With the introduction of their unofficial 5/24 Rule, Chase has made life much harder for those who like to frequently sign up for credit cards to get the signup bonuses. With the 5/24 Rule, Chase denies most applications in which the applicant has opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months.
And we’re not just talking about Chase cards here. All issuers count. If you’ve never opened a Chase card in your life, but you opened 3 Amex cards and 3 Citi cards in the last 24 months, then you’re out of luck if you want to get a Chase card.
Even authorized user cards count against you. If you opened 3 of your own cards and were added as an authorized user to 2 other accounts in the past 24 months, you’ll be over 5/24. Fortunately, there are ways around the authorized user issue: 1) You can call Chase reconsideration and ask to speak to a supervisor. Make it clear to them that you are not responsible for paying the charges incurred on your authorized user accounts. Or, 2) Have the authorized user cards removed from your credit report (see this Doctor of Credit post for details).
Want to know your 5/24 status? See: How to count your 5/24 status from your smart phone.
5/24 Enforcement vs. 5/24 Count
Chase enforces 5/24 with most Chase cards, but not all. Meanwhile, chase counts all cards that are on your credit report.
5/24 Enforcement: When you apply for a Chase card in which 5/24 is enforced, you will not be approved if your 5/24 count is at 5 or more new accounts in the past 24 months.
5/24 Count: All cards, regardless of which bank they’re from are counted towards your 5/24 count if they appear on the credit report with an open date within the past 24 months. This includes cards that were closed. Any cards not on your credit report are not counted (i.e. certain business cards are not counted).
5/24 Enforcement Exceptions
Chase does not apply the 5/24 rule to all credit card applications. There are a handful of co-branded credit cards that are not subject to the 5/24 rule. This means that you can get these cards even if you are over 5/24. Once you get these cards, though, they will add to your 5/24 count. The Chase cards not subject to 5/24 enforcement include the following cards (click the links for details about each):
- AARP
- Disney
- British Airways Visa Signature
- Hyatt Visa Signature
- IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
- Marriott Rewards Premier Business (this one won’t add to your 5/24 count since it is a business card)
Another exception to the 5/24 rule enforcement comes when you are pre-approved for an offer in-branch.
5/24 Count Exceptions: Business Cards
Any credit card or charge card that shows up on your credit report will count towards your 5/24 status. As discussed above, it is possible to get authorized user cards removed from your credit report. Another approach is to sign up for business card. Most business cards are not reported to the personal credit bureaus and therefore are not counted towards 5/24. This includes Chase business cards.
Business cards that are NOT reported (and therefore do not count against 5/24):
- American Express (except for Canadian Amex)
- Bank of America
- Barclays
- Chase
- Citi
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
Business cards that are reported:
- Capital One
- Discover
The Chase Business Card Question and Answer
While we know that Chase business cards are not reported to the credit bureaus, we also know that Chase can count your Chase business cards if they want to. The question is whether they bother to…
I raised this question a year ago: Do Chase Business cards add to your 5/24 total? In that post I listed evidence in both directions. There was compelling evidence that Chase counted business cards and compelling evidence that they didn’t count business cards.
Over the past year, more and more evidence has come in suggesting that Chase business cards do not count. On the Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook Group, for example, we’ve heard from two people who were recently approved for Chase cards even though their Chase business cards would have put them over 5/24.
One contributor, for example, had signed up for the following 5 cards in the past 7 months before applying for a new Ink Cash card:
- Chase Ink Business Preferred
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Southwest Premier Business
- Chase Southwest Plus
- Chase Ink Business Preferred (yes, a second one, and yes she got the bonus)
She then applied for the Ink Cash business card and was instantly approved. We know for certain that all Chase Ink business cards are subject to 5/24 enforcement, so this is pretty good proof that at least some of her Chase business cards did not count towards her 5/24 total. Theoretically her 5/24 count remains at just 2 (the Sapphire Reserve and Southwest Plus cards). Going forward she can theoretically continue to get approved for Chase cards.
Another contributor had opened 3 Citibank cards and two Chase cards (one was a business card) before applying for another. He had opened the following cards:
- Citi Hilton (no longer available)
- Citi ThankYou Premier
- Citi ThankYou Prestige
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Ink Business Preferred
He then applied and was approved for the Chase Freedom Unlimited card. Again, this suggests that his Ink Business Preferred did not count towards his 5/24 total. Going forward, though, the Freedom Unlimited card will count and so he will not be able to get cards in which 5/24 is enforced.
Rejections don’t prove that business cards count
Situations like those presented above give great evidence that it’s still possible to get new Chase cards when your 5/24 count would be 5 if Chase business cards were counted. In other words, they disprove the hypothesis that Chase business cards are counted.
