Credit Cards for Excellent Credit

There is no specific, official Chase Freedom® credit score requirement. But you generally need excellent credit to qualify. So you can think of 750 as the minimum credit score needed for Chase Freedom®. While most people think excellent credit starts at 720, we strongly recommend using 750 as your baseline because this is roughly where your Chase Freedom approval odds will turn positive. We’ve seen plenty of people get rejected with scores in the low 700’s.

If you’re unsure of where you stand, you can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub, the only site where credit scores and reports update daily.

It’s also important to note that just having a high credit score isn’t necessarily enough to get you approved, and it’s still possible to be approved with lower credit scores. It all depends on Chase’s evaluation of your entire credit situation. A multitude of different factors go into your approval or rejection.

Here’s what you should know about Chase Freedom’s credit score requirement:

1. Less than 38% of people have credit scores of 750+. If you’re not one of them, taking a few months to improve your credit could be the difference between being approved and rejected.
2. Don’t rely on anecdotal evidence. Some people in the community have reported they got approved for this card with scores as low as 680. But just because they might have, it doesn’t mean you will too. Everything depends on the overall credit evaluation.
3. Chase considers more than just your score: Income and assets help. The more money and property you have at your disposal, the more you can afford to put toward paying off credit card bills. But debt hurts your chances. If too much of your money is already earmarked for other debt obligations, your odds of getting approved for Chase Freedom will be lower.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® credit score requirement is 750+. Chase says this card is for people with excellent credit, the highest tier in the credit score range. And while excellent credit is generally thought to start at 720,  we really recommend a credit score of 750+ to maximize your chances of approval. With a lower score, the risk of rejection will be higher if Chase finds any negatives on your credit report or income-wise.

You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub to gauge your odds. Just bear in mind that you’ll need more than a high credit score to get approved for Chase Sapphire Reserve. Let’s take a look at some of the other essential requirements.

Here are Chase Sapphire Reserve’s credit score & other approval requirements:

• 750+ credit score. You might find yourself getting approved with a lower score or denied with a higher one. But a credit score of 750 or higher definitely helps to maximize your chances.
• Eligibility. You must be over 18 years old with a U.S. mailing address and a Social Security number.
• Income. You don’t absolutely need a job, but you must have some kind of income and/or assets  to prove to Chase that you have the means to pay for the charges you make.
• As little debt as possible. Chase will weigh your income against your debts to determine how much you can afford to borrow.
• No bankruptcy. You probably won’t be in this situation if you have an excellent credit score. But you won’t get approved while in active bankruptcy and will have a tough time as long as any record of bankruptcy is on your credit report.

So as you can see, a lot more than just your score goes into approval. But having an excellent credit score is still a very important requrement. If you’re not sure where you stand right now, you can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub, the only site with free daily updates to your scores and reports. And if you find out that your credit isn't quite up to par, working to improve it can drastically increase your approval chances. For advice on what to do, check out your custom credit analysis.

There are plenty of great Mastercard credit cards for people with excellent credit. It just depends on what you’re looking for.

• If you’re a travel enthusiast, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is your best bet.

• If you want cash back rewards, you can’t go wrong with the Citi® Double Cash Card.

• Citi Simplicity® Card is the best bet for 0% purchases.

• The Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard is one of the best balance transfer credit cards on the market.

But you don’t want to rule out Visa credit cards for excellent credit without a good reason. Both card networks are accepted worldwide. And the best Mastercard isn’t always the best credit card overall.

You can compare these cards to other Mastercard credit cards for excellent credit here.

Citi Double Cash is your best choice. You will earn cash back twice on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% after you pay for those purchases.

You can learn more about it and apply online here. And you can compare it to other top picks for cash back here.

The best credit card for a 700 credit score could be Capital One Venture if you’re eager to earn travel rewards, Citi Double Cash if you’d prefer cash back, or Chase Slate if you want 0% APRs. It all depends on your individual needs, as no card does everything best. But you do want to focus on cards that require “good” credit or below, since 700 is a good credit score. Of course, there are other things that affect the application process too, like income and the number of recent inquiries on your report. 

A good way to figure out whether you’re eligible for a particular credit card with your 700 credit score is to check for pre approval on the issuer’s website. If you’re pre approved for a card, you’re not guaranteed approval, but your odds are high – usually around 90%. You can do a pre approval check for most of the best credit cards for a 700 credit score. 

Here are the best credit cards for 700 credit scores:

• For Travel Rewards – Capital One Venture
  50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. 2 miles per $1 on all purchases (10 points per $1 at hotels.com/venture). No foreign transaction fees. $95 annual fee waived the first year. 
• For Cash Rewards – Citi Double Cash
  1% cash back on all purchases, with another 1% cash back when you pay them off. 0% APR for 18 months on balance transfers (3% transfer fee). 3% foreign transaction fee. No annual fee. 
• For Balance Transfers – Chase Slate
  0% APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. No balance transfer fee for transfers made in the first 60 days. No rewards. 3% foreign transaction fee. No annual fee.
• For Big-Ticket Financing – Citi Simplicity
  0% APR for 18 months on purchases and balance transfers. 3% balance transfer fee (minimum $5). No rewards. 3% foreign transaction fee. No annual fee.
• Hotel Perks – Radisson Premier Visa Signature
  50,000 bonus points for making your first purchases, plus 35,000 more for spending $2,500 in the first 90 days. 10 points per $1 spent at Radisson, 5 everywhere else. 40,000 bonus points for renewing your card every year. Gold Status, which gives you 22 points per $1 at Radisson (with any card), a 15% food/beverage discount, room upgrades and more. 3% foreign transaction fee. $75 annual fee. 

As you may have noticed, a lot of the best credit cards for 700 credit scores don’t have annual fees. So you can pick up some great perks without having to shell out money for the privilege of having a card.