With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve a new card application if you have opened 5 or more cards, with any bank, in the past 24 months. This is known as the 5/24 rule. Unfortunately, it’s not obvious how to determine your 5/24 status. That’s where this post will help.
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. For information about credit scores, credit reports, and credit inquiries, please see: Complete Guide to Free Credit Scores, Reports, and Monitoring
3 Easy Ways Count Your Chase 5/24 Status
One complexity in determining your current 5/24 status is the fact that cancelled cards must be counted. That is, if you opened a card within the past 24 months, it still counts against you even if you have since cancelled it. Yet many tools that show your accounts only show the ones that are currently open (or they show the cancelled ones separately).
Fortunately, there are easy ways to get your 5/24 status…
Experian Smart Phone App
1) Install the Experian app on your smart phone
On an iPhone, open the App Store and search for Experian. On an Android phone, open the Google Play Store and search for Experian.
Look for the app titled “Experian Credit Report“.
Install the app and register or log in if you already have an Experian account.
2) Select “Reports”
On the iPhone app, there are multiple named icons along the bottom of the screen. Select “Reports”:
3) Click “Accounts”
4) Sort New to Old
Click Views… Date Opened (New to Old).
5) Count
Scroll down and count all accounts until you get one month past 24 months ago. For example, in November 2022 you would count all accounts including those that were opened in November 2020.
If you count 5 or more, then you are over 5/24.
Travel Freely
Travel Freely does one simple thing: it guides you through the steps involved in earning points and miles through credit card bonuses. Travel Freely recommends cards for you based not just on the current best offers, but also based on what cards you’ve signed up for previously. And it’s aware of most of the known multi-card rules. For example, it won’t recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve if it has been less than 48 months since you obtained a signup bonus for either one. Once you sign up for a card (and enter it into the website), you’ll get periodic emails reminding you of the due date for meeting minimum spend. Later, Travel Freely will notify you when it’s a good time to sign up for another card. Travel Freely will also notify you when an annual fee is coming up so that you can plan to downgrade, cancel, or seek a retention offer if the card’s benefits don’t outweigh the fee. You can read more about Travel Freely here.
One great feature of Travel Freely is that it constantly shows your 5/24 status at the top of its card dashboard page (see above for an example). Even better, it shows the date at which you’ll be able to sign up for Chase cards again (assuming you don’t sign up for any new cards in the meantime).
In order to get this information to show up correctly, you do need to enter details about all of your credit card signups. I recommend doing so anyway with all new cards since the app will provide you with helpful reminders. If you haven’t used Travel Freely up until now, then I’d recommend entering in all of the cards you’ve signed up for in the past 25 months, if not longer. Yes it can be a bit of work to get started, but it’s worth it for all of Travel Freely’s features and for the constant 5/24 display.
Sign up here for Travel Freely (it’s free).
Credit Karma
Credit Karma is one of many available free services that estimate your credit score. I particularly like Credit Karma because it gives you free access to your TransUnion and Equifax credit reports with details about the accounts that appear on your credit reports, and optionally provides active monitoring of your TransUnion report.
To use Credit Karma to get your 5/24 status, first log in (or sign up here: Credit Karma), then follow these steps (hat tip Joni):
1) Click on the partial-circle graph containing your credit score
You can click on either the TransUnion or Equifax partial-circle, but I’ve found better results with Equifax.
2) Click “Credit Age”
After clicking through from a partial-circle on the home page, you may see a title saying “Take a look at your latest changes to see what happened.” Ignore the stuff at the top and scroll down until you see a section with boxes like those shown above. Click on the box that says “Credit age” (bottom-left, above).
3) Count Cards Less Than 2 Years Old 
Scroll down and you’ll now see the currently open credit cards on your credit report. Count the cards that are less than 2 years old. In the image above, I count 5 cards that were opened in the past 24 months and 1 card that was opened more than 24 months ago (I didn’t show the many cards above that one that were opened earlier than that one).
