Update 5/21/24: This card now includes the possibility to upgrade to the Chase Freedom card. On your first card anniversary an automatic check is done by Chase that looks at:
- The cardmembers’ Freedom Rise account is open, and a purchase has been made on the Rise card within the last 12 months.
- All payments have been made on time to all financial lenders in the past 12 months, and no Chase accounts were suspended.
- They do not have an existing Freedom Unlimited account.
Hat tip to DDG
Update 6/12/23: Card now live at this link. (Officially it’s currently only available in branches. Reportedly, it will become available officially online beginning in early 2024.)
On June 11th is the launch of a brand new Chase Freedom Rise card which is meant to help someone build credit when applying for their first credit card. This is for both students and non-students alike. We previously reported on the new Student Rise card here and here
Contents
Card Details
- No annual fee
- Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases
- The rewards are earned as Ultimate Rewards points which can be redeemed for cashback, travel, gift cards, and more
- Bonus: Earn $25 statement credit after signing up for automatic payments within the first three months of account opening
Other Details:
- Becoming a Chase checking account holder with a checking balance of $250+ will increase your chances of getting approved for the Freedom Rise card (though it is not required). Be sure to open the Chase checking account before applying for the Freedom Rise card. Be sure to add the $250 to your checking account within 48 hours of applying for the card. Existing Chase checking customers can help their approval chances by increasing their balance to $250+ within 48 hours of their Freedom Rise card application.
- The card is meant for those NEW to credit, not for those with damaged credit.
- Cardholders will be evaluated for a credit limit increase in as soon as six months
- The Chase Freedom Student card is being discontinued for new applicants on June 11, 2023 in favor of the new Freedom Rise card. (That card is live right now online, 6/6/23, at this link.) Existing Freedom Student cardholders will continue to be serviced as before, and do not have to transition to the Freedom Rise.
- It’s still unclear if the new Freedom Rise card will be available online or in-branch only.
Our Verdict
The fact that the card earns Ultimate Rewards points makes it a good starter card to advise someone who has no credit, e.g. a student or newbie. The points will then tie into their regular Ultimate Rewards balance when they eventually build up their credit and get the better Chase cards. And 1.5x Ultimate Rewards everywhere is pretty good on its own.
You can always try first applying for a regular Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited card and, if denied, try for this starter card instead.
See Chase memo below outlining the change. There’s also a change referencing the Sapphire Preferred card which we covered here.
View Comments (38)
@6
The update above may have an error. It first says:
"This card now includes the possibility to upgrade to the Chase Freedom card."
But the Freedom (nothing after it) card is a discontinued-for-new-applications card. Can they really upgrade to that?
And then a few lines later it says:
"They do not have an existing Freedom Unlimited account."
Why would they checked for Freedom Unlimited account if you're upgrading to the old Freedom card, which is most similar to Freedom Flex, not Freedom Unlimited.
I put my infant daughter as an AU on my gold card, declining to put in her info initially and then putting it in once the card arrived. I may have *goofed* and accidentally put in 2002 instead of 2022 for her birthday. Months later card offers started coming, jumped on a Discover Card offer. Initially said more info was needed to verify identity, so I just didn't do anything, then one day a new cc in her name showed up. This feels like a good next step. Credit age is such a huge factor in credit score I would think it should be stellar for her in another 20 years.
I "know someone" who did something similar. I expect you're going to get a lot of shaming here from folks saying you're committing fraud, etc. (in my opinion, I'm glad to see you can admit your mistakes, as it's clear that you 'goofed' on the birth date.)
Do you have any fears of Good credit potentially causing more trouble down the road? Despite always being somewhat financially savvy, I was still pretty naive in so many ways in my '20s. I think if I'd had a 800 credit score out of college I likely would have made some huge mistakes with it. - putting a lock on the three main bureaus could at least slow down any potential damage IMO.
Feel free to reach out at polowearingguy @ gmail
I find the verbiage to be a bit... weird, "What it would sound like when sharing this option..." I don't hold any cards from Chase. Is this a normal facet with their cards? Catering more to the not so educated?
I believe this is suggested verbiage for bankers to use when discussing the card with clients. Chase would not phrase it that way when marketing direct to a consumer.
It's a sales pitch for the tellers. They've made it easier for the tellers to memorize what they need to say, just like any other training material.
The minimum requirement for a teller job is a GED.
Banks earn much or most of their money from CC fees. As for interest rates, I have a perfect financial record and very high Credit Score, like many people here at DoC who pay off accounts each month and use CCs mostly for record-keeping and scoring. Yet my Interest rate is almost 26%. No I don’t buy anything more substantial than car repair and insurance.
Oh. And that 26% is “Compounded Daily”.
Don't carry an interest-bearing balance, and then the interest rate becomes irrelevant.
Compounded daily?? Oh no
anyone kno if this card has $10 gopuff monthly credit??
Why should it? It's a student card, trying to be simple, and needing a complex application process:
https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/education/basics/when-and-how-to-apply-for-a-student-credit-card
I am wondering if this might perhaps be a good starter card for my mom who is retired, recently immigrated to the US, and lives with us. I added her as an AU on one my Freedoms. CK shows her score as 770. What do people enter for income on applications?
I'd sooner recommend the Discover It unless there is a lot of shopping at Costco or something. Use a referral and get $100 SUB + the 5% categories and match in the first year.
It's out now: https://secure08ea.chase.com/web/oao/application/card?sourceCode=H5ZH
Time to create more new players. Got one approved (previously shut down by Chase 1.5 years ago) already.
Posted thanks
You got someone this card after they were shut down by chase? That's an interesting datapoint, I didn't think chase would let up after such little time. Unless by shut down you're referring to being rejected by chase for credit lending.
SD due to Ink abuse. I'm surprised by the approval too.
what was the X/6, X/12, and X/24 numbers when shutdown? Any self refs?
@guest_1632981 The general safe datapoint I've seen going around is people getting an Ink SUB every 30 days. I know this is off-topic but how did they got caught? How many Inks was it in 12 months?
Specifics of the abuse? Frequency/velocity?
I'm surprised this card is embossed. The Freedom cards would look nicer with the info printed on the back.
It's the worst thing about the Freedom cards and the only embossed cars I have from any bank. It's annoying if you have a slim metal wallet because it reduces the amount of cards you can fit by one.
I have a legacy Fifth Third Bank Cash Rewards Mastercard that is embossed. It doesn't even have PayWave. My Fifth Third 1.67 Cash/Back Mastercard is flat .
Guess the only thing rising is Chase's wallet considering they've lowered the SUB and taken away the free $20/yr for 5 year. I know it's stupid cause it's 5 years to get $100 but to be fair it's passive.
Wondering if it’s subject to 5/24… if not, a good $25 and I would jump on this.