Chase Freedom Rise: the one Chase card designed for no credit history
Structural review. The Chase deposit-relationship gate, the 5/24 rule, the flat 1.5 percent cash back, the upgrade path into the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem, and where to verify current terms.
This page describes structural categories as of 2026-05-17. Verify current pricing on the Freedom Rise product page and read the current Chase cardholder agreement.
What the card is and where it fits in Chase's lineup
The Chase Freedom Rise is an unsecured cash-back Visa issued by Chase Bank (JPMorgan Chase). It is positioned as a starter card rather than a strict student card. The card was launched in 2023 to fill a gap in Chase's lineup: until Rise, Chase had no consumer card explicitly designed for applicants with no US credit history. Earlier Chase cards (Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, the Sapphire family) all required at least a thin-file FICO score, which excluded a meaningful share of US-credit beginners.
The structural premise is straightforward. Flat 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase. No annual fee. Reports to all three major US credit bureaus from the first statement. Designed to upgrade to Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex after roughly twelve months of on-time payments, which puts the cardholder into Chase's broader Ultimate Rewards ecosystem if they later add a Sapphire card.
The upgrade path into Ultimate Rewards is the most distinctive feature of the card relative to its competitors. Discover and Capital One starter cards graduate to other Discover and Capital One cards, but those cards are not part of a transferable-points currency that converts to airline miles or hotel points. Chase Freedom Rise is. For a beginner who anticipates wanting transferable points two to three years downstream, starting in the Chase ecosystem rather than elsewhere has a small but real strategic value.
The card has no annual fee and no foreign-transaction-fee structure published as of the verification date. Always verify on the current product page before applying.
The deposit-relationship gate
Chase's underwriting on Freedom Rise weighs an existing Chase deposit-account relationship heavily. Reported approval rates for Chase checking or savings customers, even with very thin credit files, are noticeably higher than for non-Chase applicants. Chase has not published the exact weighting, but the pattern is consistent across reported applications and is reinforced by the pre-screen mailers Chase sends to deposit customers, which often include explicit Freedom Rise pre-approval offers.
For a non-Chase applicant, the conventional play is to open a Chase Total Checking or Chase Savings account first, fund it modestly for one to two months to establish a transaction history, and then apply for Freedom Rise. The deposit account itself has no credit-file requirement and is straightforward to open online. Chase frequently runs deposit-account opening bonuses ($200 to $300 for new checking accounts with direct-deposit qualification), which can subsidise the relationship-building step.
The deposit-account relationship does not eliminate the hard inquiry that the card application triggers. It also does not change the structural rewards or the cardholder agreement. It simply moves the underwriting weights in favour of approval.
For applicants who do not want to open a Chase deposit account first, Capital One and Discover starter cards are usually more directly approvable. Freedom Rise is the right card for someone who wants to be inside the Chase ecosystem; it is not the easiest first-card path.
The 5/24 rule and what it means for a first-card applicant
Chase enforces an internal underwriting rule, widely referred to as 5/24, that automatically declines applications from cardholders who have opened five or more credit card accounts across any issuer in the prior twenty-four months. The rule is not published by Chase but is well documented through years of consistent application across the consumer card portfolio, including Freedom Rise.
For a true first-card beginner who has never had a credit card, 5/24 is not the binding constraint; the applicant is at 0/24 and the rule does not trigger. For a beginner who has been authorised-user on a parent's card or has had a store-branded charge card, the question is whether those accounts count. The answer per most observed cases is that authorised-user accounts and most store-branded charge cards do count toward 5/24. If you have five or more such accounts in the prior twenty-four months, Freedom Rise will likely be auto-declined.
For a beginner planning a multi-card credit-building sequence, the implication is that Chase cards should be opened early rather than late. The build-credit-from-zero playbook walks through the optimal sequencing in detail. The Chase Sapphire Preferred, a popular second or third card for many cardholders, also enforces 5/24, which is why establishing a Chase relationship with Freedom Rise as the first card preserves the optionality.
Who the card suits
Freedom Rise is built for a beginner who: already banks with Chase or is willing to open a Chase deposit account; values the long-term Ultimate Rewards optionality even though it does not pay transferable points itself; prefers a flat 1.5 percent cash-back structure over rotating categories; and intends to stay inside the Chase ecosystem for the next few cards.
It is less suited to a beginner who wants the easiest first-card approval path, because the deposit-relationship preference and the hard-pull underwriting are stricter than Discover's or Capital One's thin-file approval models. It is also less suited to a beginner who wants a year-one rewards bonus comparable to Discover's Cashback Match; Freedom Rise has no equivalent structural year-one extra.
For students under twenty-one with documentable income for the CARD Act ability-to-pay rule, the Capital One Quicksilver Student or the Discover it Student Cash Back are usually easier first-card paths. Freedom Rise is the right answer when the Chase ecosystem strategy is the binding consideration.
