All of the major card issuers have restrictions in place when it comes to approving people for their products. This can come in many forms, and for many people it can be tricky to keep up with the latest rules.
Chase eligibility rules
Outside of other credit and income requirements, Chase has several other factors that they use to determine if an applicant is eligible for a new card.
The 5/24 rule
You typically won’t be approved for one of their cards if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months.
The 24/48 month restriction
You typically can’t earn the welcome bonus on a card if you’ve received a new cardmember bonus on the card in the past 24/48 months.
The “family” card rules
If you get one version of a Chase card you may not be eligible for a different version.
For example, you can’t get the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card if you have the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and vice versa.
Special Marriott Card rules
You typically can’t be approved for those cards if you have equivalent cards from American Express.
For example, you can’t get the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.
Amex’s welcome bonus eligibility “warning”
I quite liked that last year American Express introduced a new pop-up during the card application process that will tell you if you’re not eligible for the welcome bonus on a card.
The way this works is that when you apply for a card, you’ll potentially receive a message before submitting the application if you’re not eligible for the bonus. That way you won’t have a hard pull on your credit.
If you apply for a card you already have, or one you’ve had in the past, you’ll get the following message:
Because you have or have had the [Card Name], you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer.
We have not yet performed a credit check. Would you still like to proceed?
Amex will also tell you if you’re not eligible based on the vague restriction they added last year. If for whatever reason they deem that they wouldn’t offer you the welcome bonus, you’ll receive the following message:
Based on your history with American Express welcome offers, introductory APR offers, or the number of cards you have opened and closed, you are not eligible to receive this welcome offer.
We have not yet performed a credit check. Would you still like to proceed?
Chase seems to be rolling out a similar tool
While this hasn’t been extended to all cards yet, Chase seems to have introduced a new eligibility tool when it comes to applying for their cards.
It seems that the first card to get this is the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Business Credit Card, where you may receive the following message when you apply:
You are not eligible for the new cardmember bonus because you currently have or had a Starwood Preferred Guest card, as described in the eligibility criteria. We have not performed a credit check yet. Would you like to continue your application, to get this card without a new cardmember bonus?
Yes, continue with the application
No, cancel and withdraw the application
As of now it seems that this is just implemented to help with the confusion related to Marriott Cards, since eligibility for a Chase Marriott Card is based on whether or not you have an Amex Marriott/Starwood Card.
However, long term I’d love to see this warning expanded to other metrics, including the 24/48 month restriction, family card restrictions, etc. (unfortunately this couldn’t be expanded to determining 5/24, since they can only figure that out after they pull your credit). I feel like that would simplify things quite a bit for many.
Would you like to see Chase expand their card eligibility pop-up?
(Tip of the hat to Doctor Of Credit)
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