Consumer complaint received 2019-12-10
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NC
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:
I had called into PayPal at the first of the year to look at getting the PayPal Cash Rewards Credit Card because the credit had better benefits than my current PayPal Extras MasterCard. I was instructed to closed my current credit card so I would be able to apply for the Cash Rewards Card. I asked if there was a different way to do it since I did not want to close the Extras Master Card because I have had it since XX/XX/XXXX and never had a late payment. On XX/XX/XXXX I closed the PayPal Extras Master Card. I had to wait a full cycle for it to closed officially, and I also had to wait for it to come off my PayPal account to be able to physically apply for the PayPal Cash Rewards Card. On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for the PayPal Cash Rewards Card through the PayPal website. I was approved, but only for a {$300.00} limit. I was actually really surprised by the amount since it was so low, and I had been recently approved for XXXX Card for {$9000.00} two weeks before I applied for this card. 

On the same day I called to inquire about the XXXX limit given and no one could give me any information concerning the reasoning behind this decision nor give me criteria to understand the decision. I asked for a increase to {$5000.00} and it was declined. They could not tell me why, but stated I had to wait for the letter, and they could not tell me anything. I was very upset due to the fact no one could help me or even point me in the right direction. I received the denial letter in the mail which is attached and dated for XX/XX/XXXX stating " Insufficient credit experience at your current credit line '' which was not determined by using any credit history so they say. The funny thing is when I spoke to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX they said they do a soft pull to make credit line increase decisions. Therefore, the fact they used a letter saying no credit report was used is a lie if in fact the soft pull was done. On XX/XX/XXXX, I asked for another line increase to {$2000.00} and was denied again. Again, I had to wait on the letter. This letter dated for XX/XX/XXXX states the reason for denial was Our decision was based in part on a credit scoring system that was used to predict your creditworthiness. The reason ( s ) for our decision are listed below : Insufficient information to determine account performance score. Again, I called in on XX/XX/XXXX and no one could explain this. On XX/XX/XXXX I wrote a letter to the company explaining my issues. They replied on XX/XX/XXXX requesting me to apply for a increase on the phone or send in a detachment from the XX/XX/XXXX letter. I did call on XX/XX/XXXX and was denied due to Insufficient information to determine a account performance score ''. I also sent in the the paper version and also got a denial on XX/XX/XXXX stating Insufficient experience at your current credit line. When I would call and ask why I kept getting these decisions they kept referring me to contact the credit reporting agencies. This is wrong advice because a reporting agency was not used to make this decision. Synchrony Bank does not have sufficient folks that understand the situations, and even when you get to a account manager they are not trained at all. As a consumer that values her credit this is very frustrating when I pay my bills on time and have great credit history. I believe my closure on my PayPal Extras Master Card was used against me on my PayPal cash rewards credit line determination. I am concerned that Synchrony Bank 's practices are unfair and would like a investigation into this matter.

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