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Most Chase credit cards fall under their dreaded “5/24 Rule”. That is, Chase will deny your application if you have opened 5 or more credit card accounts in the past 24 months (see: How to count your 5/24 status). Included in the count are cards from any bank (not just Chase), as well as cards in which you are an authorized user.
What follows is a list of approaches for bypassing 5/24, along with an assessment of whether or not the approach currently works. If you have additional information about what works and what doesn’t, please comment below.
Apply for Chase cards that do not fall under the 5/24 rule
Status: Still Works!
Several Chase cards do not fall under the 5/24 rule. On our Best Credit Card Offers Page with each card we list whether or not it is known to fall under the rule. At the time of this writing, the following cards seem to be exempt from the rule:
- British Airways Visa Signature
- Hyatt Visa Signature
- Marriott Rewards Premier Business
- IHG Rewards Club Select
- Ritz Carlton
Also, while not shown on our Best Offers page, the following cards are also exempt from 5/24:
- Amazon
- AARP
- Disney
Call recon to remove authorized user cards from the 5/24 count
Status: Still Works
If you are over 5/24 due to being the authorized user on one or more cards, and your application for a new card is denied, then call Chase’s reconsideration line (Found here, under App Tips) and ask the agent to remove those cards from the count since you are not responsible for paying balances on those cards. If the front-line agent won’t help, ask to speak to a supervisor (this is usually necessary for some reason).
Apply after pre-approval
Status: Should still work, but received one report otherwise
The idea here is to go in-branch to a Chase banker and ask if you are pre-approved for any cards. If you are pre-approved, most data points suggest that the application will bypass 5/24. That said, one detailed data point from a March 31st application (found here) suggests that this approach may not be foolproof,, or that Chase may have changed their rules very recently. Please comment below with your recent experiences and I’ll update this section if needed.
Apply for business card via a Chase Business Relationship Manager (BRM)
Status: Still Works
As reported by Doctor of Credit, if a Chase Business Relationship Manager submits a paper application (not an online application), the application should bypass 5/24. One great side-effect of this approach is that Business Relationship Manager’s have access to better signup offers for select business cards. Read about my attempt to dodge 5/24 through a Business Relationship Manager here: Going for the latest 100K Ultimate Rewards business card offer despite 5/24.
Apply for business card via a Chase banker then submit special reconsideration form
Status: Mixed results. No recent success stories.
When you are denied for an application for a business card, a Chase banker can submit a special reconsideration form (details here). While I’ve heard a couple of stories of this working to bypass 5/24, most recent reports have been the opposite: that it didn’t help. It may be that the Chase banker simply has to do a very good job of writing up why you deserve the card. I don’t know.
Chase Private Client
Status: Dead
It used to be the case that those in the Chase Private Client program were exempt from 5/24. Chase then changed the rules so that even their treasured Private Clients cannot get new cards if they’ve opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months.
Stay under 5/24 by applying mostly for business cards
Status: Still alive
Most business cards are not reported as new accounts to personal credit bureaus. As a result, they do not count towards your 5/24 status. For additional details, see: Flying under 5/24.
Cards from the following banks are known not to appear on personal credit reports:
- American Express (except for Canadian Amex)
- Bank of America
- Barclaycard
- Chase
- Citi
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
Obviously Chase can see that you’ve opened Chase business cards even if they do not appear on your credit report. Whether or not Chase counts these cards towards 5/24, though, is a matter of debate. The preponderance of evidence suggests that they do not count their own business cards. That said, I’ve heard a few compelling stories in recent months suggesting that they do. I consider this an unresolved question at this point.
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Time to update this post to a 2018 edition? 🙂
I went into Chase and met with a private banker about applying for the Sapphire Reserve card. He told me that he had no more luck beating 5/24 than I would but would give it a shot and submitted my application. It was predictably denied. After talking with the private banker, who made a call to no avail, I called recon and walked through the cards they were looking at. We removed all the ones that I was just an authorized user on and then she told me she had to submit the app to a credit committee. A week later the card arrived at my house.
[…] Dodging 5/24. What works, what doesn’t, April 2017 […]
My favorite denial is a recent decline for the Chase Ink with 80k due to previous unsatisfactory business relationship. I presently have the Ink with 50k and 3 other cards including CSR. Did they go back in time 6 years.
I will take every opportunity to cost Chase money as long as it is legal. It’s payback for a shutdown when I had 60k earning 0 pct in a checking account.
So one of the ways of dodging the 5/24 is staying below 5/24
Thanks Capt Obvious!!
[…] Dodging 5/24 Status, what still works. […]
There is something odd about Adam’s story of being denied despite pre-approval.I applied for the same Freedom Unlimited about a week after him (April 7). The pre-approval worked flawlessly. So Chase certainly didn’t change much on their end because I am at about 24/24.
Cool, that’s very good to hear!
I was denied a Marriott Business card because of 5/24
Thanks for that report. We had heard mixed stories initially, but then mostly success. I guess we’ll keep the status of that card as “mixed data points”
I have recently followed the strategy of focusing on business cards from non-Chase institutions. However, I lack an EIN for my businesses [1) rental property & 2) eBay seller], and when applying for these business cards, I have listed:
– My personal name as the name of each business (I don’t have an eBay store – just a username)
and
– My SS# as my EIN
Predictably, I have listed my businesses as sole proprietorships.
My question is:
1) Given the above facts, is it still reasonable to believe that Chase will not see these business lines of credit extended to me by those 7 banks (AMEX, BoA, Citi, Barclay, Chase, US Bank & Wells Fargo)?
That is more or less correct. As the post says, business accounts from those banks do not appear on your personal credit report, which is what Chase is going to pull and examine for the purpose of evaluating your application for a Chase business card. Of course Chase can see your Chase business accounts — and as Greg said, there is evidence both ways as to whether or not those cards count against your 5/24 status — but the other accounts don’t appear on your personal report (as long as your accounts are in good standing, that is — if you don’t pay your bills, they will certainly report that to the personal credit bureaus).
Chase business cards do not show up on personal credit reports, but they can see their own. Had a recon call where they not only mentioned the count of opened cards to me, but listed the specific cards, which included a business card (in this case it was a Marriott Business, which is generally accepted to not even count towards 5/24).
They did not, however, see business cards from other issuers, and I don’t think the reverse is true – that Marriott has not shown up elsewhere, it seems to be only internal to Chase. 24/24 otherwise, have all the non-5/24 cards, and well outside the range of a physical Chase location, so looks like Chase is off the radar for a while. 😉
I have 20 or so cards and applied and received a Disney card in january — so this one must be exempt from 5 / 24. Thanks for the article.
Thanks for the confirmation! I had the Disney card (and a couple of others) listed as exempt within a sentence, but have now broken them out into a bullet list to make them more obvious.