4) Add Cancelled Cards
If you’ve closed any cards that were opened in the past 24 months, those add to your 5/24 count as well, but the Credit Karma technique shown here doesn’t include those cancelled cards.
One way to find your cancelled cards is shown above. Go to Total Accounts -> View All Accounts -> Show Closed Accounts (hat tip Biggie F). An easier option is to click here after logging in: www.creditkarma.com/accounts/closed-accounts/equifax
Unfortunately, the list of cancelled cards doesn’t show when each card was opened, nor does it sort in order of closing date, but you can easily scan the list to see if you’ve closed any in the past 24 months. If so, click the card to see when it was opened. If it was opened within the past 24 months, add it to your 5/24 count.
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 work-around. 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. One exception is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus which is not reported to credit bureaus.
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.
For example, Chase has a fantastic lineup of cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points. Through these cards one can easily amass hundreds of thousands of transferable points through signup bonuses, and then continue to earn huge rewards by picking the right cards for the right type of spend (for example, pay your phone, cable, and internet bills with your no-fee Ink Business Cash card to get 5X rewards for these purchases). You can read more here: Chase Ultimate Rewards Deep Dive.
Another key component of Chase’s credit card dominance is that they issue Southwest Airlines credit cards. This is huge because Southwest has the best deal in travel: if you earn enough qualifying points in a calendar year, you’ll get a companion pass good for an unlimited number of flights booked with points or cash. That companion pass is good for the rest of the year in which it is earned and all of the next year. And, with Chase, it’s often possible to get that companion pass simply by signing up for a personal Southwest card and business Southwest card and meeting the minimum spend requirements for both. See our Southwest Companion Pass Complete Guide for details.
Chase also has some terrific hotel credit cards. If you want to earn top tier Hyatt status (which is, by far in my opinion, the best top tier hotel status), you can earn that status through spend with the World of Hyatt card. Similarly, you can earn top tier IHG status with spend on either the IHG Premier Card or IHG Premier Business Card.
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Isn’t it simpler just to go to AMEX log in and look at credit report, it shows how many cards opened in the last 2 years.
It may be simpler, but it won’t be accurate if you’ve closed some of those cards because it will only show cards that are still open.
I’m at 5/24 now. If I have a card that I opened on 11/10/2020, when would this one drop off my 5/24? Can I apply on 11/01/2022? Or 11/11/2022? Or wait until 12/01/2022. I plan to apply for the Ink and am worried the 90K SUB won’t last until Dec.
I think you need to wait until 12/1, but I’d be very interested to hear how it goes if you try it on 11/11
Positive data point. My last 5/24 dropped off on Nov 10th. I confirmed the drop via Credit Karma. I took a chance on Nov 11th and applied online for the Ink Unlimited and was approved. Well, the screen said it was under review, but seconds later I received an email saying I was approved. Logging out of the Chase site and back in updated to show my new Ink Unlimited along with my other cards. I already have the Ink Cash and the old Marriott Premier Plus Business card, if that made any difference.
Oh man this has been so helpful. I am facing the same dilemma. Think i will take a chance and go for it as well based on your data point
On both my phone app and in web browser, I only see Transunion (under “Today”). No Experian like you show. How can I get Experian to show up?
I don’t know why that’s happening but a great solution is to install the Experian app. I think that’s a much better solution anyway since it shows cancelled cards in the same display
Chase reconsideration if your app is denied: I added a section to the FAQ in this post with Chase’s recon phone number (1-888-270-2127) and some tips.
Under 5/24 (Travel Freely count & Credit Karma). Applied for Chase business card and denied. Too many business cards in the past 12 months. Chase apparently uses a rolling 12 month count similar to Bank of America. FICO 800+. Add this to your data points please. Chase does count cards for business apps or at least they did for me. Oh, business is a corporation dated back to 1989.
Call the reconsideration line. Agents can’t override 5/24 but they can override miscellaneous other denials. Tell them that you’re not looking for additional credit and that you’d be happy for them to move credit from your other business cards to this one.
