My latest attempt to bypass 5/24

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Flying under 5/24In April, Doctor of Credit posted a “New Way To Bypass Chase 5/24.”  I was intrigued.  I wanted to get Chase’s new Ink card: the Ink Business Preferred for it’s 80K signup bonus and 3X categories, but I was way over 5/24 (Chase won’t approve applications for many of their cards if the applicant has opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months).

The trick that Doctor of Credit described was to apply for the card through a Chase BRM (business relationship manager).  Some data points at the time suggested that when a BRM filed a paper application the process bypassed 5/24.  Cool.

Finding my BRM

I remembered meeting with a Chase banker once regarding my business.  Maybe he was a BRM?  I searched my email and found that yes indeed he was!  I then emailed him to ask if he was still my BRM.  The next day he answered no.  He had been reassigned to another area.  He then contacted my usual go-to banker at Chase to have him find out who my current BRM was.  By the next day (April 13th), my new BRM was identified and via email I submitted my application.

The application that wasn’t

Over the next several weeks, nothing happened.  I emailed my BRM many times for status, but never heard anything back.  Finally I contacted my usual banker who told me that my BRM was out of the office on an emergency medical leave.  Apparently she hadn’t filed my application at all.  He then hooked me up with a different BRM…

Application Attempt 2

My new BRM wanted to meet in person before submitting my application.  We met early in May.  He cautioned that it was his understanding that BRM applications did not circumvent 5/24.  I told him that I wanted to give a try anyway.  He submitted the application.

Chase didn’t pull my credit until May 23rd.  Then June 5th, I got my rejection notice from Chase:

  • Too many credit or loan accounts have been opened recently
  • Not enough time has passed since your last account with us was opened
  • Too many recent request for credit or reviews of your credit
  • You have too many active accounts or too much available credit

They offered a bunch of good excuses for rejecting me, but most of these could probably be reversed with a reconsideration call or two.  The one that is usually not reversible is “Too many credit or loan accounts have been opened recently.”  While it doesn’t explicitly say “5 or more in the past 24 months,” I figured that’s what they meant.  It appeared that my BRM assisted application did not bypass 5/24.

But, I wasn’t done yet..

Special Consideration Form

I still had one ace up my sleeve.  I asked my BRM to submit a Special Consideration Form (see: Chase Special Consideration for business cards only).  In the past, reports have been mixed as to whether this form can effectively bypass 5/24, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Chase Special Consideration Double Denied

In a letter dated June 21st, Chase rejected me again.

Thank you for contacting us about a business credit card. As you requested, we completed a second review of your application. After reviewing your account and credit information, we’re unable to approve a business credit card for you at this time.

How we reached this decision

Our decision was based on the following primary reason(s):

  • Too many credit or loan accounts have been opened recently
  • Not enough time has passed since your last account with us was opened
  • Too many recent request for credit or reviews of your credit
  • You have too many active accounts or too much available credit

Why I didn’t bother calling

When credit card applications are denied, it is usually a good idea to call a bank’s reconsideration line.  By offering to move credit around rather than get new credit, some analysts will reverse the decision and approve your application.

In this case, though, I was pretty sure that my 5/24 status was the problem.  And, I know from many data points that calling does not help unless you can somehow prove that you’re not really over 5/24 (such as authorized user accounts have pushed you over 5/24).

Plus, when I revisited Doctor of Credit’s now old post, I found that he had updated the title: New Way To Bypass Chase 5/24 [Update: No Longer Working].  Oops.

Summary

I completely struck out with trying to bypass 5/24.  A BRM submitted application failed, and a subsequent Special Consideration Form failed too.  From now on, as long as I’m over 5/24, I’ll stick with non-Chase applications and/or Chase applications that do not fall under 5/24 (such as British Airways, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott Business, Ritz).

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