Can You Get Approved for Chase Credit Cards With Bad Credit?

Chase has a reputation for being one of the harder credit card issuers to get approved with.

A lot of people think you need at least a 700 credit score before Chase will even look at you seriously. And honestly, that reputation exists for a reason. Chase can be strict. The 5/24 rule knocks out a ton of people before they even get started.

But after reviewing over 100 Chase approval data points, I found something most people miss:

You can get approved for Chase credit cards with bad credit.

It does not mean it is easy. It does not mean everybody under 700 should go apply today. But it does mean Chase approvals are not only about your credit score.

Your 5/24 status, income, Chase relationship, authorized user history, banking activity, and reconsideration call can all matter.

Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn compensation if you click or apply through certain links.

Quick Answer

Yes, you can get approved for Chase credit cards with bad credit, but you usually need other parts of your profile to carry you. Based on the data points I reviewed, people under 700 had a better chance when they had fewer new accounts, stronger income, a long Chase banking relationship, or a good reason to call reconsideration. Chase rules, credit bureau pulls, approvals, denials, and credit limits can vary by profile, state, product, and timing.

The Chase 5/24 Rule Still Matters

The Chase 5/24 rule is the rule that stops most people from getting approved.

In simple terms, Chase usually does not approve you for a new Chase card if you have opened five or more credit card accounts in the last 24 months.

That sounds final, but in the real world, there are situations where 5/24 is not as simple as it looks.

New Cards May Not Report Right Away

New credit cards usually do not show up on your credit report instantly. They often do not report until after the first billing cycle.

That creates a small window where you might technically be over 5/24, but Chase has not seen the newest account yet.

One data point showed a Chase Sapphire Preferred approval where the person was technically at 5/24, but a Capital One account had not reported yet.

That does not mean you should play games with Chase. But it does show why timing matters.

Authorized User Accounts Can Be Argued

Authorized user accounts can push you over 5/24 on paper.

But if Chase denies you because of 5/24 and some of those accounts are authorized user accounts, you may be able to call reconsideration and explain that you are not financially responsible for those cards.

One person was denied for the Chase Freedom Flex because of 5/24. They called reconsideration, explained that two of the new accounts were authorized user accounts, and Chase approved them for a $1,500 limit.

That is why you should not always take the first denial as the final answer.

Store-Only Cards May Be Treated Differently

Store-only credit cards can also create confusion.

I am not talking about store cards that are Visa or Mastercard cards and can be used almost anywhere. I am talking about true store-only cards that can only be used at that specific store.

One person said their store cards would have put them at exactly 5/24, but they applied for a Freedom card anyway and got approved. Their point was important: these were actual store-only cards, not store-branded Visa or Mastercard accounts.

That distinction matters.

Business Cards Usually Do Not Add to 5/24

Most business credit cards do not report to your personal credit report unless something goes wrong. That means they usually do not increase your Chase 5/24 count.

This is why business cards can be a strong strategy if you want to keep earning credit card bonuses without ruining your personal 5/24 status.

But there is a catch.

For Chase business cards, you generally still need to be under 5/24 to get approved. The business card may not add to your 5/24 count after approval, but Chase can still look at your current 5/24 status when deciding whether to approve you.

Helpful resource: Before applying for another card, it may be worth using my Free Credit Card & Loan Pre-Approval Master List to check for options that may let you see offers before taking unnecessary hard pulls.

The Credit Profile Chase Likes to Approve

Based on the approval data points I reviewed, the “perfect” Chase customer looked something like this:

• 5/24 status: 3

• Credit score: 740

• Income: $60,000

• Prior relationship with Chase

That last part is bigger than most people think.

Around 65% of the people who were approved already had some type of relationship with Chase. The most common relationship was having another Chase credit card.

One Chase Sapphire Preferred approval data point looked like this:

The person had a 767 credit score before applying, reported $80,000 in income, had a Chase Freedom Unlimited for about three years, and was approved instantly for a $9,600 credit limit.

That is the kind of profile Chase likes.

Not perfect. Not crazy rich. But stable, experienced, and already connected to Chase.

