Field guide · Chase
The Chase 5/24 rule, explained
The 5/24 rule is Chase's unwritten cap: open five or more personal credit cards across all banks in 24 months, and Chase declines most new applications automatically. Here's what counts, what doesn't, and how to find your number.
Five slots. Twenty-four months. Every bank counts.
The count isn't about Chase cards; it's every personal card you've opened anywhere in the last two years. Business cards mostly skip it, old cards age off, and closing a card changes nothing.
Add opened dates in the optimizer and the tally is automatic.
What is the Chase 5/24 rule?
If your credit report shows five or more personal card accounts opened in the past 24 months, from any issuer, Chase automatically declines most new card applications. Income, credit score, and a spotless history don't override it: the count is the gate.
Chase has never published the rule. Its shape comes from years of reported approvals and denials, which is also why the details below can shift without notice.
It covers nearly every Chase consumer card, including co-branded airline and hotel cards. And because the count includes cards from every bank, an Amex or Citi spree can lock you out of Chase for two years.
Which cards count toward 5/24?
Anything that appears as a personal card account on your credit report counts, whether or not it's still open.
Counts
Personal cards from any bank
Chase, Amex, Citi, a credit union: issuer doesn't matter, and neither does closing it since.
Store and retail cards
If it reports as a card account, it counts, even one you opened for a checkout discount.
Authorized-user cards
They usually land on your report, so they count. Chase can often be talked out of these on a reconsideration call.
Business cards that report personally
A few banks put business cards on personal reports (some Capital One products, notably). Those count like any other card.
Doesn't count
Most business cards
Chase, Amex, Citi, and most other issuers keep business cards off your personal report.
Denials and hard inquiries
Only opened accounts count. An application that didn't go through spends nothing.
Product changes
Swapping one card for another on the same account opens nothing new, so the count doesn't move.
Loans
Auto loans, mortgages, student loans, and personal loans aren't card accounts.
When does a card fall off the count?
A card stops counting once a full 24 months have passed since the month you opened it. A card opened in June 2024 is safely off the count from July 2026.
Credit reports work in months, so the safe move is to apply the month after the two-year mark, not the week of it.
Closing a card doesn't speed this up. The clock runs on the open date, so a card opened ten months ago counts for fourteen more whether you keep it or shred it.
How do I check my 5/24 status?
Count every personal card account on your credit report opened in the last 24 months, including closed accounts and authorized-user cards. By hand, that's three steps:
Pull your report
Use annualcreditreport.com, the free official source, or any credit-monitoring app that shows open dates.
List open dates
Every card account: open, closed, and authorized-user. Skip loans and most business cards.
Count the last 24 months
Five or more and Chase is off the table this month. Four or fewer and you have slots to spend.
Or skip the worksheet. Add your cards with opened dates to the free optimizer and it keeps the tally for you: business cards don't burn a slot, Chase cards you can't get are filtered out of recommendations, and there's a Preserve 5/24 direction if you're saving slots on purpose.
Why 5/24 changes your application order
No other major issuer runs an equivalent count, so Chase cards usually belong first in any multi-card plan.
Open three cards elsewhere first and you may have spent the slots Chase cares about on banks that never checked. The reverse order costs nothing: other issuers don't mind your Chase history the same way.
Business cards are the other lever. Most don't add to your count, so they grow a wallet without spending slots. And sometimes the strongest move is to wait a month for a card to age off, which is exactly the kind of call the advisor's next-step analysis weighs, alongside each issuer's reapply cooldowns.
Fair questions
Is the 5/24 rule official?
No. Chase has never published it. The pattern comes from years of reported approvals and denials, and it can change without notice. Treat any count, including this tool's, as an estimate.
Does closing a card remove it from my count?
No. The count runs on open dates, not account status. A card opened ten months ago counts for fourteen more, open or closed.
Do business cards count?
Mostly no. Business cards from Chase, Amex, Citi, and most other issuers stay off your personal report, so they never enter the count. A few banks do report business cards personally (some Capital One products, for example), and those count like any other card.
Do authorized-user cards count?
Usually yes, because they appear on your report. If an authorized-user card is what pushes you to five, reported experiences say a reconsideration call to Chase often gets it excluded.
Does 5/24 apply to Chase business cards?
For approval, yes: Chase checks that you're under 5/24 before approving its business cards. But once approved, the business card doesn't add to your count.
Are any Chase cards exempt?
Nearly every Chase consumer card is covered, including co-branded airline and hotel cards. Reported exceptions have been rare and short-lived, so plan as if there are none.
Five slots is the whole game.
Know your count before you apply.
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