Consumer complaint received 2022-05-18
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: TN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
Synchrony is a terrible company and has done damage to the operation of my business and to my credit score. They had given me a 2 % cashback business credit card, and I used this business credit card as the daily card for my business purchases. The credit limit was not enough for my monthly purchases, so every couple of days, I would pay off my balance. According to their online user agreement, the payments made on their website would be applied to the balance within 2 days or 48 hours. I am attaching proof of the online usage agreement that states available credit will be updated within two business days of the payment date. I had been using the card for over 6 months, which I was told was a trial period to ensure I was capable of making my payments on time. In fact, I never once had a payment, of over a hundred payments, that was either past due or that was declined. Every payment I made, and there were several every week, were good payments, and the funds were always available. However, Synchrony started holding my payments and did not apply them to my balance, which breaks the Online Usage Agreement. This prevented me from running my business, as the available credit was not being updated and the card would decline when my business partners tried to use it.

I filed several complaints here about this practice, which breaks their own online usage agreement. I was told by a Synchrony executive that they have the right to NOT apply the payments to the account, although their Online Usage Agreement does not say this anywhere. Particularly since every payment I ever made was made with available funding and there was never any issue with my payments, I feel they acted in very bad faith. But, it gets worse.

After holding one particularly payment for ( I think ) 10 business days, I called to have it released, and they refused. I complained here again, and they retaliated by cancelling ALL my Synchrony cards. Five cards in total, all on the same day. I didn't even know that several " store '' cards were backed by Synchrony bank until I got letters saying they all had been closed. The reason they gave for the account closures was " Payment an unusual purchase history on another Synchrony credit account that Synchrony deems may be indicative of future intention not to pay ''.

This is so unfounded that it should be criminal. First, I paid several times a week. I never even had a balance due by the payment date on my invoices, they had already been paid. This is retaliation for reporting their unlawful business practices to the CFPB.

As a result of their retaliation, my credit score dropped XXXX points, from a " Good '' rating to a " Fair '' rating. Again, this damages me personally, and my business. I had to quickly get another credit card to even run my business, since it was suddenly cancelled without any notification at all that it would happen.

Synchrony Bank needs to be held accountable for their unlawful and retaliatory behavior toward consumers. I would love to show how often all my payments were made on my account, way ahead of the payment date, and that every payment went through fine with available funding, but when they cancelled the card, my login no longer worked to be able to even look at my payment history.

I've been told I should sue this company for their harmful and retaliatory business practices, and will consider pursuing litigation.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation