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Chase's 5/24 is an unpublished guideline, reported by the community, not an official published rule. As of October 20, 2026, it means Chase usually declines most of its cards if you have opened five or more personal cards from any bank in the past 24 months, even if those accounts are now closed.
Use our Chase 5/24 calculator and check your free weekly credit reports to count accurately before you apply.
Our own free tracker, RewardTracker.io, lets you track two cards free; a one-time $10 unlock adds the rest of the catalog on that account.
At a Glance
What counts toward the unpublished 5/24 guideline as of October 20, 2026.
| What | Counts toward 5/24? | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Personal credit cards from any bank | Yes, even if closed | community-reported |
| Authorized-user cards on your report | Yes | community-reported |
| Personal charge and store cards that report as credit accounts | Yes | community-reported |
| Most business cards | No (do not appear on personal reports) | community-reported |
| Exceptions: Discover, TD Bank, most Capital One small-business (except Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus) | Yes | community-reported |
| Chase business cards | Do not add to count, but approval usually requires being under 5/24 | community-reported |
No Chase card is consistently reported as exempt in 2026. Denied applications do not count.
What the 5/24 Rule Is
Unpublished guideline
Chase does not publish the 5/24 guideline on its current application pages. It remains an unpublished guideline reported by the community. NerdWallet notes that Chase considers the number of cards recently opened as one factor in reviewing applications.
2016 history
In 2016 a note on the Sapphire Reserve application page read: "You will not be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more bank cards in the past 24 months." The language was removed on September 1, 2016. Community reports continue to describe the same practice: Chase usually declines most of its cards if you have opened five or more personal credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months, even if those accounts are now closed.
This applies to personal cards only under the community reports. The guideline has stayed consistent in community tracking since the 2016 language was removed. Chase's own Sapphire terms also note that it may consider the number of cards you have opened and closed when determining bonus eligibility, which aligns with the broader application review factors.
Treat 5/24 as a community-reported unpublished guideline rather than a published rule. Plan applications around it by counting carefully and waiting for older accounts to age past the window.
What Counts and What Doesn't
Personal and authorized-user cards
Personal credit cards from any bank count toward 5/24, even if you closed them later. Authorized-user cards that appear on your credit report also count. Denied applications do not count. Some applicants report that Chase reconsideration agents will disregard authorized-user accounts once told they are not the primary cardholder, but this is not guaranteed. The Points Guy's guide summarizes these community reports.
Charge and store cards
Personal charge cards and store cards that report as credit card accounts count toward the total. If a store card or charge card shows as a revolving credit account on your personal report, include it in your count.
Business exceptions
Most business cards do not count because they do not appear on personal credit reports. Exceptions that do count include business cards from Discover and TD Bank, and most Capital One small-business cards (except Capital One Venture X Business and Capital One Spark Cash Plus). Chase business cards do not add to your 5/24 count, but you generally need to be under 5/24 to be approved for them.
No Chase card is consistently reported as exempt from 5/24 in 2026. Isolated reports of exceptions exist but are not reliable. Count every personal card from any issuer that appears on your reports, including authorized-user accounts, and exclude most business cards unless they match the listed exceptions.
A worked example: four personal cards opened in the last 24 months plus one authorized-user card equals five, which usually leads to declines on most Chase cards. Closing an account does not remove it from the count until it ages out.
How to Count Your Cards Step by Step
- Pull your free weekly credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. The site says you can check your credit for free every week, with no subscriptions or hidden fees.
- List every personal credit card account opened in the past 24 months, using the open date shown on the report. Include authorized-user cards and any charge or store cards that report as credit accounts. Exclude most business cards unless they are from Discover, TD Bank, or most Capital One small-business products (except Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus).
- Count the total. If it is five or more, Chase usually declines most of its cards under the community-reported guideline. Denied applications do not add to the count.
- Use our Chase 5/24 calculator to organize the open dates and see when accounts will age out. Cross-check the open dates carefully, because the safer drop-off is the first day of the 25th month after the fifth-most-recent account was opened.
