Back in March I wrote a post on how Chase credit cards are going to get harder to get. As many of you know, last year Chase put in place a “rule” where you could only be approved for one of their personal branded credit cards IF you had less than 5 credit cards approvals in the past 24 months. This became known as the “5/24” rule, but did NOT apply to Chase business cards or co-branded cards (i.e., Ink Business, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, etc.). It was definitely a hard hit on those that like to open credit cards for the sign up bonuses since many people apply for 5 or more cards in a given 2 year timeframe.
In March, there were many reports stating that this “5/24” rule would go into affect for both Chase business cards and Chase co-branded credit cards (the reports stated that Chase business cards would be affected March 2016 and Chase co-branded cards would be affected April 2016). March and April came and went and people were still still being approved for these cards even if they have applied for a ton of credit cards in the past 2 years.
From a personal standpoint, yesterday I applied for the Chase Marriott Premier Business credit card and had no problem being approved. I can promise you that I’ve applied for way more than 5 credit cards in the past 24 months. While reading reports is always a great way of knowing what is going on in the industry, having personal experience is even better in my mind.
This means that if you have been eyeing any particular Chase card/sign up bonus, I suggest applying in the near future. With that being said, Chase still looks at your overall credit history when deciding on whether or not they are going to accept or deny your application. But fortunately, applying for 5 or more cards within the past 24 months will not prevent you from being approved (for now!). I’ll be sure to report back when I start to notice a trend of this “5/24” rule being put into affect.
I’ve gone ahead and listed out a few of the more popular Chase credit cards that you might want to focus on (due to their increased sign up bonus). You can check out ALL Chase credit cards and their respective offers here.
Overall…
While you are still able and allowed to apply for Chase cards, this rule just means you need to keep diligent records of when you last applied for cards. It also means to think ahead about what cards you want to apply for in the future when applying for a specific card. Being added as an authorized user on a card also counts as one of the “5”, so be cautious when adding on others as authorized users.
I’ll make sure to inform you all when this “rule” officially goes into place, but as of yesterday you are in the clear.
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Slightly off topic but I recently got a notice from Chase that I didn’t qualify for the signup bonus on the Marriott card because I’d taken advantage of “this offer or similar offer within the past two years.” – this even though I’ve never had the card before – and after I’d already completed the required spend, three months in. Thankfully the rep I spoke with explained it was a mistake and they’d sent out a bunch of these in error.
02nz – I’ve read a few reports of that. Glad to hear it was just a mistake.
Just curious, did you sign up for this card in a business name or your name, DBA? That is how I would do it. Thank you. I would want to use my own social security number. Would like to know before I give it a shot.
@kethy – I used my business name.
I was under the impression that only personal cards were affected by the 5/24 rule.
Haven’t heard of any rejections for business cards.
Did you apply under your SSN or your Fed, biz number?
@juan – I applied under my EIN.
If my spouse added me as an authorized user on one of his cards (most likely his existing Barclay Arrival card), would that count as a credit application under the Chase 5/24 rule?
yes
@Mary – Yes it would.