Typically 5/24 Affects Your Next Credit Card Application
When Chase introduced the Sapphire Reserve credit card in 2016, travel reward hackers jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of its points-earning potential and generous perks.
But some consumers have found that they cannot get approval for a card, even if they have excellent credit. This happened due to what is called the 5/24 rule.
Here’s Richard Kerr of The Points Guy on the bounce streak:
The agents named the reason why the applicant “opened too many new accounts in the last 24 months”. For a short period of time, there was enough data to determine that the threshold for Chase’s failure was equal to five or more credit card accounts opened at all banks in the last 24 months.
The limitation seems to only apply to Chase cards, but this issuer has some of the most popular bonus cards out there. In addition to Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards, Chase operates joint cards with Southwest Airlines, United, Starbucks, Hyatt and Disney, to name a few. be limited to chase cards, but given that chase cards are some of the most popular rewards among enthusiasts, it makes a difference.
If you enjoy traveling the wave of credit rewards by regularly opening accounts for signup bonuses, the 5/24 rule can make it difficult to achieve your goals.
If you’re wondering if the rule applies to you, check your credit report (via Annualcreditreport.com or a free monitoring site like Credit Karma and check the opening dates of all your Chase cards. You will see them listed as “JPMCB Card Services.” If you have had more than five cards open in the last 24 months, you will need to wait to apply for any new Chase cards. have opened within the last two years, you should be ready to apply.
There are several ways to get around the 5/24 cap if you’re hungry for a new reward card. You can apply for a new card when you are logged into your Chase account by clicking “Selected for you” or “Only for you” to get around 5/24, according to Doctor of Credit . This site – the first to discover the 5/24 rule – also notes that if you receive pre-approval for your Chase card by email or post, you will be able to successfully apply for the card within that two-year window.
Of course, if your goals are commonplace – you want to limit debt, increase your credit score, and use your cards wisely – you probably don’t have to worry about the 5/24 rule. But if you have multiple cards, it’s a good idea to check your lineup before applying for any attractive new ones.
This post was originally published in 2016 and was updated by Lisa Rowan on March 25, 2020. Updates included the following: Validated links for accuracy; updated formatting to reflect the current style; changed the title and image of the function; corrected content to add detail and context.