The Chase 5/24 rule limits the number of credit cards you can be approved for within a two-year period and still qualify for additional Chase credit cards. Here’s everything you need to know about the Chase credit card rules so you can plan your applications.

What is the Chase 5/24 rule?

To be approved for a Chase credit card, you must have fewer than five approvals for credit cards within the last 24 months. When you apply for a Chase credit card, Chase will count the card you’re applying for as part of your allowed five approvals. This means that you can only have been approved for four credit cards (with any issuer) in the preceding 24 months.

Business credit cards that do not show up on your personal credit report will not count toward your 5/24 score. (More on this below.)

Chase published the 5/24 rule on the application page for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® in 2016, but on Sept. 1, 2016, all language referring to 5/24 was removed from the website. That remains true today, as the 5/24 rule is not published anywhere by Chase.

Because of this lack of documentation, much of what’s understood about this rule comes from crowdsourced information. Starting in 2015, when the original rule seemed to have gone into effect, many applicants with self-reported excellent credit (defined as 720 or higher) have shared on social media channels that Chase representatives communicated their denial was due to having opened too many credit cards in the last 24 months.

In fact, this happened to me in 2016 when my application was denied. I called Chase and got the same explanation.

Chase isn’t the only issuer to impose a limit on the number of approved cards. American Express, Barclays, Citibank and various other banks have their own rules. Although rules differ between issuers, the underlying message is that banks want to prevent consumers from having too much credit and either getting into debt or abusing rewards programs.

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How to calculate my 5/24 score

When you apply for a credit card, you authorize the bank to run your credit report. The bank will pull your credit report from one of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian or TransUnion.

The credit report will include a lot of important information about your financial profile, including all of the credit cards that you have opened and closed, and when you applied for those cards.

When Chase runs your credit report and finds five credit card approvals in the past 24 months, you will automatically get declined for a Chase credit card. So if you were approved for a card on Jan. 15, 2020, that card may no longer be considered as part of your 5/24 count by Feb. 1, 2022. There have been reports of people getting approved within a few days of a card falling off the 5/24 list, but there is no guarantee that will happen.

Note, if you are added as an authorized user on someone else’s credit card, the card will likely count toward your 5/24 score.

How to check 5/24 status

There is no such thing as a Chase 5/24 calculator, so you’ll need to do the math yourself. Luckily, it's fairly easy to do.

Before you apply for a Chase card, calculate your 5/24 score by looking at your credit report. You are entitled to at least one free copy of your full credit report from each major credit bureau every 12 months.