@Greg: very timely article for me, because I was looking at helping my wife apply for a Chase Ink card with the new 90k points welcome offer. Anyway–per both the Experian app and Credit Karma, she is at 6/24 because of three “closed” AmEx cards–where she was the Authorized User. They show as “closed” cards for her–although the cards themselves weren’t canceled, it’s just that I removed her as AU on each of them. Other than those three cards, she would be at just 3/24. My question therefore is: is there any way to get AmEx to remove those entirely from her credit report?
I know that, supposedly, she could apply for the Chase Ink card, be rejected, and call the reconsideration line to ask them to not count the AU cards. However, previously (about a year ago) we tried a similar thing–and she spent a couple weeks trying to get anyone from Chase on the phone, to no avail. It was a very frustrating experience for her, so I’m not going to have her apply unless we are SURE she is under 5/24.
Thanks!
Unfortunately it doesn’t look promising:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/removing-authorized-user-accounts-credit-report/amp/#American_Express
Still 8/24 just got approved for B of A premium again
[…] $2,000 is a reasonably low minimal price requirement in comparison with different welcome presents of this caliber. Our present cheap redemption values have AAdvantage Miles to 1.3cpp, giving this provide a complete worth of ~$1100 … an amazing return on solely $2K in impactless spending 5/24 (since it’s a enterprise card that won’t add to your account 5/24 with Chase). […]
Another resource if not already mentioned (a little clunky but it works to get you there I think): CreditWise (which I get via my CapOne bank accounts) will let you calculate this: CreditWise link after logging into Cap one–> Home–> “your transunion credit report”–> this brings you to ‘accounts and balances’ and under that on the left side is an icon that looks like a document (under which mine says “8 new”)–>I click on the ‘8 new’ and that takes me to ‘new accounts’. it lists all accounts that are open within the last 2 years, most recent being first. You will have to discern which are your business v personal cards. Clicking on each card name will have various info, most notably ‘age of account’. There is also a payment history which also give you a less specific age, but may be helpful also.
What does it mean if some cards aren’t showing up and have definitely been opened in the 5/24 period.. Both experian and credit karma are not counting two of my consumer CC’s? (not mad about it)
Also – does anyone know if the home depot card is counted? I know Greg said only cards that can be used elsewhere (amex, visa, etc), which this isn’t. It was just one of those 5k credit 0% for 12 months, but I’ve seen others say it counts and it definitely shows up in the reports as THD/CBNA
Are the 2 consumer cards new? If so, it can take a while for them to show up on your credit report.
Travel Freely is such a joke lol, you basically need to set everything up yourself and the potential for human error makes that process completely not worth it. Also if I’m doing all that work anyway I prefer a spreadsheet that’s designed my way. Bit of a contrived product IMO.
It’s not for everyone, but I rely heavily on it both for the 5/24 status and for managing signup bonuses for family members. My spreadsheet doesn’t remind me to check to see if we’ve met minimum spend, if their bonuses have come in, or if its time to cancel after a year.
As Greg said not for everyone. I love it for P2 personal & business and the same for me. It tracks in “real time” when you just opened your account for the day. I keep mine open part of my top bar menu, however, you have to hit recalc (F5 for us that hate Bill Gates’ newer software beyond 7) to be current. Tracks 5/24 as mentioned, also SUB, AF, 90 days for card apps, a lot of stuff. Hey it’s free, what do you expect…do your work for you like entries? Oh, human error, that everywhere including the credit bureaus/cc banks. You can very easily edit.
Thank you Joni!!!
I just want to say that Joni’s method from 3 months ago here in comments worked on Credit Karma. Took a little digging but I found the card history info I needed to answer my 5/24 question.
Awesome! So helpful. Used to use Credit Karma older browser but it no longer seems to work the way I want. This is easy and simple. Thanks again.
Thanks Greg, truly helpful.
I have a Freedom Flex MC that was a downgrade from a Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa. It shows up on my Experian credit report. Is this normal, or can I call them and ask for it to be removed?
