No 5/24

Understanding the No 5/24 rule:

Yes, there are some personal cards that aren't impacted by the 5/24 rule. So this one isn't actually a rule. It's the exception to the rule. But whenever a card is NOT impacted by 5/24, we'll still let you know.

Chase is the only bank that is known to have this rule, and it’s the most common rule referenced when getting into the points and miles hobby. The 5/24 rule says that Chase won’t approve a card if you’ve opened 5 or more cards in a 24 month period. This means any card from any bank, not just Chase cards.

Unfortunately that does not mean that you can go ahead and open 7 Citi cards in 24 months, as Citi has its own, separate set of rules that it applies to opening new cards. In fact, all banks have velocity rules, some written but most unwritten, about how many cards you can open in a certain amount of time.

Below you will find similar rules for each bank. There is a short explanation and a link to more in depth descriptions of each. Like 5/24, many of these rules are unwritten and provide limits to how many cards you can open with that bank within a certain time period. There are other rules for each bank that don’t have to do with card limits, so check out our master rule page that has detailed explanations of all rules having to do with credit cards and rewards.

American Express

• Amex 3/90 Rule: You’ll be declined if you apply for a 4th Amex card in 90 days
• Amex 5 Credit Rule: Amex will decline your application if you already have 5 credit cards

Bank of America

• Bank of America 2/3/4: You can only get approved for 2 cards in 30 days, 3 cards in 12 months, and 4 cards in 24 months (only Bank of America issued cards; business cards don’t count)
  • Bank of America 3/12 and 7/12: This isn't a separate rule because it's very inconsistently enforced, but there are enough data points to at least mention it. If you hold a Bank of America deposit account, you can have 6 new cards (from all issuers) before you will be denied for a 7th. If you don’t have a Bank of America account, you can only have 2 new cards before being denied for a 3rd.

Citi

• Citi 1/8: You can only apply for one card every eight days (personal or business)
• Citi 1/95: You can only apply for one business card every 95 days
• Citi 2/65: You can only apply for two cards every 65 days

Capital One

• Capital One 1/6: You can only be approved for one card every six months. This is for both personal and business cards

Wells Fargo

• Wells Fargo 1/6: You may not be approved for another Wells Fargo card if you’ve opened one Wells Fargo card in the last six months

Discover

• Discover 1/12: You can only open one Discover card in a 12 month period

About Approval Rules

Collecting credit card points is largely driven by understanding and abiding by bank rules regarding approval (or disapproval) of cards.  So here’s what you need to know:

• Approval rules are rarely fully publicized by the banks
• We use our own research and data points from other users in creating the rules listing
• Our goal in sharing/using the rule listings is to provide you guidance to avoid getting declined
• There can sometimes be exceptions to the rules, but we try to take a more cautious approach in advising you.