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Chase Freedom Unlimited: terms, score and downsides

Not credit advice. Facts and math from issuer pages and the CFPB, each with its date. Offers change; approval depends on your credit. Verify on the issuer's site.

Rubric score 69.0% across 78 cards. Issuer page ↗

Downsides first

3% foreign transaction fee
APR up to 27.99% if you carry a balance
Penalty APR up to 29.99%
Late fee up to $40
3% drugstores and 5% Chase Travel not modeled as separate categories.

Terms & fees

IssuerChase
Typecash back
Annual fee$0 creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Regular purchase APR18.49%–27.99% variable creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Rewards1.5% on all purchases; 3% dining & drugstores; 5% Chase Travel creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Sign-up bonus (≈$)$200 $200 after $500 in 3 months creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Intro APR15 months 0% intro APR 15 months on purchases and balance transfers creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Foreign transaction fee3% 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars creditcards.chase.com, 2026-10-11
Penalty APRup to 29.99% Chase's CFPB-filed agreements list a penalty APR of 'up to 29.99%'; agreements are not labeled by product, so this is issuer-level consumerfinance.gov, 2026-06-30
Late feeup to $40 up to (first and repeat late fee) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Balance transfer fee5% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Cash advance fee5% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Credit needed620–719, 720+ (CFPB TCCP targeted tiers) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Grace period21 days files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Cash advance APR28.49% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
CFPB survey APR (2025-12-31)18.24%–27.74% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31 older; issuer figure above is newer

Complaint record (CFPB)

Complaints, last 12 months26,196
Trend▲ 14.2% (last 12 mo 26,196 vs prior 12 mo 22,932)
Timely response (last 36 mo)100.0%
Per $1B deposits (12 mo)9.29
Top issueManaging an account
Insurance statusFDIC-insured: JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association (cert 628, active; deposits $2,820.3B as of 06/30/2026)

Company-level (JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.), all products, as of 2026-10-12. Chase (JPMorgan Chase) complaints: full record → Shown for context; does not change the score.

Score breakdown

Annual fee 10.0/10Annual fee $0 (as of 2026-10-11). Rubric: $0=10, ≤$95=8, ≤$395=5, ≤$695=3, more=1 (perks/credits are not counted).
Rewards rate 7.8/10Base 1.5% on everything, top category 5% (as of 2026-10-11; points/miles valued at 1¢). Score = base/2%×7 + min(top,6)/6%×3. 1.5% on all purchases; 3% dining & drugstores; 5% Chase Travel
Sign-up bonus 2.7/10Bonus ≈ $200: $200 after $500 in 3 months (as of 2026-10-11). Score = value/$75, max 10.
Intro 0% APR 7.1/100% intro APR 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (as of 2026-10-11). Score = months/21×10.
Regular APR 7.7/1018.49%–27.99% variable (as of 2026-10-11); midpoint 23.24%. Score = (34 − midpoint)/1.4, 0–10.
Foreign transaction fee 3.0/103% foreign transaction fee (as of 2026-10-11).
Regulatory record (CFPB) 10.0/10Issuer Chase: Base 10, no actions in last 5 yrs found. Note: No CFPB enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase found in the last 5 years (CFPB enforcement database lists a 2017 action)

0.143×10.0 + 0.143×7.8 + 0.143×2.7 + 0.143×7.1 + 0.143×7.7 + 0.143×3.0 + 0.143×10.0 = 6.90 → 69.0%

Is Chase Freedom Unlimited worth it? (break-even math) →Value for my spending →

Compare with

Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Chase Freedom Flex · Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Citi Double Cash · Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Wells Fargo Active Cash · Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Capital One Quicksilver · Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Capital One Savor · Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Discover it Cash Back

No paid placement. No issuer pays VaultRubric for inclusion or rank; links go to the issuer's own page. Ranks come only from the published rubric below.

FAQ

What is the Chase Freedom Unlimited annual fee?

What is the Chase Freedom Unlimited APR?

18.49%–27.99% variable

Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.