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I was going to do an app spree about a year ago, but during my research learned about how the 5/24 rule with Chase works. Fast forward one more year and I'm sitting at 0 inquiries and 0 new accounts in the past 24 months. I was planning to do a long awaited app spree but the more I researched Chase, the more I pumped the brakes. I was previously unaware of this 2/30 rule.
So I thought, ok I would just apply for 2 Chase cards and a few other issuers. And then I read that two Chase applications in 24 hours means one will get kicked back and denied. So I thought, ok I'll just space two Chase apps out over the next week. And then I click on an article that says only 1 Chase card will get approved in a 30 day period. I'm also reading how sometimes multiple new accounts in a short time period will trigger Chase to shut down all your Chase cards.
So what the heck is the best practice for getting multiple Chase cards these days? There are a number of other cards I am interested in applying for but I feel I need to make the most out of being under 5/24 while I can. How many Chase cards total should I even aim for these days?
Thanks in advance for any input.
Hi and welcome to MyFICO
Good for you for doing your due diligence. So, before we can provide worthwhile advice, can you give us your other DPs.
AAOA
Other CCs and their CLs
Any loans
Any baddies
3 FICO scores
UT
Thanks for the response,
AAOA is 7 years and 1 month
27 other CC's with 295k total limits (Chase is the one major issuer that has eluded me)
Mortgage and a student loan with 18% left
No baddies
Scores are 831 / 831 / 835
UT is 0% currently
@Flint wrote:Thanks for the response,
AAOA is 7 years and 1 month
27 other CC's with 295k total limits (Chase is the one major issuer that has eluded me)
Mortgage and a student loan with 18% left
No baddies
Scores are 831 / 831 / 835
UT is 0% currently
OP you look golden for Chase as long as you haven't opened or applied for multiple CCs in the last 6 months. Chase is sensitive to inqs and new accounts.
GL2U
Most of what you read is mostly guidelines on how to navigate Chase.
5/24 is well known around here and other parts but, it's not 100% nor are the other policies if you have what they want.
There are multiple ways around 5/24 if it's a card you really desire and have a use for. 2/30 is a soft rule that can get triggered even with a CLI one month and a new CC app a few weeks later. It's more of a fraud prevention rule they setup in the computer that reviews apps.
-- for instance in Nov I went for a CLI and a few weeks later I went for a CSP and it went pending until I called and answered questions and it was approved on the spot after verfication.
So, you obviously want at least 2 Chase cards.... What's more important are the cards you want and which one you value more over the other. Always go for the one you really want and not what is offered. If you want to roll the dice on the 2nd card that's up to you and timing it out can help. I did go for 2 at the same time at one point and got instapproved for both the same day. I went CFU and Amazon and they didn't have a problem with that at all.
As said above the 2/30 thing is a soft rule and from my veiwpoint it's mostly on their core producs as you can see with the CLI/CSP situation it flagged it but, with the CFU/Amazon it didn't.
So, if you want multiple cards and really wnat the best odds then I would just go into a branch as their approvals are able to override the computer if need be. This is what I was eluding to above about 5/24 and getting beyond it. There are plenty of us that play the credit game and bypass the barriers with some of these methods. I've sene some people in excess of 15/24 getting approved in branch w/o any issues.
Obviously if you want Chase you can expect them to be SPing your reports post approval to see what else you're up to and if you do too much too soon after then they may get yanked back and you'll be out of Chase again. Barclay's will do the same thing if you're being a bit excessive and at a minimum they'll drop your CL while they see how you end up using their cards if they think you're bonus chasing or opening too many products post approval.
Being 0/24 though and 830's for scores... you have the pick of the litter when it comes to approvals provided there's not some significant debt issue hiding in the closet that we're not aware of here.
One thing to think about at this point though is the 27 accounts just shy of 300K in aggregate limits. It's time to cull the heard a bit and clean things up. I'm guessing like most of us around here you picked up a lot of store cards and held onto them with low limits. There might be a coupe of 30-50K CL's in there somewhere but, it's time to shift from Quantity to Quality and grow what is worth keeping instead of shuffling through 30 cards to keep them active. Admittedly I'm over 20 as well but, I could chop many of them (50%) and still keep 400K around after killing anything under 20K.
If you feel like diving into the trimming go ahead and list the CC's and dates they were opened with the limits and maybe there's some good contenders in there for high limits to wokr on while weeding out the less useful ones in the process.
Some of the advice you find around the Internet about Chase can be outdated, so be careful. Technically speaking they have a 2/30 rule and they will very rarely approve you for more than 2 cards in a month. However, that does not mean it is a good idea to actually apply for 2 Chase cards that close together. These days Chase isn't shy about shutting down one or both of the accounts if they decide you're being too aggressive with seeking credit. Long story short I would suggest at least 3 months between Chase applications at a bare minimum and 6 is better.
The above point about overall credit exposure is a good one too, especially as we likely enter a credit tightening enviornment. If you have tons of unsecured exposure relative to income your profile may stick out more than others and not in a good way, at the very least lenders may assume you will barely use the new card(s) they give you, and at worst they assume you're a bad potential debt risk. Just something to think about that IMO may become more relevant than it used to be.
@Flint wrote:Scores are 831 / 831 / 835
UT is 0% currently
Nothing to add here besides 0% utilization. You probably all ready know if you are reporting $0 you might be seeing a slight scoring penalty. Your profile surely don't need those extra points for approval. However, you could benefit by letting one card report $20.