Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial is an American consumer financial services company with its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. The company offers consumer financing products, including credit, promotional financing and loyalty programs, installment lending to industries, and FDIC-insured consumer savings products, through Synchrony Bank, its wholly owned online bank subsidiary.

History

Previously named GE Capital Retail Finance Corporation, Synchrony was incorporated in Delaware in 2003. The company was inactive until 2013. Centered on co-branded credit products, Synchrony went public in July 2014 and raised $2.88 billion in its initial public offering.

Recent corporate history

In 2017, Synchrony acquired GPShopper.

In 2018, Synchrony acquired Loop Commerce, which provides a patented digital gifting platform called GiftNow. In 2018, Synchrony's largest program was the acquisition of PayPal's $7.6 billion credit receivables portfolio. Synchrony Bank also became the exclusive issuer for the PayPal Credit point-of-sale financing program in the United States through 2028. Additionally, PayPal agreed to extend its existing co-brand credit card relationship with Synchrony through the same 10-year term.

In 2020, consumer advocacy groups urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Comptroller of the Currency to investigate the use of PayPal Credit to pay tuition at for-profit schools, where students are generally ineligible for lower-cost federal loans. The advocacy groups classified the 24% interest rates, $40 late fees, and aggressive collection practices as "predatory."

Synchrony owns CareCredit, the largest provider of medical credit cards in the United States. In May 2024, a class action suit was filed in New York alleging that the card's interest rates of 32.99%% violate state usury laws.

GIC Private Limited, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, owned 7.72% of Synchrony's stock in 2019. However, GIC exited its position by 2023.

Products and technology

Synchrony is the largest provider of private-label credit cards in the U.S. Brands partnered with Synchrony include Amazon, Lowe's, Guitar Center, Cathay Pacific, Rakuten, Verizon, Sleep Number, Walgreens, and Sam's Club.

Synchrony has four "Innovation Stations," which are located in Stamford, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; Kettering, Ohio and Hyderabad, India.

Public-private partnerships

In 2016, the University of Connecticut's School of Engineering announced the launch of Synchrony's Center of Excellence in Cybersecurity.

In 2018, Synchrony opened an emerging tech center at the University of Illinois.

In 2019, Synchrony opened the Synchrony Digital Technology Center at the University of Connecticut's Stamford campus. During the dedication of the center, the company announced a $1 million donation to the "Connecticut Commitment" – an initiative aimed at helping lower-income Connecticut students attend the university, tuition-free.

Settlements

In June 2014, shortly before Synchrony's New York Stock Exchange debut, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice reached a $225 million settlement with the company after it entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The settlement stated that while operating as GE Capital Bank, the company had engaged in deceptive and discriminatory credit card practices, primarily surrounding nefarious enrollment practices for add-on programs such as financial hardship relief.

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American companies established in 2003
Financial services companies established in 2003
Credit cards in the United States
Companies based in Stamford, Connecticut
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Financial services companies of the United States
2014 initial public offerings