It should be on your account but it should be back dated to when you opened the Sapphire card.
[…] Easy Ways To Count Your 5/24 Status: If you’ve been in this hobby for a while, you get familiar with bank rules regarding opening new accounts. One popular bank has the infamous 5/24 rule. Here’s a quick and easy way to check your 5/24 status. […]
I believer amazon store card counts towards 524 although it can not been used outside amazon. Saw some discussions in the oast
I can still find useful 5/24 info in Credit Karma.
This is what I’ve always used, and it still works for me, too! (I did it on a computer web browser — may not work on a phone???)
Thanks Joni! That’s useful. Unfortunately that view doesn’t show closed accounts. For example, I opened a Capital One card less than 2 years ago, but it is no longer open and so I don’t see it in that list, but it does count towards my 5/24 status.
True, but you can still go to Total Accounts -> View All Accounts -> View Closed Accounts. There your closed accounts appear starting from the most recent. If there are any plausibly within the 24 month opening window — which for most people would mean in the past 12 months, but I suppose could be 22 months for some people and some cards — you just click on them to see when they were opened.
Not perfect, but not nothing.
I just did the Southwest personal and Business card to get the CP. Those are my only two in the last 24. The business card doesn’t count against 5/24 correct?
Correct
WalletFlo will let you know if you’re over 5/24 as well if you click on “Check Eligibility” on a certain card offer. I liked the TravelFreely dashboard better, but this is another option too.
or you could just have a very detailed spreadsheet! Which if you are going to enter stuff in Travel Freely…you may as well keep the data to yourself.
Plug in a couple of formulas and you can easily count what’s opened in the last 24 months or any other time frame.
Just got to make sure to enter info as you get new cards.
Greg,
I refinanced my mortgage in 07/2020 and it shows on the experian app on that date. Does that actually count towards 5/24?
No, your mortgage shouldn’t count
Much more fun being 8-10/24 and getting all those extra SUBs!
Is the Experian method fool proof? Using this method, my Synchrony charge card counts as a revolving account and puts me at 5/24. I only got this card unintentionally when I financed my mattress at a local store. It’s used at other furniture stores but not anywhere else, i.e. not Visa or MC. So without actually applying for a Chase card, how can I figure out with certainty how Chase treats my Synchrony card?
That’s a good question. I don’t think there’s a way to know for certain
Sad to report that the Credit Karma 5/24 backdoor no longer works. Redirects to a different page with no date info.
Same experience. Sad to see this. Maybe Greg can do an updated post with other ways to easily determine our 5/24 status
Ugh, you’re right. Luckily the Experian App still works as described in this post.
Oh no, has the special Credit Karma link finally died?? I’m seeing a different interface when I click through. This will be tragic
[…] so you can get one of your slots back. Frequent Miler has a great write-up on how to determine your Chase 5/24 status (hint: using Credit Karma is […]
[…] to Frequent Miler and Doctor Of Credit for these […]
[…] Miler has a trick where you use this Credit Karma link, log in, click ‘Accounts’, and sort by ‘Open Date’. The sorted list shows […]
Hi Frequent miler: kind of a weird question: my credit karma report has me at 6/24 (2 opened in 2020 and 4 opened in 2019). I actually am at 7/24 because I opened the amex platinum last month and that’s not showing up on credit karma at all for some reason. However, my Chase Credit Journey says I haven’t opened any new cards this year. My question is this: if Chase Credit Journey thinks I haven’t opened anything this year, then would that would put me at 4/24 in Chase’s eyes? Thanks for all the great content. Love your podcast too!
No, Chase Credit Journey doesn’t necessarily show you what Chase sees. It is common for a card to take a month or so to show up on your credit report, so that at least explains Credit Karma.