- Re-check before applying, as new accounts or reporting updates can change the total. This process gives the most reliable community-reported count.
A worked example: if your fifth-most-recent personal card opened on October 15, 2024, it stops counting for an application on November 1, 2026. Include every qualifying account from any bank.
When Cards Drop Off
Community reports say you are not reliably below the 5/24 guideline until the first day of the 25th month after the fifth-most-recent personal account was opened. Use the open date that appears on your credit report, not the date you applied or the date the card arrived. Some sources mention a clean 24-month mark; the later date is the safer one to plan around.
An account opened in October 2024 stops counting for an application on 1 November 2026. That is the first day of the 25th month. Closing the account does not remove it from the count; only the passage of time does.
Worked example 1. The fifth-most-recent personal card shows an open date of 12 March 2025. The 25th month begins on 1 April 2027. An application submitted on or after 1 April 2027 treats that card as no longer counting. An application on 31 March 2027 still counts it.
Worked example 2. Five personal cards show open dates of 5 January 2025, 18 February 2025, 3 June 2025, 22 September 2025 and 10 December 2025. The oldest, opened 5 January 2025, is the first to drop off, on 1 February 2027. Until then the applicant is at five. On 1 February 2027 the count falls to four.
Worked example 3. An authorized-user card that appears on the personal report has an open date of 28 August 2025. Because authorized-user accounts count, this one is part of the five. It stops counting on 1 September 2027. If the applicant can successfully ask a reconsideration agent to disregard it (not guaranteed), the drop-off date of the next-oldest personal primary account becomes the controlling date instead.
Always pull a fresh credit report and list every account whose open date falls inside the rolling 24-month window. Business cards that do not appear on the personal report are left off the list. The exact calendar day matters; being one day early keeps the fifth card inside the count.
Because the guideline is unpublished, Chase has never confirmed the precise drop-off timing. Planning for the first day of the 25th month keeps the application on the safer side of the community-reported line. Checking the open dates on the reports from all three bureaus catches any account that one bureau shows and another does not.
The only reliable way to know the drop-off date is to start from the open date printed on the credit report and count forward to the first day of the 25th month.
Other Chase Limits
Beyond the community-reported 5/24 guideline, Chase applies additional limits that applicants track. Community reports indicate Chase will not approve more than two new personal accounts within any 30-day period. The window is rolling; two approvals on 1 October and 15 October block a third personal approval until 1 November at the earliest.
Official Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve terms state: “This credit card is unavailable to you if you currently have this card open. The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you previously held this card or received a new cardmember bonus for this card. We may also consider the number of cards you have opened and closed in determining your bonus eligibility.”
Since 22 January 2026, Sapphire bonus eligibility is per product. You can earn the Preferred bonus if you have never earned the Preferred bonus, even while holding the Reserve, and the reverse is also true.
Ink Business Preferred terms state the new cardmember bonus may not be available if you have ever had this card. Ink Business Cash terms state the bonus may not be available if you have ever had this card or any other Chase for Business card without an annual fee. Both pages also note that Chase may consider factors pertinent to the business.
These product-specific terms sit alongside the community-reported 5/24 and two-in-30-days guidelines. Being under five personal cards in 24 months does not override the Sapphire or Ink language. Holding an open Sapphire Preferred still blocks a second Preferred, regardless of 5/24 status. Having ever held an Ink Business Preferred still blocks a new Preferred bonus.
For a side-by-side look at the two Sapphire cards, see Sapphire Preferred versus Sapphire Reserve. For a comparison that includes the Ink Business Preferred, see Ink Preferred versus Sapphire Reserve.
Planning Around 5/24
Planning starts from three community-reported facts: personal cards from any bank count even if closed, most business cards do not count because they do not appear on personal reports, and you are not reliably under the line until the first day of the 25th month after the fifth-most-recent personal open date. Chase business cards themselves do not add to the count, but approval for them generally still requires being under five.