What about when the reverse happens? One reader reported getting rejected for an Ink Cash due to “having too many cards.” This reader had signed up for the following cards in the past 24 months before applying for the Ink Cash card: Chase Southwest Business, Chase Southwest Plus, Chase Ink Business Preferred, Chase Hyatt and Chase IHG.
In this case, Chase may have denied the application simply because they felt that they had already extended enough credit to this person. In these cases it is sometimes possible to reverse the decision by calling reconsideration multiple times. With 5/24 rejections, though, reconsideration calls never help (except when authorized user cards had contributed to the over 5/24 count).
Final Answer: Chase business cards do not count towards 5/24
I know. I know. As soon as I publish this I’ll hear from people who will confidently assert that their Chase business cards did count to put them over 5/24. Until then, I’m comfortable settling on this answer 😉
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[…] restriction. If you’re under 5/24, this path requires less spend (update: remember that Chase business cards do not add to your 5/24 count). Furthermore, you’ll get enough points to likely book at least one free trip for you and […]
Is there any updated DPs on whether a Barclaycard Business counts towards Chase 5/24? I’m finally under 5/24, but have been recently denied a Chase Ink Preferred in branch promotion for 100K points. However, I don’t want to get above 5/24 again so I can reapply for the new Chase Business Unlimited.
I haven’t heard any recent datapoints.
Thanks Greg!!
I applied for Barclays jetblue business in the end of September. I can see on my chase credit journey the hard pull inquiry from that application, but no new vredit card. According to the rules Greg has listed in this post I am shown as having 4 accounts opened in the last two years. All paths appear clear for a double two player companion pass strategy this quarter.
All that so say my late September application for a business jetblue Barclays did not show up on my chase credit journey. My application for the amex personal gold (ya to blogs for that heads up) in the end of September does show up on chase credit journey.
Thanks for reporting in! Good to know that Barclays biz cards still do not count towards 5/24
[…] credit report and do not count towards 5/24 (though most are subject to the rule). See “Chase business cards don’t add to your 5/24 count” for more on Chase business […]
Related q: Does anyone know if I can get the Marriott biz card if I have the Ritz personal card?
Yes, that’s fine. Even if you had the Marriott personal card, you could get the Marriott business card.
Thanks!
I was recently approved for the Chase Ink Preferred business card. Checked my Equifax report and it shows up there. So i guess its all YMMV.
Where in your Equifax report did it show up? As an inquiry or as an account? An inquiry would be expected.
Question from a distant planet in the solar system: What about employee cards for a Chase Business card? My wife (Chase Ink Business Preferred) was transferring UR points to me on line. Had done this in the past but things weren’t working. Called in. Eventually got points moved, actually to a Hyatt account. But, en route (and inessentially as it turned out) CSR suggested would be easier if I were her business employee. We were puzzled, but asked (and answered) three times that they were not — that they should not — issue me a card.
Can you guess where this is going? Yep. Card issued (saw it online). We call back to get it removed, and new CSR says that employee business cards are not reported. That it is not like an AU, because there is no financial responsibility. We’ll see (and see Greg’s synopsis of the ambiguity of AU treatment by Chase). While waiting, just curious if others have (or, I sure hope, have not) seen employee cards showing up on credit reports (or Credit Karma). A problem with clarifying all this when speaking to Chase is that they get as mixed up in “pulls” versus cards reported as we do (as per some of the back-and-forth in the comments above).
Jeez, all these credit cards … it’s like snakehandling. You can do this all the time, and even up your number of snakes. But sometimes, just when you least expect it, you get bit. Here’s hoping this particular bite didn’t puncture.
The employee cards won’t show up on your credit report. You’re safe.
Thanks for the response — and the good news.
I have a relatively short credit history (1 year and five months), and hold three cards (Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Jetblue Plus). I opened a Chase business checking using my SSN and was told by my banker that I am pre-approved for the Ink cards. I was considering applying for one in-branch due to the Preferred’s great sign up bonus; however, after learning that the card won’t be reported to my personal credit history, I am reconsidering. Would opening and holding a business cc be a bad move for someone with a young credit history? Especially since the Ink Preferred requires spending 5k in the first three months for the bonus — those are payments AND age of credit that won’t help my score grow! Any input would be appreciated 🙂
You’re right that the Ink business card won’t help your score grow, but it also won’t hurt your score in any way (other than a tiny short-term ding due to the hard inquiry). Since you’re pre-approved and the offer is so valuable, I’d go for it if I were you.
Using the Experian app for a count, on 3/1/2018, I will drop from 6 cards in 24 months to 5 cards. I will drop to 4 cards in 24 months on 5/1/2018. I know Chase looks at 5 cards in 24, but can I apply and likely be approved once I am 5, or do I need to wait until I am less than 5? i.e. – at 4 cards.