[…] you do not know your 5/24 status, here’s an article that walks you through the steps on how to determine your 5/24 status on your […]
I have a question on the 5/24 rule. I have used all three suggested ways to check my 5/24 status. Travel Freely (based on data I entered) says I go under 5/24 today (10/1/2020). Both Experian and Credit Karma show a new card (Discover IT Biz) in Aug 2020, pushing by under 5/24 date to 12/1/2020. Looking closer, only Experian shows the new Discover IT Biz card (Transunion and Equifax reports do not). My question – am I under 5/24 now or should I wait until 12/1/2020. I’m very interested in the new Bonvoy Boundless sign-up offer and don’t think it will last long.
You should wait. Thanks to your comment, I checked with Travel Freely and they did have a bug where they weren’t counting the Discover It Business card towards 5/24. I believe that bug has now been fixed (or should be fixed very soon).
[…] The business cards have an advantage in that they don’t add to your 5/24 count. So if you were hoping to sign up for Chase cards in the near future, the business Amex cards won’t hurt that objective. For details about 5/24, see this post. […]
[…] Since this is a Chase card, Chase Bank will only approve applicants who did not acquire more than 5 new personal credit cards the past 24 months. You can read more about Chase’s 5/24 rule here. […]
[…] report. This can actually help your credit score in the long run, but it will also add to your 5/24 Status which can make it harder to qualify for new Chase cards. Fortunately, the Business Platinum […]
[…] If you often sign up for credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, then you’ve probably realized that managing your credit is important. And it’s not just your credit score that’s important — it’s also good to be alerted when new hard inquiries are made and to know the details of your credit report . Chase’s dreaded 5/24 Rule is a good example of this. Chase will usually decline an applicant if he or she has opened 5 or more credit cards with any bank in the past 24 months. So, it’s a good idea to know how to count your 5/24 status. […]
[…] 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status […]
Greg,
It’s been years since I’ve even considered applying for Chase cards due to a surfeit of AU Amex cards and lots of Citi AA Exec cards, but all that is >25 months. However, when you say closed accounts do count (I recently closed many hundreds of Amex AU cards that were opened 3-4-5 years ago), do those still count for 5/24? Or are you saying that’s only for closed cards that were opened within the last 25 months? (I suspect the latter).
Closed cards only count if they were opened in the past 24 months.
Thanks, that’s what I suspected.
[…] How To Count Your 5/24 Status: When people in our hobby hear 5/24, they cringe. This blocks them from getting awesome new cards from a particular bank. How do you know if you’re over or under 5/24? Check out this article. […]
Can you elaborate on authorize user do count? So if I add my friend to my Amex card both the Amex card under my name and the Amex card under my friend name would show, so i would have 2 cards?
No, if you add your friend as an authorized user then your friend would have another card on his/her account that counts towards 5/24.
Anyone do a product change with Wells Fargo and have the resulting account show as a new account on your credit report? I downgraded a Propel World to a Propel to save the AF in March of this year and just checked my 5/24 status using the credit karma approach and see that the propel is shown as a new account with a 3/1/2019 open date (and the propel world is shown as being closed on same date). For the past several years I wouldn’t care, but recently I’ve been considering trying to get under 5/24 and this extra “new” account would add 3 months to the wait. I’m 99% sure this was mishandled by Wells Fargo (none of my product changes with other issuers appear in the credit karma list) so it appears Wells Fargo is still using operating methods that result in inappropriately showing “new” accounts.
I like Travel Freely! It is able to present a lot of good information. You noted it at the end of the post, but it can’t be emphasized enough: It’s a lot of work to get all the data added. But most importantly, the output data is only as good as what you put in. If you make a mistake and put in a wrong date, that will obviously skew the results, especially pertaining to 5/24.
Yep, that’s worth pointing out
@Greg The Frequent Miler
doesnt creditkarma NOT include experian info? but only EF & TU.
or does it not matter, since all credit cards we want report to all 3 bureaus, even if they dont pull all 3 during application?
thanks!
That’s correct on both accounts. In most cases (but not all), the accounts (not the inquiries) are listed on all three reports so it doesn’t usually matter where you count them.
