Bilt unveiled its transformed neighborhood operating system Tuesday. (Bilt)
Bilt, best known for helping renters earn rewards on their housing payments, is expanding into local commerce with a new artificial intelligence platform aimed at helping businesses attract customers while giving consumers more ways to earn rewards close to home.
The company announced Tuesday the launch of “Bilt Neighborhood OS,” which connects to existing commerce systems for reservations, payments, customer management and loyalty programs to help merchants reach nearby customers, personalize offers and track spending.
For consumers, this expansion could mean earning rewards and receiving personalized offers at more restaurants, retailers and other businesses they visit near them. For merchants, this could mean reaching new customers without replacing their existing technology.
Bilt describes the launch as the “next evolution” of its business, expanding the rewards network it has built around housing payments into a broader platform connecting consumers, neighborhood merchants and large organizations.
“The latest technological revolution has transformed the way businesses sell online, but it has largely left out the businesses that make our neighborhoods special,” Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain said in a statement.
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The move builds on Bilt’s network of more than 8.2 million members, who have generated more than $12 billion in commerce rewards from local businesses over the past 12 months, the company said.
Launched in 2021, Bilt now serves approximately one in four apartment buildings in the United States and expects to process more than $100 billion in housing payments this year.
Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain gave details about Neighborhood OS to Fox News Digital. (Bilt/Fox News)
The expansion includes two offerings through Bilt for Business: Neighborhood OS, which uses AI to help merchants attract customers, build loyalty and manage business, and Bilt Membership Platform, which allows organizations in the sports, travel, hospitality, workplace and financial services industries to create branded membership programs or extend existing rewards to local communities.
A neighborhood restaurant, for example, could use Neighborhood OS to identify potential customers, send targeted offers, recognize returning customers, and automatically apply rewards through its existing point-of-sale system.
Bilt says its AI agents have performed more than 2 million real-world actions across more than 29,000 businesses in the past 30 days, 91% of which were performed without human intervention.
The platform also includes Neighborhood ID, which Bilt describes as a privacy-preserving system for connecting customer experiences without exchanging raw customer data, and Neighborhood Pass, which allows eligible members to access personalized rewards and benefits at participating businesses.
To expand its reach, Bilt is partnering with payments and commerce companies including Verifone, Fiserv’s Clover, Shift4, OpenTable and Grubhub. The partnerships could eventually make Neighborhood OS accessible to millions of merchants, with integrations and capabilities rolling out in phases starting in 2027.
Bilt and Hyatt say they are also exploring how World of Hyatt members could be rewarded through neighborhood experiences with Bilt Neighborhood OS. Bilt added that it will partner with Meta in 2027 to provide educational and business resources to small business owners.
The platform also donates $100,000 to the community development organization Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
“Our partnership with Bilt will test new ways to connect financial coaching and resources to people’s housing goals, including pathways to homeownership, with the goal of reaching more individuals, families and communities across the country,” said Valerie White, manager of national strategic housing initiatives at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
The company targets a significant portion of consumer spending. Bilt estimates that approximately $6.6 trillion in annual spending in the U.S. retail and food service sectors is conducted in-person.
Its inaugural State of the Neighborhood study, conducted by S&P Global’s 451 Research and commissioned by Bilt, surveyed 6,591 U.S. adults. The study found that two-thirds do at least 80% of their daily spending in their neighborhood, while the median consumer shops within a 15-mile radius of their home.
The survey also found that 95% of respondents would try a local business at least once if they could earn points or rewards there, while 87% said rewards would make them more likely to shop at a local business more frequently.
Bilt is also expanding into professional sports, with the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, Houston Rockets, Houston Texans, Houston Comets and Sacramento Kings planning branded fan loyalty experiences that could reward customers inside and outside stadiums, with phased launches beginning in 2027.
The effort follows Bilt’s $300 million acquisition of loyalty technology company LAVA, whose technology supports the programs of 56 professional sports teams, according to the company. Bilt is also working with Mastercard to extend cardholder rewards to participating neighborhood businesses.
Ankur Jain and Brian Kelly attend the Bilt Rewards Launch Party at Equinox Hotel New York at Hudson Yards on June 22, 2021 in New York City. (Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Jain said Bilt’s goal is to help small businesses compete in an increasingly technology-driven economy.
“Our number one goal is to grow small businesses,” Jain told Fox News Digital. He said the company wanted to empower small businesses to “grow and win against the big companies that have had an unfair advantage over them.”
Jain also warned that efforts to restrict AI development could harm small businesses that could benefit from the technology.
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“If you hinder AI, you hurt small businesses across America,” he said. “AI is going to be a great democratizing force in Congress.”
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