Starting Limits Over $20,000 Are Harder

If you want a Chase starting limit over $20,000, the bar gets much higher.

Only 10% of the approvals I reviewed started with a limit that high.

The lowest credit score I found for a $20,000+ starting limit was 744. The average credit score was 773.

Income mattered even more. The average income for people approved with a $20,000+ starting limit was about $111,000.

So yes, Chase can approve high limits. But you are usually not getting that type of starting limit with a thin profile, low income, high utilization, and no Chase relationship.

For $20,000+ starting limits, 80% of approved applicants had a prior Chase relationship.

That tells you something.

Chase may care about your score, but they really like knowing who they are lending to.

Getting Approved Over 5/24 Is Possible, But Not Easy

A lot of people treat 5/24 like a brick wall.

And most of the time, it is.

Only 18% of the people I reviewed who were over 5/24 got approved for Chase cards.

But the people who got through usually had stronger profiles in other ways.

Over 80% of them already had a Chase relationship before applying. Their average income was around $137,000.

That is a big number. It is even higher than the average income I found for people getting $20,000+ starting limits.

One person was over 5/24 and got approved after going into a Chase branch. They had a five-year Chase checking account, explained why they wanted another Chase card, talked about their lifestyle and spending, and pointed out their history of on-time payments.

They were approved through reconsideration without another hard pull.

That is the lesson.

When you are breaking one of Chase’s favorite rules, you need other strengths to offset it.

Chase Ink Cards May Give You a Better Shot Over 5/24

One pattern stood out in the over-5/24 approvals.

Chase Ink business cards represented 20% of the approvals I reviewed for people over 5/24.

That does not mean Chase Ink cards ignore 5/24. They do not.

But the data showed that some people over 5/24 still got through, especially when they had strong Chase relationships.

One person applied for the Ink Business Cash at 10/24 and expected to be rejected. Instead, the application went into review, and about an hour later they received an approval email.

Their Chase relationship was strong. They were a Chase Private Client, had personal checking and savings, had a business checking account, and already had another Chase Ink card.

That is not an average profile.

But it shows you how much Chase relationship depth can matter.

Getting Approved With Less Than One Year of Credit History

You can get approved for Chase cards even if you are young, new to credit, or new to the United States.

But you need to be strategic.

In the data points I reviewed, 100% of the people approved with only a few months of credit history already had a relationship with Chase.

That is not a small detail. That is the whole play.

One person had only five to six months of credit history after turning 18. They had opened a Discover student card, got the Chase Freedom Rise, used Chase checking, and had a Chase investment account. They were approved for the Chase Freedom Flex.

Another person had only been in the U.S. for four months and got approved for the Chase Freedom Flex with a $2,700 limit. Their strategy was simple: use a Chase checking account and become an authorized user on someone else’s strong credit profile.

That combination worked faster than expected.

But notice the card type.

These were lower-tier Chase cashback cards. I did not see Sapphire approvals in this group.

If your credit history is brand new, do not start with the hardest Chase cards. Build the relationship first.

Chase Sapphire Cards Are Harder to Get

Chase is already strict, but the Sapphire cards are another level.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve are premium travel cards. That means Chase usually wants to see a stronger profile before approving you.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred also has a minimum credit limit requirement because it is a Visa Signature card. That starting limit is commonly $5,000.

The lowest income I found for a Sapphire Preferred approval was $20,000, but that person had some major factors working in their favor.

They had a 688 Experian score, were an authorized user on a Chase Sapphire Reserve account, had a 0/24 status, and had almost two years of authorized user history.

That is not a normal “first card” approval.

That is a very specific profile where Chase had a reason to feel more comfortable.

For the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the bar was higher. In the data I reviewed, the lowest income I found was $85,000, and the average credit score was 761.

So if your credit is rough, your history is short, or your 5/24 status is high, going straight for Sapphire can be a mistake.

Get into the Chase ecosystem first. Then work your way up.

Can You Get Approved for Chase With Bad Credit?

Yes.

And this is where the data gets interesting.