Chase credit journey just recently changed. Instead of showing how many accounts have been opened in the past 24 months instead they are now showing number of “hard” inquiries. For my wife it states 2 hard inquiries over the past 24 months 5 of which were for new accounts. It seems to be a rather odd change. I guess my wife is at 5/24
Thanks. You’re right. I’ll have to update this post!
[…] on top of the rewards that Ebates itself offers. Signing up for this card will count against your 5/24 status though so keep that it mind if you are hoping to sign up for Chase credit […]
Hi! Should I include the chase business cards in the counting? I opened 3 cards in the past 24 months and 2 chase business cards. So am I 5/24 already? TIA.
No, don’t count Chase business cards. You should be at 3/24 right now
[…] card application, or will ruin you for 5/24, but if you don’t want to worry yourself with 5/24, it’s a pretty good return for such a small spend and no annual fee. If […]
What is the phone number for Chase’s reconsideration line?
I was just refused the Ultimate Freedom due to too many cards in the past two years, and I believe it’s because I was added as an authorized user by my kids so they could assure enough spending for the signup bonuses.
1-888-270-2127
You can always find that kind of information on our Best Offers page. At the top of each bank section is a list of key information like that. See here for Chase in the future:
https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/#ChaseTop
If you are the account holder and you add a family member as a AU, does that count to 5/24?
It adds to their 5/24 count, not yours. And for them, they should be able to call Chase to get them to consider the application without the AU cards.
Do chase business cards count toward 5/24?
No, they don’t.
Hi Greg:
Good Post! I just applied for and was approved for the new Hyatt card, though I’m over 5/24. I ‘m now worried that it will extend my waiting period and am thinking of cancelling it before using it. Is it too late?
You could call Chase and ask if you cancel now if that would stop the card from appearing on your credit report. Once it appears there, it will count from then on. Personally, I wouldn’t chance it — even if Chase tells you that it won’t appear, they could be wrong.
My wife opened a “GAP ” store credit card in 2013. She was shopping at the GAP in August of 2017. In order to get a 5% discount she needed to use her GAP card, which she did not have so the cashier cancelled her old GAP card an issued her a new card. This exact scenario happened again in November of 2017. Do these count against the 5/24 Rule? Also, she opened a “Best Buy” store card in 2018. Does this card count against the 5/24 Rule?
If the store cards have Visa, Mastercard, or Amex symbols then they count towards 5/24
[…] good news is that there’s a workaround to seeing these as well (thanks to Frequent Miler for finding this link). If you haven’t done so yet, the first step is to sign-up for Credit […]
[…] good news is that there’s a workaround to seeing these as well (thanks to Frequent Miler for finding this link). If you haven’t done so yet, the first step is to sign-up for Credit […]
I was turned down for the Chase Ink Business (100k bonus in branch) because they are counting 3 AU cards against me. I questioned that and was told that if I use the card or make any payments on it, it counts for me. Really???? They are re-reconsidering and I am supposed to call them back tomorrow.
I have read somewhere there is a way to remove the AUs from your credit report. Do you have an article on how to do that?
Thanks for all of your great articles………..
Yes they count AU cards unless you call them to tell them that you are not responsible for payments to those cards. Doctor of Credit has a post about removing AUs: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/removing-authorized-user-accounts-credit-report/#Chase
[…] Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. Some exceptions that are NOT subject to the 5/24 rule include: British Airways, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott Business, and Ritz Carlton. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. […]
Hi there, thanks so much for this article that really clarifies the facts. I went to Credit Karma and counting backward, my fifth card in reverse, was opened on 5/27/16. We’re now in May 2018. I interpret this to mean I should not apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve until 5/28/18 at the soonest – or 6/1/18 ? thanks again.
Wait until 6/1
Greg, thanks for this superb, updated resource. Especially delighted you’ve shown us how to use an “old interface link” for accessing the Credit Karma tool. Makes my 5/24 calculations so much easier again. (And along the way, will keep your cc app links in mind as small tangible thanks too.)
Thanks!
