Consumer complaint received 2023-10-30
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: PA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023 around XXXXXXXX XXXX I went to mySynchrony website to download my monthly bill for Lowe 's Credit Card. I found that the statement showed a variety of ways to have the interest calculated. Reading over them, I believed the amount of interest charged to my account would vary significantly depending upon which one was used but there was nothing stating which method is currently being used to calculate the interest each month. I then went to the live chat and asked to have a live agent as the system now gives you an AI bot automatically. When I started the chat with the a human being, I proceeded to explain to about my financial situation which is very restricted as I am single, on XXXX, and have no other source of income. Still I have made payments on time toward my purchases on the Lowe 's Credit Card every month for over a year, for greater than the minimum amount due. My credit score is also very good as I strive to keep all of my bills current despite being considered in poverty. I told the agent that the interest on the account was hurting me financially as I was making payments around $ XXXX but being slapped with around {$45.00} of interest each month so I was essentially only making half the payment. I then asked, based on my account history, to either have the interest rate lowered or the means of calculating the interest changed. I was immediately told that I wasn't a candidate for having the interest rate lowered. I was surprised given my efforts toward my financial status. No explanation was provided as to why only that they could not offer it. I then asked further about the means of calculating interest on the account. The representative at first seemed to ignore my question referring in her response only to the interest rate itself ( XXXX ). I told her that she was not answering my question several times before she finally asked what I was referring to. I then proceeded to tell her I was looking at my monthly statement where there are multiple detailed descriptions of methods for calculating interest. They were named XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX & XXXX. I wanted to know which method was currently being used for calculation on my account and if we could request that a different one be used ; if so how to do that. But she seemed to have no clue what I was referring to. At first she didn't seem to think these different methods of calculation existed at all. Then she asked me where I was seeing this information at. When I specified it was on my current statement, page 2 she then asked to put me on hold while she uploaded my statement. She then specified I was on XXXX and there wasn't another listed. But then she said to wait while she looked again. After a few more moments she told me she could see all of the descriptions I was referring to but that these were only for " information purposes '' and not options. I expressed to her that the company definitely needed to clarify this as to most consumers reading these descriptions on a statement it would appear that these are option which we can choose from based upon which is best for our financial picture. She apologized and stated she would give my comments as feedback to the company. But I was given no assistance overall toward lowering my payments

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