

Nuba provides technology-enabled services to facilitate the payment of rent using credit and debit cards. They are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to provide payment services. To enable such functionality, they collaborate with FCA regulated third-party payment service providers for payments.

Full terms and conditions are available on the Nuba Rewards website.

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So, How Could I Maximise Value By Using Nuba Rewards?

As I mentioned above, they charge a 1.99% fee for Visa/Mastercard, and 2.49% fee for American Express. Meaning, that you're are essentially paying those fees for the privilege of earning points.

On a rent of £1,000, the fee would be £19.90 for a Visa/Mastercard, or £24.90 for an American Express. If your card earns you 1.5 Avios per £1 spent, you're essentially paying that fee for 1,500 Avios.

But rent is one of the biggest monthly expenditure that we all have. So instead of using Nuba for a small monthly hit of points, a better use could be use your rent payments towards either hitting a big sign up bonus, or unlocking your companion voucher. Lets start with the sign up bonus.

There is currently less than one week remaining on the enhanced sign up bonuses on the American Express Gold, and Platinum cards (read about these bonuses by clicking here). For the Platinum card, to achieve the enhanced sign up bonus of 75,000 Membership Rewards points you need to spend £6,000 in three months, a high order for most people. But what if paying your rent got you to that total? 75,000 points could easily warrant a 2.49% fee.

The other use case would be for hitting a Companion Voucher. For those who don't know, a Companion Voucher is earned on either of the two British Airways branded American Express cards. In simple terms, a Companion Voucher lets you do one of two things on a British Airways Reward Flight (paid for with Avios):

• Bring a travel companion for no extra Avios, you’ll only pay the Avios for one seat, plus taxes and fees for both passengers.

• Fly solo for half the Avios, ideal for those who travel independently, as the voucher gives you a 50% discount on the Avios needed for your flight.

The Companion Voucher is an exclusive perk available to British Airways American Express Cardmembers and works on flights operated by British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.

A Companion Voucher is earned after spending £15,000 within your card membership year.

To squeeze maximum value out of a Companion Voucher, you need to travel as far as possible, so lets take Sydney.

If you wished to fly return to Sydney at peak time in Club World, that'll set you back 374,000 Avios each. By using your Companion Voucher on this route for two people, you'll save yourself 374,000 Avios, and that's before we start comparing it to the ten's of thousands of pounds you'd be saving it if you bought a cash ticket on this route! Again, could hitting that £15,000 spend target justify a 2.49% fee? That's up to you.

This same logic could also apply if you're using the Avios Plus Barclaycard to get the Cabin Upgrade Voucher (read here), or the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard for their equivalent companion voucher (read here).

For more information, visit Nuba Rewards and apply via this link.

Sam

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