I want to make sure I’m counting correctly. It is now April 19, 2018. I pulled up my Credit Karma account. I have 5 accounts opened more recently than April 1, 2016. I do have an account opened on April 15, 2016, but that one does not count towards the 5/24, correct?
Account #5 was opened June 2, 2016. So that means I drop to 4/24 on June 3? Would I have to wait until July 1 to apply for another Chase card (a month later, similar to Don’s posted question)? If so, I’m not really understanding why I need to wait a month.
Chase doesn’t seem to count the specific days that cards were opened. They go by the month count. Your April 2016 card will drop from the count as of May 1. Account #5 (opened June 2 2016) will drop from your 5/24 count on July 1.
I think I’ve got it now. Ok, so right now I have 6 accounts (all recent accounts including the April 2016 account). On May 1 I will have have 5 accounts when April 2016 account drops off. On July 1, I will have 4 accounts when June 2016 drops off.
Really hate Chase’s 5/24 rule — for multiple reasons!
Thanks for the help, Greg!
I am currently at 5/24 an opened Chase card hits the 2 year aniversary on April 4th, Experian shows it opened on April 1st. Can I apply for another Chase card on April 5th or do I have to wait until May 1st
Wait until May 1
After being denied the Chase Freedom Unlimited card I assumed for some reason it was because I had just been approved for the CSR. My next strategy was to open a CFU in my wife’s name, but she was also denied despite being 0/24 and 800+ FICO. She called the recon line and found out she has a HELOC that was being reported with the monthly payment as the same as the current balance. I immediately went on the Experian app to check my situation and there it was. The HELOC monthly payment was the same as the outstanding balance. NO WONDER I GOT DENIED THE CFU (quite frankly, I’m surprised the CSR was approved!). I was able to file a dispute right on the app and hopefully will get this cleared up ASAP. Thanks for recommending the Experian app, Greg!
Hey Greg! Just in case you’re wondering if anyone pays attention, we do notice that you write less these days 😉
I’m glad you have a team of contributor now, and appreciate all that they’ve got to add, but one big reason I’ve enjoyed your blog is your writing style! Kind of miss reading it every morning!!
Thanks Peter! For years I published my own posts every weekday morning except when there was the occasional guest post. Now we’re moving to me doing M,W,F and Nick doing Tues and Thurs. It happened that we had a couple of guest posts this week as well which was why I didn’t do the Wednesday post. But in general you should see that pattern as well as (I hope) more frequent but smaller afternoon / evening posts from me
I had Cap1 card opened once, but the bank closed it within couple of months. So now, would it counted as 2/24, i.e. 1 open and 1 closed account? Is there any DP wherein I can ask Cap1 to remove credit inquiry thereby open/close history if they banned me from their products for life?
It only counts once. Your report should show a single account with status “closed”. I don’t think you can get the account removed from your report. Note too that accounts and inquiries are different things. The inquiry has nothing to do with 5/24 and will automatically fall off your report in two years.
Just for clarification. You are saying that if you have three cards opened with the past 24 months, but four cards closed you would be considered over the 5/24 rule?
Yes, closed accounts count IF they were originally opened in the past 24 months. It is the open date that matters. Whether or not the account was closed since then doesn’t matter.
OK that makes more sense. You still are only counting any cards that were opened within the last 24 months even if they have since been closed.
Looks like they are counting the authorized user accounts also. So, you will have to subtract them..
Greg, thank you for the great info! I’m really enjoying your blog. I downloaded the Experian app and looked up my accounts. I’ve noticed that I only have one American Express card when I look at the app in the way you instructed but I did open 2 AMEX cards within the last year. Without the missing AMEX I am at 3/24. With it I am at 4/24. I am just wondering if Chase is counting one or two AMEX accounts. Thoughts?
If one of the Amex cards was a business card then that makes sense. Otherwise I don’t know why they wouldn’t both be there. Anyway I think it may be safe to assume you’re at 3/24
No, neither of the cards are business cards. I have heard that AMEX doesn’t always do a hard pull when issuing a card. Is Chase looking at hard pulls or actual cards? Thanks!
