Is there anything better than a credit card card welcome offer? You get approved, a shiny, new card arrives in the mail and then, after a proscribed amount of minimum spend, an untold points fortune is yours. Why wouldn’t we want to do it again? And again. And again.
Well, banks know how fun all of this is as well, which is why they often put “speed limits” on their cards. These rules, often unwritten, govern how fast we’re able to get new cards, how many we can have and when we can get another welcome offer on a card that we’ve had before. It can be tricky to understand all the various restrictions that each issuer has in place for new applicants, especially since they change constantly and can sometimes be inconsistently applied.
This post serves as a guide to the general application rules of American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Discover, US Bank and Wells Fargo. We’ve also compiled phone numbers and links to check your application status and call for reconsideration if/when you have an application denied. Hopefully, perusing this before a prospective application can help you navigate the stormy waters between “approved” and “denied.”
General Credit Card Application Tips
Please consider these tips before applying for a credit card…
- Be prepared to pay off your bill every month: The way to “win” this game is to pay your bill in full each month so that you never have any fees (other than mandatory annual fees).
- Make sure you can meet the minimum spend requirement: Most cards have high spend requirements in order to earn the signup bonus. Can you realistically put that much spend on the card? Click here for tips on increasing spend.
- Keep track of all of your cards (and applications): We recommend using a spreadsheet, or a free app like Travel Freely, to keep track of every credit card you apply for. Greg created a sample Google Docs Spreadsheet that you’re welcome to use. If you’d like to use it, open the spreadsheet, then make your own copy by clicking “File,” then “Make a Copy.”
Application Rules by Bank
American Express
- Safe to Apply: Amex is usually the safest bank for trying your luck at earning a new welcome offer. Most of the time, they won’t issue a hard pull when denying your application or when approving you if you already have at least one Amex card. Plus, they’ll warn you during the application process if you’re not eligible for the bonus.
- Once in a Lifetime Rule: If you've ever had a card before, you are most likely prohibited from earning a welcome offer for that same card if you apply now. Fortunately you'll be warned during the application process if this is the case. Amex is known to "forget" that you've had a card after about 5-7 years. Note that there are frequently offers with no lifetime language (NLL) that aren't bound by this restriction.
- "Family" Rules: In addition to the "once in a lifetime" rule, Amex now applies additional "family" rules to several groups of consumer cards. These rules don't apply to business cards.
- Platinum/Gold/Green: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Green, Gold, Platinum, Charles Schwab Platinum or Morgan Stanley Platinum if you've previously had any of the Platinum cards previously.
- Everyday: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Everyday card if you've previously had the Everyday Preferred card.
- Cash back cards: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Blue Cash Everyday card if you've previously had the Cash Magnet, Blue Cash Preferred or Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred cards. You're not eligible for a welcome offer on the Blue Cash Preferred card if you've previously had the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred card.
- Delta cards: You can get a welcome offer on any of the Delta cards provided you've never had a more expensive Delta card than the one you are applying for. So, for example, you're eligible for a welcome offer on the Delta Reserve if you've had the Delta Gold, but you may not be eligible for a welcome offer on the Delta Gold if you've previously had the Reserve.
- 1 per 5 days: You can get at most one credit cards within every 5 days. This rule does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.
- 2 per 90 days: You can get at most two credit cards within 90 days. This rule usually does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.
- 1 of same product per 90 days: Amex will only approve you for the same card once every 90 days (this primarily comes into play when applying for "no-lifetime-language" (NLL) links.
- Marriott cards: Approval for any Marriott card is governed by a labyrinthine set of unintuitive rules. You can see the full eligibility chart here. It seems that Amex may consider the Bevy and Brilliant cards as the same product, which means that you would have to wait 90 days after applying for the Bevy before being able to be approved for the Brilliant.
- Card Limits: Amex normally only allows customers to have five credit cards and ten Pay Over Time (charge) cards at one time. Both personal and business cards count towards the respective five and ten card limits. There are some instances where certain customers have been allowed to go above those limits.
- Application Status: Call (877) 239-3491 to check your application status or use this link.
- Reconsideration: If denied, you can call (800) 567-1083 and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
Bank of America
- 2/3/4 Rule: You can open a maximum of 2 Bank of America cards every two months, three cards every 12 months and 4 cards every 24 months.
- 3/12 or 7/12 Rule: Similar to Chase's 5/24 rule, you won't be approved for a card if you have opened 3 or more accounts, with any bank, within the past 12 months. For those with Bank of America deposit accounts, the rule changes to 7 accounts in the past 12 months. Enforcement seems to vary.
- 24 Month Rule: With some BOA cards, you may have to wait 24 months after either opening or cancelling a card to be eligible for approval on that same card. This language varies from card to card and sometimes, applicant to applicant. Some business cards have language stating that you may be declined for additional credit card accounts if your business currently has, or has had, another business card with BOA in the preceding 24 months. Again, enforcement seems to vary.
- Velocity Limits: BOA will approve a maximum of two consumer cards per rolling 2 months, three per rolling 12 months, and four per rolling 24 months.
- Application Status: Call (866) 422-8089 to check your application status or use this link.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 732-9194 for reconsideration.
Barclays
- 6/24 Rule: Similar to Chase, Barclays has a rule that you may not be approved for a new card if you have opened 6 or more cards (with any bank) within the past 24 months. However, this rule is inconsistently applied and there are data points of people being approved despite being over 6/24.
- 24 Month Rule: Barclays also has a rule that you can only get a welcome offer on a card for a second time if it's been more than 24 months since you last received a welcome offer on the same card. Like the 6/24 rule, this seems to be inconsistently applied and some cards display the following language: “You may not be eligible for this offer if you currently have or previously had an account with us in this Program.”
