Step 1: Get your credit reports
Request your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, the site set up for this by federal law. It offers reports from the three bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; check the site for how often you can request them.
Look at all three. Accounts can show up on one report and not another, and you don't know which one an issuer will look at.
Step 2: List the cards you opened in the last 24 months
On each report, find the section for credit card accounts and write down the date opened for every personal card. Cards from any issuer count, not only Chase.
Leave out loans (mortgage, car, student), applications that were declined, and cards that are not on your personal report. Business cards are usually not reported to your personal file, so they usually do not show up; if one does, count it yourself.
Authorized user accounts can show on your report. Reports say they can count, so write them down and decide for yourself.
Step 3: Count
Count the personal cards whose open date falls within the last 24 months. That number is your count. If it is four or fewer, you are under five.
Example: you opened cards in Jan 2025, Mar 2025, Aug 2025, Feb 2026 and Jun 2026. In Nov 2026 your count is five.
Step 4: Work out when you drop below five
Add 24 months to the date the oldest counted card was opened. That is when it stops counting. In the example, the Jan 2025 card stops counting in Jan 2027, so your count is four from then on.
Report dates and issuers may count by month rather than by day, so leave about a month of margin before you apply.
Keep it up to date
Once you have the dates, you don't have to redo this by hand. Add each card to Rune with its application month and the My cards screen shows your count for the past 24 months, and how many more cards it takes to reach five. Cards without an application month can't be counted, so Rune flags them.
For what counts and why Chase's rule is only a rule of thumb, see The 5/24 rule explained.
Track your 5/24 count in Rune
Based on public reporting as of 2026-11. Chase doesn't publish this rule; verify with your own credit reports before you apply.