The upgrade path: Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex
Chase typically reviews Freedom Rise accounts for upgrade after twelve months of on-time payments. The most common upgrade target is Freedom Unlimited, which pays 1.5 percent on most purchases plus elevated rates in select Chase Ultimate Rewards categories (dining, drugstores, and Chase travel portal purchases). Some accounts are upgraded to Freedom Flex, which has rotating 5 percent categories similar to the Discover it Cash Back structure.
The Ultimate Rewards points earned on Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex have no transfer-partner value on their own. To unlock the airline-and-hotel transfer partners, the cardholder needs to also hold a Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. The points can then be combined across accounts and transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Chase's airline and hotel partners (United, Southwest, JetBlue, Marriott, Hyatt, World of Hyatt is often cited as the highest-value transfer).
For a beginner this is one to three years out, not an immediate consideration. The strategic value of starting with Freedom Rise is that the Chase relationship is established, the 5/24 slot is preserved for a future Sapphire application, and the Ultimate Rewards balance starts accumulating on the second card before the Sapphire is ever applied for.
How this card sits in the broader picks
Freedom Rise serves both the student pathway (as a non-strict starter card) and the no-credit-history pathway (as an alternative to secured cards for adults who already bank with Chase). It is rarely the easiest first card to be approved for, but it is often the most strategically valuable when the Chase ecosystem matters.
For applicants who do not have a Chase deposit-account relationship and cannot establish one, the conventional path is to start with a Discover or Capital One starter card, build twelve months of on-time history, and then apply for a Chase card at the second-card stage. The second-card decision page and the credit-building playbook both cover this sequencing in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be a Chase bank customer to apply for Freedom Rise?
Chase has positioned the Freedom Rise as a starter card with a strong preference for applicants who already have a Chase deposit-account relationship. Existing Chase checking or savings customers, even with very thin credit files, are routinely approved. Non-Chase customers can apply, but observed approval rates are noticeably lower without the deposit-account relationship.
If you do not bank with Chase but want this card, the conventional approach is to open a Chase checking account first, fund it for one to two months to establish the relationship, and then apply. The pre-screened mailers Chase sends to deposit customers often include explicit Freedom Rise pre-approval offers.
What cash back does Freedom Rise pay?
The card pays a flat 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase with no rotating categories and no activation. It is the simplest cash-back structure in the Chase Freedom lineup. The structural position is parallel to the Capital One Quicksilver Student, which also pays 1.5 percent flat.
There is no signup bonus published on the Freedom Rise that is comparable to the larger Chase Sapphire or Ink products. The card is built for credit-building first, rewards second. Always verify the current offer on the product page; structural categories evolve.
Is Freedom Rise better than Discover or Capital One starter cards?
Freedom Rise has one clear advantage: it sits inside the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem. After twelve months of on-time payments, Chase typically considers Freedom Rise cardholders for upgrade to Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex, both of which earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners through a Sapphire card downstream. Discover and Capital One starter cards do not feed into a comparable transferable-points ecosystem.
The disadvantages are that Freedom Rise has no Cashback Match-style year-one bonus, no rotating 5 percent categories at the rise tier, and is harder to be approved for without an existing Chase deposit-account relationship. For a beginner who values the long-term Ultimate Rewards optionality and who can establish a Chase relationship, Freedom Rise is a strategic first card. For a beginner without that long-term plan, Discover or Capital One starter cards are usually more directly approvable.
Does Chase pull a hard inquiry on Freedom Rise applications?
Chase does pull a hard inquiry on credit-card applications, including Freedom Rise. The hard inquiry drops your score by typically two to five points and stays on your file for two years (scoring impact fades after twelve months). Chase's pre-screen offer letters sent to existing customers are not formal pre-qualifications in the same sense as Capital One's tool; they indicate higher likelihood of approval but do not eliminate the hard pull on the actual application.
Chase's 5/24 rule, which is the well-known internal underwriting rule limiting how many new card accounts an applicant can open across all issuers in the prior twenty-four months, applies to Freedom Rise as well as to all other Chase consumer cards. For most beginners with no prior credit-card history, 5/24 is not the binding constraint.
When does Freedom Rise upgrade to Freedom Unlimited or Flex?
Chase typically reviews Freedom Rise accounts for upgrade after twelve months of on-time payments. The most common upgrade target is Freedom Unlimited, which pays 1.5 percent on most purchases plus elevated rates in select Chase Ultimate Rewards categories. Some accounts are upgraded to Freedom Flex, which has rotating 5 percent categories similar to the Discover it Cash Back structure.
The upgrade is product-conversion (no application, no hard pull, account number preserved) for many but not all applicants. Some upgrades require a new application; this is determined by Chase's underwriting at the time of review.
Sources for this page
- Chase Freedom Rise product page: https://creditcards.chase.com/cash-back-credit-cards/freedom/rise
- Chase cardholder agreement disclosures: https://www.chase.com/digital/resources/disclosures/cardholder-agreement
- CFPB credit card agreement database: consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/agreements/
- Regulation Z 1026.51, CARD Act ability-to-pay: consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/51/
- FICO scoring methodology: myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score
Not financial advice. Verify current rate, fee, and rewards structure on the issuer's product page before applying. Last verified 2026-05-17.