The 6% Interest Rate Cap
Chase Military Benefits: 6% SCRA Cap, No Rate or Fee Figure in Print
Part of: The Complete Guide to the SCRA
What Chase owes you
The cap is retroactive to your first day of active duty, and the excess interest is forgiven rather than deferred. Put your numbers in to see the size of your claim, then generate the letter that asks for it.
Simple-interest estimate on a fixed balance, capped at 6%: the 6% statutory ceiling (50 U.S.C. § 3937). Chase publishes no lower rate, so 6% is your guaranteed floor. A revolving balance that moved over the period will differ. It sizes the claim; it is not an amortization schedule and not legal advice.
Write the letter to Chase
Written notice is what starts the clock. Fill these in and the letter below is yours to copy, print, and send with a copy of your orders.
Where to send it: chase.com/securemessages: new message with the SCRA dropdown, documents upload there (Chase asks for scans or mail, not phone photos)
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. The letter is built on this device.
Chase runs one of the better-documented military servicing desks in the industry. It publishes its filing channels, staffs a dedicated line, and tells you what to send. Then it gets to the rate and goes quiet.
Its SCRA page lists “Reduction of Interest Rate” as a benefit and never says what the reduced rate is. We re-checked in July 2026: the page loads fine and states no number. That is a deliberate absence, not a broken link. Its auto-loan page manages only “in some cases interest rate and fee benefits.”
The 4% you have read everywhere, on this page too until July 2026, is not from Chase. It is one blog citing another. Chase may genuinely apply 4%. It has simply never committed to it where you could hold it to the promise, and a benefit nobody will print is not a benefit you can plan around.
The fee side is no more concrete. Chase’s SCRA page says nothing about fees at all (re-read September 2, 2026, rendered in a full browser). The $0 personal-card annual fee for members and spouses covered by the Military Lending Act is widely reported by cardholders, and on a Sapphire Reserve it is worth more than two points of rate on most balances, but Chase does not print it on any page automated checks can read. Under § 3937(d)(1), fees on a pre-service account count as interest inside the 6% cap whatever Chase publishes; the late fees guide walks through it. On the checking side Chase is explicit: its military banking page waives the Premier Plus monthly fee for veterans on a DD-214, covered in best bank for veterans.
What you get
| Feature | Statutory SCRA | What Chase publishes |
|---|---|---|
| Rate cap on pre-service debt | 6% APR, guaranteed | ”Reduction of Interest Rate.” No figure. |
| After active duty | Mortgages only, plus one year | Not stated |
| Card fees | Fees count as interest under § 3937(d)(1) | Not addressed on its SCRA page |
| Annual fee, active duty and spouses | Not addressed | $0 under the MLA: reported, not printed |
| Action required | Written notice plus orders | Request plus orders |
The rate cap, the retroactivity, and the forgiveness above 6% are § 3937, and they hold whatever Chase does or does not print. Everything Chase adds on top is currently undisclosed.
If a published sub-6% rate is what you are after, four issuers commit to one: Capital One and USAA and Navy Federal at 4%, and Sallie Mae at 5%. Which of them you owe when you enter service is a choice you can make ahead of time, and the lender-choice playbook works through it.
How to apply
Chase publishes its filing channels, which is more than most issuers do. Use any one of them.
File your SCRA request with Chase
- Gather orders covering your active-duty period and a list of your pre-service Chase accounts.
- Pick a channel: call 1-877-469-0110 (overseas 1-318-340-3308), upload via chase.com secure messages and select the SCRA option, or mail to Chase, Attn: SCRA Request, PO Box 183240, Columbus, OH 43218-3240.
- Attach clear copies. Chase prefers mailed or uploaded documents over phone photos. The letter generator produces a § 3937 request to include.
- Watch the next statements for the reduced rate, lower payment, and the retroactive adjustment to your duty start date.
- Spouses: ask separately about the $0 annual fee adjustment on personal cards under the MLA.
What Chase filers get wrong
The rate and the fee run on two different rules. The rate cap is for accounts you held before active duty. The reported $0 annual fee comes through the MLA and reaches spouses and cards opened during service. Two benefits, two eligibility tests, so claim both and do not assume one covers the other.
Do not accept an unstated rate. When you file, ask Chase in writing what APR it applied to each account, what date it takes effect, and when relief ends. “You will see it on your statement” is not an answer. If the applied rate comes back above 6%, that is not a policy disagreement, it is a violation of § 3937, and the escalation guide covers what to do next.
If it does not show in two cycles, go back in writing. Reference the date you first filed and the channel you used. The retroactive adjustment is owed either way, and the refund guide shows how to claim overpaid interest back. Size your savings first in the savings calculator.
Chase documents more of its process than most issuers; see how that stacks up on the bank leaderboard.
The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937
Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute , or see where it sits in the whole Act .
Frequently asked questions
What rate does Chase apply under the SCRA?
Chase will not say. Its SCRA page lists "Reduction of Interest Rate" as a benefit and states no number, which we re-verified in July 2026. The 4% figure repeated across military blogs traces to no Chase source. What is guaranteed is the statutory 6%, retroactive to your start date, with the excess forgiven rather than deferred. Chase may well apply less than 6%. Make it tell you in writing what it applied.
How do I submit an SCRA request to Chase?
Three documented channels. Call Chase Military Services at 1-877-469-0110 (or 1-318-340-3308 from overseas). Upload through chase.com secure messages and pick the SCRA option. Or mail to Chase, Attn: SCRA Request, PO Box 183240, Columbus, OH 43218-3240. Chase suggests mailed or electronic copies rather than phone photos.
Do military spouses get anything from Chase?
Reportedly. Cardholders widely report that Chase adjusts annual fees to $0 on personal credit cards for active-duty members and spouses covered by the Military Lending Act, but no Chase page readable to automated checks on September 2, 2026 states that policy. Ask Chase Military Services to confirm it in writing. That benefit is separate from the SCRA rate cap, which applies to the service member's pre-service accounts.
Does the benefit cover cards opened during service?
The 6% SCRA cap applies only to pre-service accounts. Cards opened during active duty fall under the MLA, with its 36% all-in cap and the reported $0 annual fee adjustment, not the SCRA rate cap.
Sources
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.