Is The Chase Slate Edge Card Worth It? (2023)

I spend a lot of time on the blog talking about credit cards that help you maximize your return on spending, whether you’re looking to earn travel rewards or cash back. The catch is that in order to be able to do that, it’s important to have an excellent credit score and pay off all your credit card bills in full.

While OMAAT readers are largely savvy when it comes to maintaining excellent credit, this is something that Americans at large struggle with.

With that in mind, Chase has the Chase Slate Edge℠, which is at least worth being aware of. This is a replacement for the Chase Slate, which was discontinued for new cardmembers in early 2020.

Who should consider the Chase Slate Edge?

If you have an excellent credit score, no credit card debt, and are already using credit cards with solid rewards structures, then the Chase Slate Edge isn’t for you. You’re already doing a great job, and there are lots of other cards for you to consider.

Instead, this card is for those who are looking to finance a purchase at an attractive rate with a credit card, whether you’re looking to refinance a purchase, or make one in the future.

I want to emphasize that in general I highly recommend not financing purchases with credit cards, especially outside a 0% intro APR period. Credit cards only make sense for those who can spend responsibly, and who aren’t paying credit card financing charges.

The Chase Slate Edge offers 0% intro APR

The main reason to consider the Chase Slate Edge is that it offers 0% intro APR for from account opening on both purchases and balance transfers. After that period, a variable APR of applies.

This can be useful for paying off higher-rate credit cards, or for consolidating balances and paying less interest in the long run. If you can be disciplined about paying off the amount within the intro window, then taking advantage of something like this could make a lot of sense. Otherwise, you’ll want to avoid this.

The Chase Slate Edge has no annual fee

The Chase Slate Edge has no annual fee, so it has that going for it…

The Chase Slate Edge can raise your credit limit, lower your APR

There are a couple of interesting Chase Slate Edge features, though for most people they probably won’t be that valuable:

• You’ll receive an automatic one-time review for a higher credit limit when you pay on time and spend $500 within the first six months; the benefit of a higher credit limit is that it can lower your credit utilization, which can improve your credit score
• You’ll be considered for an APR reduction by 2% when you pay on time, and spend at least $1,000 on your card per account anniversary year, until your APR reaches the Prime Rate plus 9.74%

As I said above, I’d highly recommend doing what you can to avoid financing charges beyond a 0% intro APR period, so even with an APR reduction that’s something I’d stay away from, given that you’ll still be paying a lot of interest.

The Chase Slate Edge doesn’t offer any rewards

The biggest drawback of the Chase Slate Edge is that the card doesn’t offer any sort of a rewards structure. Your spending won’t be rewarded, unlike with most cards. Chase has several cards with no annual fee and a good rewards structure, so be sure to consider those (I’ll talk about some of them below).

What credit score do you need for the Chase Slate Edge?

Even though the Chase Slate Edge is designed for those who have credit card debt and may be working on their credit, unfortunately, you’re unlikely to be approved if you have bad credit. You generally need good or excellent credit to be approved, so I’d expect not to be approved if your score is under 650 (though again, you never know). On top of that, Chase’s typical credit card application rules apply, including the 5/24 rule.

If you ask me, this really limits the potential target market for this card — it’s a card for those with good credit but who also want to finance charges.

Why the Chase Slate Edge probably isn’t worth it

If you’re looking to finance a credit card purchase or make a balance transfer, the Chase Slate Edge could be worth it… maybe.

That being said, I tend to think there are still better options, given the lack of a rewards structure:

• The Chase Freedom Flex^SM Credit Card (review) and Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) also both have no annual fee, but offer generous rewards structures; it appears to me that approval odds will be roughly similar
• The Citi Double Cash® Card (review) is a fantastic no annual fee alternative to the Chase Slate Edge. It offers a 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 18.49% - 28.49%, based on your creditworthiness. Keep in mind that there is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first four months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).. The card also has a great rewards structure, as you can earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase in the form of ThankYou points
• If you’re looking for the all around best Chase card that’s most rewarding, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), which is offering an amazing welcome bonus and has an awesome rewards structure

Bottom line

The Chase Slate Edge is a new no annual fee card from Chase. The primary feature of this card is that it offers 0% intro APR, but even so, I have a hard time getting exciting about the card.

The card has no rewards structure, and you also generally need a good credit score to get approved for the card. With that in mind, I just don’t see many situations under which this is the best option.

If you want a no annual fee Chase card with a good rewards structure, consider the Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited. If you want a no annual fee with a promotional intro APR card, consider the Citi Double Cash, which has the benefit of also having an industry-leading rewards structure.

What do you make of the new Chase Slate Edge?