| Written by: ToP Staff

Chase Application Rules

Chase introduced new application rules in the past year that can be a bit confusing. Since they are not very well defined, let's take a look at what has changed from previous traditions and what little has stayed the same. All of these changes below pertain to the Sapphire family of cards, not business cards or other personal cards. We'll also share datapoints and explain what we've been seeing in practice.

Terminology On The Sapphire Reserve Application Page

The Chase Sapphire Reserve application terms now say:

  • This credit card is unavailable to you if you currently have this card open. The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you previously held this card or received a new cardmember bonus for this card. We may also consider the number of cards you have opened and closed in determining your bonus eligibility.

The murkiness of these new application rules is that so much is defined as “may not be eligible.” That means that there are rules, but they may not be enforceable for everyone. I imagine your customer profile plays a big role here. If you are a good customer with Chase that uses your cards long term then I have to imagine this helps.

Chase Pop-Up

The Chase pop-up is here and it is officially a thing. I mean we kind of knew it was coming with the nuggets Chase let out previously, but here it is in all of it's glory. This is the second part of the new Chase application rules terms that people will likely be seeing today. At least if they decide to put in an application and receive the pop-up. Here is a breakdown of the Chase pop-up people were seeing with early Sapphire Reserve applications (H/T US Card Forum)

  • It looks like you're not eligible for a bonus for a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. This can happen if you've already held or received a bonus for this credit card. … We haven't done a credit check yet, so there will be no impact to your score if you don't continue.

After this it asks the applicant if they would like to proceed without the bonus or cancel the application.

Sapphire Family Rule Is A Thing Of The Past

This is the biggest update. After the recent card refreshes, rule changes and new launches, the Sapphire family rules were kind of still hanging around. Some people were able to get around them, while others were not. It was where that tricky word may comes into play with these rules. Well, it appears that Chase wanted to adjust that some, and they have come out with clearer guidance on the Sapphire rules.

Eligible Sapphire cardmembers can now earn a welcome bonus offer on each Sapphire card, once per card, as long as they haven’t previously received a welcome bonus offer on that card. For example: A current Sapphire Reserve cardmember who has never earned a welcome bonus offer for Sapphire Preferred is now eligible for the bonus on Sapphire Preferred, too.

That is good news because you can now hold both Sapphire personal cards, but there is that pesky once-per-card terminology. That is why many people believe there is a once-per-lifetime rule now too. Out in the real world, it hasn't quite played out that way, though. We have a lot of positive data points of people getting a bonus on a card they had in the past. Maybe it depends on your customer profile, or maybe there is a time length that Chase defines as a lifetime. Similar to how American Express dubs a “lifetime” as 5-7 years. However it is enforced, you should be able to grab both of the Sapphire cards in much quicker succession then you could in the past. That's a positive development for many.

Approval Without A Bonus Is Possible

Chase also now allows approvals without a bonus—the options listed in the pop-up confirm that. The longterm question is: Will it be rolled out to other products outside of the Sapphire family? I could see it being useful on other personal and business cards if it is. However it plays out, all of this likely feels pretty familiar. It looks like this is pretty much how American Express runs their pop-up. Speaking of Amex application rules…

Was The 48-Month Rule Replaced With A Previous Cardholder Rule?

We had wondered if Chase was going to roll out something similar to Amex's once-per-lifetime rule. In walks what appears to be a new previous cardholder rule. Here's the part of the Sapphire Reserve application offer terms to look at:

  • The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you previously held this card or received a new cardmember bonus for this card.

In the past you were eligible for a new bonus on either the Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred every 48 months. You had to choose one or the other because of the family rule, but you could qualify for either every 4 years. That seems to have been replaced by terms that say you may not be eligible if you have previously held this card or received a new cardmember bonus for this card.

Notice in the terms where it says previously held – followed by “or” there—because “or” is doing some heavy lifting. We read this as even product changing into the card may make you ineligible for a bonus. That is a hugely negative change if that is how they enforce it in practice. Every 4 years was tough, but this could be so much worse. Especially if you have done a product change in the past without a bonus attached and are now possibly ineligible for a bonus on that card.

Data Points Hold True, But Leave A Little Wiggle Room

Here is what we are seeing with the data points. While most applications seem to be holding true to the new rules, and many are receiving pop-ups because of it, we have seen some people get through. That is where the “may not be eligible” terminology comes in. It might not work for most, but some are able to work outside the Chase application rules it seems. Here are the data points we have to share so far:

While most people are getting the pop-up telling them they are ineligible because they have had the same card before, it isn't a hard and fast rule. Many are willing to give it a try even if an approval appears unlikely. We will update this with any relevant data points as they come in.

Chase Application Rules: ToP Thoughts

These new Chase applications rules aren't particularly fun, especially since they are a bit opaque. That is especially true for anyone that was just coming up on their 48-month refresh mark and figured they were about to be eligible for another welcome offer. With these changes, that looks a whole lot less of a sure thing if you have previously had both of the Sapphire products. Be sure to share any application results you have with us so we can get a better handle on how this all works out in the wild. Let me know your thoughts on these new Chase application rules over in the ToP Facebook Group.