Consumer complaint received 2020-12-02
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Application denied

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020, I applied at Banana Republic for a credit card account. Synchrony Bank issues the Banana Republic Visa credit card and handles any account related matters. On XX/XX/2020, after I got home, I placed a call to Synchrony Bank to inquire why I had not received a phone call, because according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as a victim of identity theft, Synchrony Bank was required to call me to verify my identity. I also wanted to know if I was approved, because, I was not approved in the store, nor was I called, but was told I would receive a letter by mail. Normally I receive a call while I am still at the location where I applied, to verify my identity. Verifying my identity has been done for years, anytime I apply for credit. As of today, I have not received a call from Synchrony Bank to verify my identity, and no messages have been left on my voice mail, which is against the law and is required. When I called Synchrony, I spoke to several supervisors who stated they were not aware of the law and could not figure out which department to send me to. How is this? If your company supplies credit to consumers, your company and its employees in the credit approval department, should be well versed on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and identity theft. Not knowing how to handle victims of identity theft is very dangerous and again I will say, illegal, and could have placed me in direct contact and harm with identity theft yet again. 
I received a letter from Synchrony Bank dated XX/XX/2020 stating that in evaluating my request for credit I was denied because Synchrony Bank was, Unable to access credit bureau due to freeze or lock. This statement is false. I feel that because you never called to verify my identity, you knew it was wrong, so you thought you would deny my application and that would take care of your wrongdoing. I lifted the freezes with XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, & XX/XX/XXXX, the 3 major credit bureaus, XX/XX/2020, you pulled my credit on XX/XX/2020, and the freeze went back on my credit XX/XX/2020, so you were able to verify my credit history. As a matter of fact, you did verify my credit history with bothXX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, which provided/provides you with a complete view of my credit. When the freeze is lifted, it was lifted immediately on XX/XX/2020. I have enclosed the letter I received from Synchrony, ( I had to tape a piece of paper on the copy of letter at the bottom, because I wrote some of my personal information on the letter ). I have also enclosed, the copies I received as proof that my security freeze was lifted with all 3 bureaus when you pulled my credit, and I have enclosed a copy from the two credit bureaus showing 2 hard inquiries. The letter also states that I can re-apply in 30 days if I lifted my freeze from all major credit reporting agencies. This was already done, so there is no need to lift it again, so you can place 2 additional hard inquiries on my credit. 
There are 3 major credit reporting agencies and those freezes were lifted and you did view my credit. Any other reporting agency is a secondary reporting agency not a major credit reporting agency. You had a full view of my credit and you were able to verify my credit, and there were hard inquiries placed on my XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXXcredit files, so you should have processed my application, because there were no other reasons provided as to why I would not be granted credit. I am requesting that my application be reconsidered, with the credit history that you actually verified and have access to with the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX files you requested on XX/XX/2020. If not, please remove the hard inquiries from both credit files. I will not be penalized for something you claim you did not do when the proof shows you did.

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