Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, CREDIT, DEBIT AND GIFT CARDS—Warren asks Bilt Rewards about reported payment issues, Evolve Bank partnership, (May 29, 2026)

By Jonathan Anderson

The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee also criticized the Trump Administration’s efforts to shutter the CFPB.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, has sent a letter to the head of Bilt Rewards regarding public reports that customers have experienced “significant transaction and payment issues.” The letter raised concerns about those reported problems, in addition to Bilt’s customer service, a new partnership with Evolve Bank and Trust, and Bilt’s compliance with financial services laws. The letter concludes by asking the company to provide written responses to a series of questions.

Bilt provides credit cards to customers so they can pay rent and earn rewards without fees. In 2022, Wells Fargo began issuing Bilt credit cards under a partnership that was set to run until 2029. However, on February 7, 2026, Wells Fargo deactivated its version of Bilt’s credit cards, and customers were given the option of transitioning to Bilt’s new card with different banking partners or move to a Wells Fargo card.

Transaction and payment issues. Warren wrote that the transition process drew numerous complaints about payments that failed, were delayed, or were never delivered. Warren wrote that “Bilt users have reportedly made rent or mortgage payments that never reached their landlord or lender, were rejected or returned, or only were delivered after a significant delay; others have been unable to make payments on outstanding balances still held at Wells Fargo, or had their Wells Fargo balances transferred to the new cards without their authorization.”

Evolve Bank. Warren raised concerns that Bilt had recently struck a new partnership with Evolve Bank and Trust. In 2024, Evolve was providing banking services for fintech firm Synapse Financial Technologies when up to $96 million in customer funds became inaccessible, according to Warren. The senator also noted that Evolve has been the target of cyber attacks in which customer data were stolen, and the Federal Reserve found deficiencies in the Evolve’s anti-money laundering, risk management, and consumer compliance programs.

Compliance with financial services laws. Warren raised concerns in her letter about Bilt’s compliance with the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act). Warren wrote that Bilt’s most recent offering, Bilt 2.0, “immediately debits a customer’s external account for rent or mortgage payments rather than charging the payment against the user’s credit limit and requiring payment after the user received their credit card statement.” The Credit CARD Act requires card issuers to provide users with a statement at least 21 days before payment is due in order to charge any late fees. Warren said that in Bilt 2.0, “rent and mortgage payments are withdrawn before a statement is issued and are not charged against customers’ credit limits, but are still listed alongside all of a customer’s other transactions in Bilt’s app.”

AI, customer service. Warren wrote that it appeared Bilt was using an AI-powered chatbot for customer service, and that the chatbot has been the subject of substantial customer complaints.

CFPB. Warren argued in her letter that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau typically would be the federal agency to initiate supervision of Bilt and determine whether there were any violations. Warren criticized the Trump Administration’s attempts to shutter and curtail the activities of the CFPB.

Questions. Warren posed six questions to Bilt, including some questions with multiple subparts. The information sought included statistics about customer activity and customer service, the causes of the transaction and payment issues and Bilt’s response, details about Bilt’s new partnership with Evolve Bank, and Bilt’s compliance with financial services laws.

Companies: Bilt Rewards; Evolve Bank and Trust

LegislativeActivity: BankingOperations CFPB CreditDebitGiftCards FinTech GCNNews