Chase doesn’t look at pulls (inquiries) for 5/24. They only look at accounts.
Experian website on a laptop works just the same as the app – but gives you a bigger screen to view on – much easier to count when you have 10+. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I considered including the Experian website in this roundup, but it lists opened and closed accounts separately. That’s not a huge problem, but you do need to remember to count from both sections and add up your results.
whats the free experian website please? thanks
Off topic, is it possible to view the comments with the oldest post on top? I know it used to be that way before the new design. In addition, when the comment is long, I can click the “more” to show the whole comment. But the comment rearranges somehow, so I have to start from the beginning to find where I left off. Not a deal breaker, but it is a little annoying. Is it possible to expand the comment without changing the format? Thanks.
It is possible for us to sort the comments oldest first, but I’m not sure if that’s best. I like having the most recent discussions on top. I might poll readers to see what they prefer.
With the click to show more, for me it doesn’t rearrange things at all. It just shows more in-place. I tried Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. What browser do you use?
Ignore my previous response. Nick explained both issues to me (such as this reply showing up above my previous reply). We’ll see what we can do.
I changed the sort order to be oldest on top, but it doesn’t seem to be working with replies at the same level (such as multiple replies to your comment)
Thanks Greg. It is much better now. I prefer to read it chronologically. In the past few days, I had to scroll down to the bottom and scroll back up to read the full discussion.
Thanks so much. It was a pain going through a regular credit report. Anyway, I went through the Experian app. Besides credit cards it also lists car leases. Are those counted in the 5/24? If not, I have 4/24, so it’ll make a difference. Thanks again.
No you shouldn’t count your car lease. I’ve updated this post to try to make that clear.
Great! Thanks.
Great to find the old interface for Credit Karma, since that is what I had been using. Thank you!
So the 5/24 rule counts for openings only? What if you maintain over 5 credit cards for say 3 years or more. If you apply again to chaSE AND YOU HAVE NOT OPENED ANY NEW CARDS WITHIN 24 MONTHS YOU WILL BE OK?
Yes, that’s correct. If you haven’t opened any new cards within 24 months then your 5/24 count is 0/24 regardless of how many accounts you previously opened. You will be OK with applying for more. I can’t promise you’ll get approved — they still consider all the usual factors for approval, but at least the 5/24 rule won’t stop you.
I’m at the limit with chase…the last card they lopped 5k of one of my cards to give me the one I recently applied for…it wasn’t initially approved either..I waited it out and it appeared a week later.
Keep that in mind.
After reading that Chase Credit Journey doesn’t count closed accounts, I was in a panic! It shows me at 6/24 and I knew that 2 accounts would come off this week and am planning on applying for the CSR next week. I cross referenced Chase Credit Journey with Credit Karma and the Experian app you recommended. In my case, anyway, my Credit Journey data DOES include the 1 closed account I knew of. Also, if you click on the “Credit Report” link at the top of the Credit Journey page, it will show you all your accounts including closed accounts.
I’m surprised to hear that your closed account is showing up on Credit Journey’s count. Did you close it recently? If so, maybe it simply hasn’t fallen off the count yet?
Thanks for pointing out that you can see your accounts in Credit Journey. The problem for those of us with lots of accounts, though, is that crucial info (such as open date) is not shown unless you click into each account. It would be really tough for me to count my true 5/24 status that way since Credit Journey lists 66 accounts for me!
I just went back and double checked all 3 again to be sure. All 3 show 6 accounts opened since March 1st, 2016 with 1 of them being an account that was closed in January 2018.
On a side note, the 2 accounts that show being opened on March 16, 2016 on Credit Karma and Experian are shown as being opened on March 1, 2016 on the Credit Journey credit report page.
Just an update. I went 4/24 on Chase Credit Journey on the 16th. Today, the 19th, I applied for and was instantly approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card with the largest credit line I’ve ever been initially given.
Great! Congrats.
66! Jeez, my kids think I’m nuts with 22! You go, Greg!