About 18% of the people I reviewed with credit scores under 700 still got approved for Chase credit cards.

Those are not great odds. But it proves the door is not completely closed.

For people under 700, the average 5/24 status was only 2.8. The average income was around $70,000.

That tells you what Chase wanted to see.

If your credit score is weak, something else needs to be strong.

You may need fewer new accounts. You may need higher income. You may need a long Chase banking relationship. You may need low utilization. You may need a strong authorized user setup. Or you may need to call reconsideration and actually explain your situation.

One person was denied online for the Chase Freedom Unlimited and called reconsideration.

Their credit was ugly. Chase showed a proprietary score of 589. Their Experian was 666 and TransUnion was 654. They had student loan debt, a car loan, collections, and past derogatory accounts.

But they had banked with Chase for six to seven years.

They were also an authorized user on a Chase Freedom Unlimited account and were the person actually paying the balance.

After speaking with an underwriter, they were approved for a $1,500 limit.

That is the Chase relationship effect in real life.

Chase could see their deposits, spending activity, bills, and banking behavior. That helped them get approved even though their credit profile was not pretty.

What To Do Before Applying for a Chase Card

Do not just throw in an application and hope Chase feels generous.

That is how people waste hard pulls.

Before applying, look at your profile the way Chase is likely to look at it.

Start with your 5/24 status. Count every personal credit card opened in the last 24 months. Then look at authorized user accounts and store-only cards because those may be worth explaining if you get denied.

Next, look at your Chase relationship.

Do you have a checking account? A savings account? Another Chase credit card? A business checking account? Have you actually used those accounts, or are they just sitting there?

Then look at the card you are applying for.

If your credit score is under 700, your history is short, or your profile is messy, a lower-tier Chase cashback card may make more sense than jumping straight to Sapphire.

And if you are denied, reconsideration may be worth the call.

Especially if the denial was caused by authorized user accounts, store-only cards, or something Chase may not understand from the credit report alone.

Helpful resource: If you are tired of applying blind, my 9 Credit Cards That Reveal Your Starting Limit Before Approval can help you find cards where you may see your limit before fully committing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get approved for a Chase credit card with a credit score under 700?

Yes, it is possible. In the data points I reviewed, 18% of people with scores under 700 still got approved. But they usually had other strengths, like lower 5/24 status, stronger income, a Chase banking relationship, or a successful reconsideration call.

Does Chase count authorized user accounts toward 5/24?

Authorized user accounts can show up in your 5/24 count, but you may be able to call Chase reconsideration and ask them to remove those accounts from the calculation. This works best when the authorized user accounts are the reason you were denied.

Do Chase business cards count toward 5/24?

Chase business cards generally do not add to your personal 5/24 count after approval because they usually do not report to your personal credit report. But Chase can still look at your current 5/24 status when deciding whether to approve you for a business card.

What Chase card should I apply for with limited credit history?

Based on the data points I reviewed, people with very short credit history had better results with lower-tier cashback cards like Chase Freedom cards, not Sapphire cards. A Chase banking relationship and authorized user history helped a lot.

Should I call Chase reconsideration after a denial?

Yes, if you have a real reason to challenge the denial. Reconsideration can help when Chase counted authorized user accounts, misunderstood store-only cards, or did not fully consider your banking relationship. Do not call just to beg. Call with a clear explanation.

Does having a Chase checking account help with approval?

Based on the approval data points, yes. A prior Chase relationship showed up over and over again. It was especially important for people with bad credit, short credit history, high limits, or over-5/24 approvals.

Conclusion

Chase is strict, but Chase is not impossible.

You do not always need a perfect credit score to get approved. People under 700 have been approved. People with short credit history have been approved. People over 5/24 have even been approved.

But the weaker one part of your profile is, the stronger the rest of your profile needs to be.

If your credit score is bad, Chase may want to see lower 5/24 status, higher income, low utilization, a long banking relationship, or proof that you have handled Chase accounts responsibly.

That is the real lesson.

Do not apply just because you want the card. Apply when your profile gives Chase a reason to say yes.