Chase 5/24 for resellers: how to actually navigate it.

If you've ever been denied a Chase card despite good credit, the answer is almost always 5/24. Chase's internal rule is simple to state and surprisingly nuanced in practice: if you've opened five or more personal credit cards across any issuer in the past 24 months, Chase will most likely deny your application. For resellers chasing SUBs from multiple issuers, the order matters more than the choices.

What counts toward 5/24

• Every personal credit card from any issuer that has reported a new tradeline in the last 24 months.
• Authorized-user accounts where the primary card was added to your credit report in the last 24 months. (Many issuers will remove the AU flag on request — call before assuming it counts.)
• Chase business cards: they don't show up on your personal report, but Chase does count them toward 5/24 internally. This is the trap most resellers fall into.

What doesn't count

• Business credit cards from most non-Chase issuers — Amex, Capital One, Citi, US Bank, BofA, and Wells Fargo business cards typically don't appear on your personal credit report, so Chase can't see them.
• Charge cards (e.g., the Amex Business Platinum charge product) generally don't count, though policy can shift.
• Closed accounts that fall off your report.
• Loan products (auto, mortgage, personal loans) — 5/24 is credit-card-specific.

The right Chase sequence

If you're under 5/24 today, prioritize Chase products first. Once you're over 5/24, you can't approve for new Chase cards until enough fall off. A 12-month sequence that respects the math:

1. Months 1–3: Open up to two Chase Ink business cards (Cash, Unlimited, or Preferred). They count internally toward 5/24 but don't add personal-report tradelines that Chase would see going forward.
2. Month 4: Open one Chase personal card if needed (e.g., Sapphire Preferred for the SUB and the 5/24 reset clock).
3. Months 5–9: Pursue non-Chase business cards (Amex Business Plus, Cap One Spark, etc.) — these don't count.
4. Months 10–12: Optional second Chase Ink, depending on whether your earlier ones have aged at least three statements.

When to break 5/24

Almost never. The rare case is a one-time, high-value SUB you can't get any other way (a 150k+ Sapphire bonus during a limited window). Even then, do the math — you'll lose access to the entire Chase ecosystem for 12+ months while waiting for cards to fall off, and the SUB has to be worth that opportunity cost.