Worked example 1. An applicant has four personal cards opened in the past 24 months and one Capital One Spark Cash business card (a Capital One business card that reports to personal credit, so it counts). The total is five. The oldest of the five has an open date of 8 November 2024. It drops off on 1 December 2026. Until that date the applicant stays at five and delays both personal and business Chase applications. On 1 December 2026 the count falls to four and a Chase application becomes possible, provided the two-in-30-days window is also clear.
Worked example 2. An applicant is at four personal cards and wants an Ink Business Cash. Because most business cards do not appear on the personal report, the Ink itself will not raise the 5/24 count if approved. The applicant still needs to be under five at the moment of application. Opening one more personal card at another bank before the Ink application would push the count to five and block the Ink. Waiting until an older personal card reaches its 25th-month date keeps the path open.
Worked example 3. Five personal cards are open. Their open dates are 15 January 2025, 2 April 2025, 19 July 2025, 30 September 2025 and 11 December 2025. The oldest, opened 15 January 2025, drops off on 1 February 2027. The applicant can open non-Chase business cards that do not report to personal credit in the meantime; those do not change the personal count. On 1 February 2027 the personal count falls to four and both personal and business Chase applications can be considered, subject to the separate two-in-30-days and product-specific terms.
For the wider set of issuer rules that interact with 5/24, see credit card application rules by issuer. Additional notes on meeting spend requirements appear at how to meet welcome spend naturally.
Bottom Line
5/24 is Chase’s unpublished guideline, reported by the community, not an official published rule. Personal cards from any bank opened in the past 24 months count, even if closed. Most business cards do not. You are not reliably under the line until the first day of the 25th month after the fifth-most-recent personal open date. Check free weekly reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and use our Chase 5/24 calculator to confirm the count. Watch the separate community-reported two-new-personal-cards-in-30-days limit and the official Sapphire and Ink bonus terms.
Start with the open dates on your reports, mark the drop-off days, and only then decide which card to request. For the broader starting framework, see the starting guide.
FAQ
Is the Chase 5/24 rule official?
No. Chase does not publish the 5/24 guideline on its current application pages. In 2016 a note on the Sapphire Reserve page said you would not be approved if you had opened five or more bank cards in the past 24 months; that language was removed on 1 September 2016. It remains an unpublished guideline reported by the community.
Do authorized user cards count?
Community reports say authorized-user cards that appear on your credit report count toward the five. Denied applications do not count. Some applicants report that reconsideration agents will disregard authorized-user accounts once told they are not the primary cardholder, but this is not guaranteed.
Do business cards count toward 5/24?
Most business cards do not count because they do not appear on personal credit reports. Exceptions that do count include Discover and TD Bank business cards and most Capital One small-business cards (except Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus). Chase business cards themselves do not add to the count, but you generally need to be under five to be approved for them.
When do cards drop off the count?
Community reports say you are not reliably below 5/24 until the first day of the 25th month after the fifth-most-recent account was opened. An account opened in October 2024 stops counting on 1 November 2026. Use the open date on your credit report.
How do I check my 5/24 status?
Pull your free weekly credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and list every personal account whose open date falls inside the past 24 months. Include authorized-user accounts and the business-card exceptions. Our Chase 5/24 calculator can help organize the dates.
What is Chase’s 2 per 30 days rule?
Community reports indicate Chase will not approve more than two new personal accounts within any 30-day period. The window is rolling.
What do Sapphire bonus terms say?
Official terms state the card is unavailable if you currently have it open, and the new cardmember bonus may not be available if you previously held the card or received its bonus. Since 22 January 2026 you can earn each Sapphire card’s bonus once if you have never earned that specific card’s bonus, even while holding the other.
Are there any cards exempt from 5/24?
Community reports say no Chase card is consistently reported as exempt from the guideline in 2026. Isolated reports of exceptions exist but are not reliable.