Fintech Bilt, issuer of a rent‑rewards credit card, lost its bank backer after Wells Fargo withdrew from the partnership. To fill the funding gap, Bilt turned to private‑credit investors and secured a financing package that keeps the card operational. Analysts view the move as a litmus test for how quickly capital can be redeployed when banks pull back.

In February, Bilt struck a deal to transfer roughly $1.2 billion of credit‑card balances to a financing consortium that includes Blue Owl Capital, Stone Point Capital, Goldman Sachs and TD Bank. The arrangement provides immediate liquidity for Bilt while giving private‑credit investors exposure to consumer‑card receivables, a segment that has attracted growing interest as banks retreat.

The financing underscores a broader shift: private‑credit funds are hunting consumer debt assets that were once the domain of big banks. By locking in billions of dollars of future repayments, investors hope to earn higher yields, while fintechs like Bilt gain a stable capital source. This transaction cements private credit’s expanding role in the credit‑card market.

The deal signals that private‑credit pipelines will increasingly target consumer finance, reshaping funding dynamics for fintechs and pressuring banks to reconsider their exposure to credit‑card portfolios. Such competition could drive down borrowing costs for lenders while offering investors higher‑yielding assets tied to everyday spending overall.