Interesting that Experian shows all cards opened on the first of the month, regardless.
You need to wait until you are 4/24 to apply for cards affected by the rule.
Yes, cards fall off your count on the first of the month following the month in which they were opened.
I checked my credit report and I have 5 inquires in the past two years. Although, one of them is from CenturyLink (it was a pull for my internet service, not a credit card or anything like that).
Does that CenturyLink pull counts towards my 5/24; or, in the eyes of Chase, would I actually be sitting at 4 pulls? Thanks!
Credit inquiries don’t count towards 5/24 at all. It is only new accounts that appear on your credit report that are counted. So, no, CenturyLink won’t count.
[…] “shouldn’t” doesn’t mean won’t, since nothing in this hobby is guaranteed. Check this Freequent Miler post for […]
I applied for the Chase Sapphire card a little over six months ago. I was told anymore than 5 accounts opened in the last two years would result in a declined application. However, I was welcomed to apply for any other Chase credit card product and that would not be an issue. Only the Sapphire card has that rule. I just applied for the Chase Ink card to use for my small business. I was declined for that card for the same reason, except I was told there was no specific number pertaining to how many new accounts was too many. Just that I had opened too many in the last 2 years. I feel the information provided to me was inaccurate when I applied for the Sapphire. I hope Chase will be more consistent when advising customers and telling us what their internal guidelines are. I hope you know that Chase has obviously changed their 5/25 rule since you posted this article. The business cards do indeed count! Please don’t waste an inquiry or your time. I have considerable assets with them and they used to make allowances for that, which they no longer do. So no matter who you are, it’ll probably be an no.
As is said throughout the comments and I believe in this article from my recollection, as well as in other places, business cards DO NOT count toward your 5/24 count, but if you apply for a business card AFTER you are at 5/24 then you will be declined for all Chase cards expect the few listed… Hyatt, IHG, Disney, Marriott Business (it is believed, and as I recall quite confirmed).. among others. Sorry you misunderstood the information but it is decently laid out Bryan. Good luck.
Thanks, it’s a bit of mind twist (again, probably just me). I am currently sitting at 6/24 until 4/2018, at which time I will drop to 4/24 and would like to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (fingers crossed).
I have been looking around for cards I do not already have, for bonus opportunities, that won’t mess with my 4/2018 plan.
I was looking at the Chase Business cards and so I think I get it now, that even though they would not count toward the 5/24 count, Chase wouldn’t approve them for me anyway right now.
Nix Nix 🙂 thanks
That’s right, except that the Chase Marriott Business card is one of the cards that you can get when over 5/24, so that’s a good option for now. Once you are under 5/24, consider the Ink Business Preferred and Ink Cash cards before going for any personal cards. That way you can get more Chase cards before going back over 5/24.
So, the title of this article says that Chase Business Cards don’t count toward 5/24.
Looking good, so then I clicked on Best Offers, Business Cards, to look at Chase business cards and these have a notation that they do count toward 5/24.
It must be me, lol….I must be missing something.
The title says that they don’t add to your 5/24 count. There’s a big difference between which cards add to your 5/24 count, and which cards you can’t get when you’re over 5/24.
Chase business cards don’t add to your 5/24 count
With most Chase business cards, 5/24 is enforced: you can’t get them if you’re over 5/24.
Cards that add to your 5/24 count: Personal cards from all banks. Business cards from select banks (i.e. Capital One).
Cards where 5/24 is enforced: Only Chase cards. See our Best Offers page for notes with each Chase card as to whether or not 5/24 is enforced.
I applied and got the dreaded need more information message. Great credit score, so definitely not as issue. Fingers crossed for an approval! Any tips on calling a reconsideration line?
1) When asked for income, etc. give the same answers as you put in the application.
2) If you have other business cards with the bank, it may help to tell them that you’re not looking for more credit — they can move credit from another card if they’d like.
Just wanting to add a data point to confuse things – I was just denied because of 5/24, and my Chase Ink Plus did indeed count towards 5/24. I asked the rep to tell me which cards were showing up on his end, and he included 2 accounts I didn’t expect: an Amex account on which I was an authorized user, and that Ink Plus. I asked him if business cards do count, he said yes. He also said authorized user cards count too.
Thanks Tim. Yes, authorized user cards definitely count, but they’re different from other cards in that you can usually argue your way out of them counting (at least when speaking to a supervisor and explaining that you are not responsible for the charges on that card).
My guess is that the rep knew that you were over 5/24, but didn’t have access to the exact list used by the system so he instead listed the cards he could see on your report and in your account.