How to Check for the Chase 5/24 Rule
Chase will not approve a new card application for many of its credit cards if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank within the past 24 months. This is known as the 5/24 rule.
Chase uses your credit report to count your 5/24 status. If 5 or more less-than-24-month-old cards appear on your credit report, Chase will usually deny your application for a new card. This is true even if you have already cancelled some or all of those new cards.
To check for your 5/24 status…
Sign in to your Capital One account or app and click on “CreditWise”
Select “Your TransUnion Credit Report”
Under “Accounts and Balances, Click “New”
Once you get into your TransUnion report, under “Accounts and Balances,” you’ll see a an icon for new accounts. Clicking that will give you a full list of all accounts that are less than two years old.
If you count 5 or more, then you are over 5/24.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do Authorized User Cards Count?
Cards where you are the authorized user count towards 5/24 when they appear on your credit report. Fortunately, there’s an easy workaround. If you are denied for a new card due to having opened too many cards recently, you can call Chase’s reconsideration line and explain that you are not responsible for the bills for any authorized user cards that were opened in the past 24 months. Chase will then subtract these from the count and reconsider your application.
Do Business Cards Count?
Chase uses your credit report to count your 5/24 status, but business cards are not usually shown as accounts on your credit report. As a result, most business cards won’t add to your 5/24 count. You could theoretically sign up for a new business credit card every month for two years and still have a 0/24 count with Chase because Chase won’t see those new accounts.
Business cards from the following card issuers won’t add to your 5/24 count: American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Chase, Citibank, FNBO, Navy Federal, PNC, US Bank, Wells Fargo.
Some issuers do report business cards to personal credit bureaus: Canadian American Express, Capital One*, Discover, TD Bank. If you sign up for business cards from these issuers, those cards will add to your 5/24 count.
* Not all Capital One business cards are reported to personal credit bureaus. Two that do not get reported are the Venture X Business Card and the Spark Cash Plus.
Do Chase Business Cards Count?
This is a confusing one. When applying for a Chase Business card, the 5/24 rule is absolutely in effect. This means that if your credit report shows that you’ve opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months, Chase won’t approve your new business card application. That said, if you do get approved for a Chase business card, it won’t add to your count. For example, if your current count is 4/24 and you successfully sign up for a new Chase Ink Business card, your count will remain at 4/24 because Chase won’t report this card to the credit bureaus.
Do Store Cards Count?
Store cards count towards 5/24 only if they can be used elsewhere (e.g. when they are Visa, Mastercard, or Amex cards).
What if Chase Denies Your Application?
If you are denied for a new Chase card and you believe that you are under 5/24 (or if authorized user cards put you over 5/24), I strongly recommend calling Chase’s reconsideration line: 1-888-270-2127. Ask them to reconsider your application.
If the reason for denial is being over 5/24 due to authorized user cards on your credit report, tell the agent that those are authorized user cards and you are not responsible for paying those bills.
If you are denied for any other reason and you have other Chase cards open, tell the agent that you are not looking to get additional credit. Ask them if they can move credit from some existing cards to the new card. Note that they can move credit from personal cards to other personal cards, or from business cards to other business cards, but they can’t span the two (e.g., they can’t move credit from your personal cards in order to open a new business card).
Why Does 5/24 Matter?
The easiest way to accumulate huge numbers of points is through credit card welcome bonuses, and Chase has many of the best cards and welcome bonuses in the U.S. market. If you want to take advantage of any of these, you’ll usually have to be under 5/24 to get approved.