Chase 5/24 rule: Everything you need to know

If you’re into collecting miles and points, you’ve probably heard about the “5/24 Rule” or about people being “over 5/24” or “under 5/24.” What is the 5/24 rule? The 5/24 rule is an unpublished rule that applies to Chase applications—generally you won’t be approved for a new Chase card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the last 24 months.

Here’s everything you need to know about Chase 5/24.

What is the Chase 5/24 rule?

5/24 is an unpublished rule that applies to applications for Chase credit cards. In short, Chase will generally not approve you for a credit card if you’ve opened five or more credit cards within the past 24 months. This rule applies to all Chase business and personal credit cards, including cards that Chase issues in partnership with other brands.

• If you are “over 5/24,” that means you’ve opened more than five accounts in the previous 24 months. You will usually be denied if you apply for a Chase credit card.
• If you are “under 5/24,” you won’t automatically be denied for a Chase credit card for having too many new accounts. But this doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be approved.

Are all Chase cards subject to the Chase 5/24 rule?

Previously, the 5/24 rule was uniformly enforced across all Chase products, meaning you almost certainly wouldn’t get approved if you were “over 5/24.” Recently, Chase has softened the 5/24 rule for some new products.

• In late 2022, Chase appeared to have suspended the 5/24 rule for new applications of the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
• Multiple blogs and forums are reporting application approvals from people who were over 5/24 for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
• In July 2023, Chase introduced a new welcome bonus for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and we got additional reports of people getting approved, despite being over 5/24.

Which accounts count against 5/24?

Any credit card account that was opened in the last 24 months and shows up on your personal credit report will count toward your 5/24 status. This includes credit cards that hit your credit report because you are an authorized user. Non-credit card accounts don’t count toward your 5/24 status. Here’s what counts and what doesn’t.

A quick note about authorized user credit cards. When someone adds you as an authorized user on their credit card, often that credit card will show up on your personal credit report. If you are over 5/24 because you are an authorized user on someone else’s card, Chase will automatically deny your credit card application. But if you are under 5/24 when you exclude authorized user cards, you might be in luck. Sometimes you can get approved by asking Chase to reconsider your application. For example, if you have opened four personal credit cards in the past 24 months and are also an authorized user on two cards that have been opened in the past 24 months, this might apply to you. From what I gather over at FlyerTalk, you might be able successfully have Chase reconsider a denial in this case.

Non-credit card accounts that you have opened in the past 24 months do not count toward your 5/24 status. For example, if you have an auto loan, personal line of credit, or home mortgage opened within the last two years, Chase will not count these accounts toward your 5/24 status.

Business cards and 5/24: They usually don’t hurt you

Small business credit cards that do not report to your personal credit report will not count against your 5/24 status. Most issuers won’t report business cards with on-time payment histories to your personal credit report, but Capital One is known to report accounts.

If you have four new credit cards reporting to your personal credit report and open two new Chase Ink cards, such as the Chase Ink Business Cash or the Chase Ink Business Unlimited, these cards will not affect your 5/24 status. Even though Chase very much knows about these new accounts, they don’t report to your personal credit report, so they don’t count against your 5/24 status.

Closed accounts: Yes, they count against 5/24.

Even if you’ve closed a credit card account, it will still count toward your 5/24 status if you opened it within the last 24 months.

How to check your 5/24 status

You can check your 5/24 status with any credit reporting service that allows you to view your credit report and the dates that your accounts are reporting as open. Fortunately, there are plenty of free services that won’t charge you to see your credit report. Our favorites are CreditWise from Capital One, Credit Karma, and Experian.

If you have an account with one of these services already, you can simply pull up your list of recently opened accounts. lWe have an article on how to check your 5/24 status that goes over our favorite methods for checking your status and gives you step-by-step instructions on the currently available methods for checking 5/24.

Frequently asked questions