Credit-card application rules, by issuer
Every issuer has patterns that decide whether an application is worth making at all — Chase's 5/24, Amex's once-per-lifetime bonus, Citi's pacing. None of them are published. All of them are reconstructed from what applicants report, so each one here carries how well established it actually is.
Reviewed: Data verified 2026-09-15 · Credit Upside editorial · Updated 2026-09-16 · How we rank
Chase
5/24Chase very rarely approves a personal card application from someone who has opened 5 or more new personal credit cards — from any issuer — in the past 24 months.
American Express
One welcome bonus per card, per lifetimeAmex pays each card's welcome bonus once per lifetime. If you have ever held that specific card, expect the offer to be worth $0 to you — even years later, and even if you closed it.
Citi
1 card / 8 days, 2 cards / 65 daysCiti limits how fast you can apply: about one new Citi card every 8 days, and no more than two in any 65-day window (often described as roughly an 8-week gap between applications). It also pays a card's bonus only once every 48 months.
Bank of America
2/3/4 and 7/12Bank of America caps how many of its OWN cards you can open (2 in 2 months, 3 in 12 months, 4 in 24 months) and separately declines applicants who have opened roughly 7 or more new accounts anywhere in the past 12 months.
Capital One
Three hard pulls, one card per ~6 monthsA single Capital One application typically triggers a hard inquiry at all three bureaus, and Capital One usually approves at most one new card every 6 months or so.
Barclays
6/24, and one card at a timeBarclays is widely reported to decline applicants with roughly six or more new credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months, and to approve about one Barclays card every six months.
U.S. Bank
About 1 card per 6 monthsU.S. Bank is reported to approve roughly one new card every six months, and to look harder at applicants with many recent accounts. It has no published cross-issuer rule.
Wells Fargo
1 card / 6 months, bonus once per 15 monthsWells Fargo is reported to approve about one new card every six months, and its terms state a welcome bonus is not paid if you have received one on a Wells Fargo card in the past 15 months.
What this is, and what it is not
These are unofficial patterns reported publicly by cardholders and the points community — not issuer policy, not underwriting criteria, and not a promise of approval or denial. Issuers do not publish their application rules, they change them without notice, and every application is decided on your full credit profile and income. Treat everything here as context for a decision you make yourself.
Common questions
Why publish rules nobody can confirm?
Because the alternative is applying blind. Knowing that Chase almost never approves anyone over 5/24, or that Amex pays a given card's bonus once per lifetime, saves a hard inquiry and a wasted application. What it cannot do is promise the opposite, and this section does not pretend otherwise.
How current is this?
Last reviewed 2026-09-14. These patterns change slowly — a rule like 5/24 has held for years — but issuers do adjust them without announcement, which is another reason each item is labelled with how well established it is rather than stated as fact.
Do these affect what the optimizer recommends?
Not directly. The optimizer scores the cards you already hold against your real spending, which has nothing to do with approval odds. These pages matter at the point where you are deciding whether to apply for something new.
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →