How Many Hard Credit Inquiries are Too Many? | Chase (2024)

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How Many Hard Credit Inquiries are Too Many? | Chase? ›

Since hard inquiries affect your credit score and what is found may even affect approval, you might be wondering: How many inquiries is too many? The answer differs from lender to lender, but most consider six total inquiries on a report at one time to be too many to gain approval for an additional credit card or loan.

For many lenders, six inquiries are too many to be approved for a loan or bank card. Even if you have multiple hard inquiries on your report in a short period, you may not see negative consequences if you're shopping for a specific type of loan.

Often no points are subtracted. However, multiple hard inquiries can deplete your score by as much as 10 points each time they happen. People with six or more recent hard inquiries are eight times as likely to file for bankruptcy than those with none.

Inquiries can have a greater impact if you have few accounts or a short credit history. Large numbers of inquiries also mean greater risk. Statistically, people with six inquiries or more on their credit reports can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with no inquiries on their reports.

The 5/24 rule is an unofficial policy that dictates that Chase won't approve you for its cards if you've opened five or more personal credit card accounts from any issuer in the last 24 months. Put simply, the number of cards you've opened in the previous two years will affect your approval odds with Chase.

If you collect about six hard inquiries within a two-year period on your credit report, you may have a difficult time getting approvals for future cards and other lines of credit.

Each hard inquiry can cause your credit score to drop by a few points. There's no such thing as “too many” hard inquiries, but multiple credit inquiries within a short window of time can suggest that you might be a risky borrower.

The easiest way is to file a dispute directly with the creditor. If the creditor cooperates, the inquiry may be removed after sending a single dispute letter.

Hard inquiries serve as a timeline of when you have applied for new credit and may stay on your credit report for two years, although they typically only affect your credit scores for one year.

The good news is that the majority of credit scoring models will lump multiple inquiries for one loan type together and treat them as a single inquiry if they're made within a short period of time. For FICO, this window is 45 days; VantageScore uses a 14-day period.

How many inquiries is too many in one year? ›

In general, six or more hard inquiries are often seen as too many. Based on the data, this number corresponds to being eight times more likely than average to declare bankruptcy. This heightened credit risk can damage a person's credit options and lower one's credit score.

How do hard inquiries impact your credit score? A hard credit inquiry could lower your credit score by as much as 10 points, though in many cases, the damage probably won't be that significant. As FICO explains, “For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO Scores.”

What is the 5/24 rule? Many card issuers have criteria for who can qualify for new accounts, but Chase is perhaps the most strict. Chase's 5/24 rule means that you can't be approved for most Chase cards if you've opened five or more personal credit cards (from any card issuer) within the past 24 months.

Chase's 5/24 rule prevents you from being approved for most Chase credit cards if you've opened five or more credit cards within the past 24 months.

In other words, when you apply for a Chase credit card, the issuer will count how many credit accounts you've opened within the last two years. If that number is five or more, your application will likely be rejected right away. And no, calling for reconsideration won't help you with a 5/24 rejection in most cases.

Hard inquiries on their own generally aren't enough to significantly reduce your score in a lasting way. This is especially true for those who have a positive credit history. In most cases, hard inquiries result in a temporary credit score drop that rebounds within a few months.

Some inquiries are considered by credit scoring systems and can affect your credit score. However, multiple loan-related inquiries made within a short period of time are either entirely ignored or treated as a single search for credit, thus protecting your credit scores.

Owning more than two or three credit cards can become unmanageable for many people. However, your credit needs and financial situation are unique, so there's no hard and fast rule about how many credit cards are too many. The important thing is to make sure that you use your credit cards responsibly.