Chase SCRA: Eligibility, Protections, and How to Apply

Chase SCRA benefits cover active-duty service members across credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and checking accounts, and in several areas the bank goes beyond the federal minimums set by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Some benefits are applied automatically through Department of Defense database checks; others require you to submit active-duty orders to Chase directly.

Credit Card Benefits

Chase caps interest at 4% APR on eligible credit card balances for active-duty service members, below the 6% ceiling the SCRA requires. The reduced rate stays in place during active duty and for one year afterward.¹

Chase also waives annual fees on all of its consumer credit cards for eligible military members. That makes a real difference on premium products. The Chase Sapphire Reserve carries a standard annual fee of $795, which is fully waived for qualifying service members while the card keeps all of its benefits, including the $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass lounge access, Chase Sapphire Lounge access, and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credits.²

The driver here is the Military Lending Act, a separate federal law that folds fees like the annual fee into a 36% Military Annual Percentage Rate cap. A $795 fee cannot sit inside that cap, so the fee comes off.² The MLA covers certain credit extended after active duty begins and explicitly protects spouses and dependents enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.³

One exception: Chase does not apply the military fee waiver to its business credit card products.²

Mortgage Protections

For a mortgage you took out before entering active duty, Chase offers the SCRA interest rate reduction to 6% and foreclosure protection that requires the bank to obtain a court order.⁴ To trigger the rate cap, you must give Chase written notice along with a copy of your active-duty orders.⁵ Under the SCRA, the interest cap on a mortgage extends one year beyond the end of service, and foreclosure protections run for the same post-service year.⁶

The pre-service timing matters. The SCRA interest cap only applies to debts you incurred before entering active duty.⁶ A mortgage opened after you went active-duty is not covered by the 6% cap.

Auto Loan and Lease Protections

Chase offers SCRA-eligible auto protections including interest rate reduction, protection from repossession without a court order, and early termination of auto leases.⁴

To end an auto lease early under the SCRA, you submit a written request to Chase that includes your full name, the date of the request, your Chase account number, and the requested termination date.⁴ The federal law allows lease termination without penalty in defined circumstances, such as permanent change of station orders or deployment of 90 or more days.⁶

Military Checking and Banking Benefits

Current service members and veterans qualify for Chase Premier Plus Checking with no monthly service fee, no minimum deposit, no Chase ATM fees worldwide, no foreign exchange rate adjustment fees, and no fees for money orders or cashier’s checks.⁷

Linking additional personal accounts to that Premier Plus account removes their monthly fees too, up to two additional checking accounts and any linked personal savings accounts.⁷

Active-duty and reserve members who direct-deposit military pay into Premier Plus Checking also get fee-free incoming and outgoing wire transfers. That wire benefit continues for 180 days after the last qualifying deposit.⁷

Who Qualifies

SCRA protections apply to active-duty members of all branches, reserve and National Guard members called to active duty, and commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and NOAA.⁸ Spouses and dependents receive some protections, including eviction protection and state residency protections under the SCRA, plus the MLA’s 36% MAPR cap when enrolled in DEERS.⁹

National Guard activation is a common point of confusion. Under the SCRA’s definition of “military service,” Guard duty qualifies only when the member is called to active service authorized by the President or Secretary of Defense for more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of Title 32, in response to a federally funded national emergency. Guard members activated by a state governor alone are generally not covered by the federal SCRA, though some states have their own SCRA-type protections.¹⁰ Chase’s own site says only that “members of the National Guard or reserve and called to active duty” may be eligible, without clarifying the state-orders distinction.⁴ If you are on state orders, a military legal assistance office can tell you where you stand.

How To Request Benefits From Chase

Chase regularly checks the Department of Defense’s MLA database to identify cardholders on active duty, so some benefits may be applied without any action on your part.² You can also verify your own status through the DoD’s MLA lookup tool.

To request benefits directly, Chase offers three channels:

Phone: Chase Military Services at 877-469-0110 (domestic) or 318-340-3308 (international), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.⁴
Secure message: Log into chase.com/securemessages, select “New message,” and choose “Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)” from the dropdown to upload documentation.⁴
Mail: Chase, Attn: SCRA Request, P.O. Box 183240, Columbus, OH 43218-3240.⁴

Chase will not process photos of documents taken from electronic devices, so submit scans or original copies.⁴

If Chase Denies Your Request

Federal law prohibits lenders from taking adverse action, including denying credit, changing loan terms, or reporting negative information, against a service member solely for exercising SCRA rights.⁸

If you believe Chase has improperly denied benefits, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends consulting a military legal assistance office, which you can locate through the Air Force Legal Assistance Locator. You can file a complaint about a financial company with the CFPB online or by calling 855-411-2372; the bureau forwards complaints to the company and works to get a response within 15 days. SCRA violations can also be reported to the Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights.⁸

A Note on Chase’s SCRA History

Chase’s current military program sits against a backdrop of significant past failures. In the years surrounding the 2008 financial crisis, Chase overcharged thousands of service members on mortgage interest and foreclosed on homes belonging to deployed military families, leading to a roughly $54 million class action settlement in the Rowles case¹¹ and approximately $59.9 million in compensation to 392 service members under the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement for foreclosure violations between January 2006 and April 2012.¹²

The resulting consent judgment forced Chase to rebuild its SCRA compliance program, with mandatory training for employees handling legal documents, independent quality assurance reviews, a prohibition on volume-based incentives and mechanical signature stamps, and due diligence requirements for foreclosure firms and other third-party vendors.¹³ The dedicated military services line, multiple submission channels, and automated DoD database checks you encounter today are products of those enforcement actions. The practical takeaway for a service member working with Chase now: document everything, keep copies of orders and submissions, and know that the CFPB complaint process and DOJ reporting routes exist if something goes wrong.

1
CNBC Select. Credit Card Benefits for Active Military Personnel
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Forbes Advisor. Military Chase Sapphire Reserve
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NCUA. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
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Chase. Military Personal Banking
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
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Military OneSource. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
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America’s Credit Unions. SCRA National Guard Protections: Title 10 v. Title 32
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NBC News. JPMorgan Chase Military Settlement
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U.S. Department of Justice. Service Members Compensation for Unlawful Foreclosures Under SCRA
13
California DFPI. JPMorgan Chase National Mortgage Settlement