Quick answer: Chase generally won’t approve you for a new personal card — and most business cards — if you’ve opened five or more credit card accounts, from any bank, in the past 24 months. It’s an unwritten but consistently enforced policy, not something printed in a card’s terms. The count resets on the first day of the 25th month after an account was opened, not on the exact anniversary date, and a handful of business and small-bank cards don’t count toward it at all.
What Actually Counts as “a New Card”
Every personal credit card you’ve opened in the trailing 24 months counts — regardless of issuer. A Capital One card, an Amex, a store card from a big retailer, a Discover it: all of it goes into the same bucket Chase is counting. Authorized-user accounts on someone else’s card technically also show up on your credit report and, in practice, can count against you, which is why serious points collectors are cautious about being added as an authorized user on a card they don’t plan to keep.
What doesn’t count: most small-business cards from banks other than Chase, and — this is the one that surprises people — Chase’s own Ink business cards. An Ink approval doesn’t add a new account to your 5/24 count. It just requires you to already be under 5/24 to get approved in the first place.
How the 24-Month Clock Actually Works
This is where most self-diagnosed 5/24 counts go wrong. Chase counts by calendar month, not by the exact date you opened the account. If you opened a card on March 14, 2025, you are not clear of it until March 1, 2027 — the first day of the 25th month — not March 14. Applying two weeks “early” because the math feels close enough is one of the most common ways people burn a hard inquiry on a denial they could have avoided by waiting a few more weeks.
Why This Matters for Getting Chase Welcome Bonuses Again
5/24 governs approval, full stop — it has nothing to do with whether you’re eligible for a specific card’s welcome bonus. That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should. We regularly hear from readers who assume they were denied a second Chase Sapphire bonus because of bonus-eligibility rules, when the real issue was that they were sitting at 6/24 and got an automatic denial before bonus eligibility was ever checked. If you’re planning any kind of return trip through Chase’s welcome bonuses, checking your 5/24 status first is the actual first step — not the Sapphire or Ink eligibility questions people tend to jump to.
How to Count Your Own 5/24 Status
Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus (you’re entitled to free weekly reports at AnnualCreditReport.com) and list every personal credit card account opened in the trailing 24 months, across every issuer. Don’t count business cards from other banks, authorized-user accounts you plan to remove, or closed accounts that are still within the 24-month window — closing a card doesn’t remove it from your count until the 24 months from its open date have passed.
If your list has five or more entries, you’re over 5/24 and Chase will very likely deny a new personal card application, regardless of your income or credit score. If you’re at four or fewer, you’re clear — for personal cards. Business cards from Chase itself still require you to be under 5/24, so the count matters there too, even though the approval itself won’t add to it.
What to Do If You’re Over 5/24
There’s no fast way around it beyond waiting. The most common approach is to simply let your oldest qualifying account age out of the 24-month window, then reapply once you’ve confirmed the correct reset date using the calendar-month rule above. Some people time other bank’s card applications (Amex, Capital One, Citi) for the months they’re over 5/24, since those approvals don’t touch Chase eligibility at all, and then swing back to Chase once they’re clear.
If you’re weighing whether to open an Ink business card while you’re near the line, that approval itself won’t tip you further over 5/24 — but you’ll still need to be under it before applying. For more on how the Ink lineup fits into a broader plan for getting Chase welcome bonuses again once you’ve already built out a wallet of personal cards, see our full guide.
Disclaimer: The information on RawCents is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always consult a qualified financial professional before making decisions about your money. Approval and underwriting rules are set by the issuer and subject to change without notice.