- No Duplicate Cards: Barclays won't let you have two of the same card. In order to reapply, you'll need to cancel the card first. It's generally thought that you need to wait at least six months after cancelling before attempting to reapply.
- Card Limits: Barclays doesn't have a strict limit on the amount of cards that you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit that they will issue you across all cards. It's also thought that the bank will use your spending on other Barclays cards as one of its approval considerations.
- Application Status: Call (888) 232-0780 to check your application status or use this link for personal cards and this link for business cards.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (866) 408-4064 and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
Capital One
- 48 Month Rule: Existing or previous cardholders are not eligible for the same personal card if they have received a new cardmember bonus for the same product within the last 48 months. This doesn't apply to business cards.
- 2 card limit no more? Conventional wisdom and user experience used to be that you can have at most 2 Capital One cards. However, there are now frequent data points of some people having many more.
- 1 Charge Card Limit: Capital One only allows cardholders to be have one business charge card, so it's not possible to be the primary cardholders on both the Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus. This doesn't apply to authorized users.
- Hard inquiries often get issued through all 3 credit bureaus.
- Velocity Limits? It used to be thought that Capital One will only approve you for one card every six months. While this is still many people's experience, we've now frequently seen data points of approvals for a second card within that timeframe.
- Application Status: Call (800) 903-9177 to check your application status.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 625-7866 for reconsideration.
Citi
- 48 Month Rule: With most Citi cards, you can only receive a welcome offer every 48 months. This applies to the same exact card, not families of cards and is counted from the date that you receive the welcome offer, not from when you're approved.
- Velocity Limits: Citi allows a maximum of one personal card per 8 days and a maximum of two personal cards per 65 days. Business cards are limited to one per 90 days.
- Card Limits: Citi doesn't have a strict limit on the amount of cards that you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit that they will issue you across all cards. Unfortunately, unlike most banks, Citi does not allow you to move credit from one existing card to the another card.
- Application Status: Call (866) 606-2787 or go here to check your application status. For Costco cards, call (877) 343-4118.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 695-5171 for personal cards or (866) 541-7657 for business cards.
Chase
- 5/24 Rule: You most likely will not get approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more cards (with any bank) within the past 24 months. Most business cards do not count towards that five card total. Business cards that DO count include: TD Bank, Discover and the Capital One Spark Cash Select, Spark Miles and Spark Miles Select.
- 24 Month Rule: If you’ve previously had a card before, you can only get a welcome offer on that card again if you no longer have the card AND if it has been more than 24 months since you last received a welcome offer for that card. This rule does not apply to the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards (see below). There can be exceptions with some business cards.
- 48 Month Rule (Sapphire cards): If you’ve previously had either the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve cards, you can get the welcome offer for another Sapphire card only if you no longer have either card AND if it has been more than 48 months since you last received a welcome offer for the card.
- Southwest "Family" Rules: In addition to Sapphire cards' 48-month rule, Chase applies additional "family" rules to the Southwest cards. You're not eligible for the welcome offer on a personal Southwest card if you currently have one, or if you've received a welcome offer on any personal Southwest card within the last 24 months. This doesn't apply to business cards. You also can't be approved for Southwest consumer card if you already have one open.
- IHG "Family" Rules: You're not eligible for the welcome offer if you've received a welcome offer on any personal IHG card within the last 24 months. You also can't be approved another IHG consumer card if you already have one open.
- 2 per month Rule: Most applicants are limited to 2 new cards per month. Business cards are usually limited to one per month.
- Marriott cards: Approval for any Marriott card is governed by a labyrinthine set of unintuitive rules. You can see the full eligibility chart here.
- Card Limits: Chase doesn't have a strict limit on the amount of cards that you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit that they will issue you across all cards. Because of this, reconsideration can sometimes be successful by moving credit from one existing card to the new card that you want.
- Application Status: Call (888) 338-2586 to check your application status.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (888) 270-2127 for personal cards, or (800) 453-9719 for business cards, and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
Discover
- 12 month rule: You must wait just over 12 months after your first card was opened before applying for a second Discover card.
- 2 card limit: You can have a maximum of 2 Discover cards.
- Application Status: Call (800) 347-2683 to check your application status or use this link.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (888) 676-3695 and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
US Bank
- Welcome Offers: It's been reported that you can't get a welcome offer on a card if you have that exact card open at the time of application. Business cards don't seem to be affected.
- 5/12 Rule: Some have reported that US Bank won't approve you for a new card if you've opened 5 or more cards within the last twelve months. Again, business cards appear to be unaffected.
- Velocity Limits: None that we know of. US Bank does limit the total amount of credit that they will extend you, so asking to reallocate credit lines may help in reconsideration.
- Application Status: Call (800) 947-1444 and press "1."
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 947-1444 for reconsideration.
Wells Fargo
- 1/6 Rule: Officially, Wells Fargo states that it may not approve you for a new credit card if you've opened one with the bank within the last six months. In practice, both seem inconsistently applied, especially for those with a Wells Fargo bank account. Business and consumer cards operate on separate tracks regarding those velocity limits.
- Velocity Limits: Wells will allow you to earn a welcome offer on the same card every 48 months, with one exception: you can earn the welcome bonus on Choice Privileges cards every 15 months.
- Card Limits: Wells Fargo doesn't have a limit on the amount of cards that you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit that they will issue you across all cards. Because of this, reconsideration can sometimes be successful by moving credit from one existing card to the new card that you want.
- Application Status: Call (800) 967-9521 to check your application status
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 967-9521 and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
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