Consumer complaint received 2020-08-25
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CT
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Unexpected increase in interest rate

Complaint:
Care Credit is predatory lending at its finest, especially considering the way they offer these cards to people, including myself, who have to use them for emergency services. I have been charged over {$900.00} interest this year on a {$3000.00} credit purchase of emergency XXXX   work plus previous balance of about {$1500.00} from Care Credit. It's only XXXX. I understood this was an interest free card for emergency medical care, and that is what I used it for. I did not know the interest kept accruing during the promotional period and was charged all at once the day after the promotion was up. I got this card in XXXX for a procedure and payed it back within the promotional period then held onto it thinking it was an ok deal. I would have used a basic credit card with less interest rate if I knew this was the deal. Looking at the statements, it is still impossible to figure out what went on, just that i'm on the hook for {$900.00} of interest for half a year 's lending of less than {$5000.00}. It seems to me that this is predatory lending aimed at already poor people in need of immediate money for emergency XXXX   and other medical work. I was offered this card in a better time, and I was able to pay back the initial loan in 6 months. This time, considering COVID, is an exception, so now I see how utterly fraudulent this predatory lending from Care Credit is. I downloaded all of the statements and can still barely make out what happened that I could be charged this much, despite making on time minimum payments and bigger chunks of payments, two of {$1000.00} this year, plus chunks of payments last year to pay on the older debts. 

Here is a portion of my XXXX  statement, where I payed over {$200.00} interest on the portion of my debt from XXXX  work last year for one month while still in the promotion period for the majority of my debt. Seems to me they were charging interest on the full amount of debt, including the part still in the promotional period. It also seems they are charging more than the monthly percentage of the APR. 

Promotional Purchase Summary Promotional Expiration Date Promotional Balance Billed Interest Charge Deferred Interest Charge Description/ Tran Date Initial Purchase Amount EXPIRED {$870.00} {$190.00} {$0.00} Deferred Interest/No Interest If Paid In Full XX/XX/XXXX {$1500.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$3000.00} {$0.00} {$390.00} Deferred Interest/No Interest If Paid In Full XX/XX/XXXX {$3000.00} A summary of your promotional purchase is provided above. 

To make more than one payment see Make Payment To address or pay online at mysynchrony.com. 
Transaction Summary Tran Date Post Date Reference Number Description Amount XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX AUTOMATIC PAYMENT - THANK YOU ( {$140.00} ) FEES TOTAL FEES FOR THIS PERIOD {$0.00} INTEREST CHARGED XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES {$210.00} TOTAL INTEREST FOR THIS PERIOD {$210.00} XXXX Totals Year-to-Date Total Fees Charged in XXXX {$0.00} Total Interest Charged in XXXX {$250.00} Total Interest Paid in XXXX {$0.00} Interest Charge Calculation Type of Balance Expiration Date Annual Percentage Rate ( APR ) Balance Subject to Interest Rate Interest Charge Purchases NA 26.99 % {$570.00} {$13.00} Deferred Interest/No Interest If Paid In Full EXPIRED 26.99 % {$960.00} {$190.00} Deferred Interest/No Interest If Paid In Full XX/XX/XXXX XXXX   % {$3300.00} {$0.00} Then here 's XXXX where I payed a {$1000.00} chunk Transaction Summary Tran Date Post Date Reference Number Description Amount XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX PAYMENT - THANK YOU ( {$1000.00} ) FEES TOTAL FEES FOR THIS PERIOD {$0.00} INTEREST CHARGED XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES {$480.00} TOTAL INTEREST FOR THIS PERIOD {$480.00} XXXX Totals Year-to-Date Total Fees Charged in XXXX {$0.00} Total Interest Charged in XXXX {$740.00} Total Interest Paid in XXXX {$0.00} Interest Charge Calculation Type of Balance Expiration Date Annual Percentage Rate ( APR ) Balance Subject to Interest Rate Interest Charge Purchases NA 26.99 % {$1400.00} {$31.00} Deferred Interest/No Interest If Paid In Full EXPIRED 26.99 % {$2500.00} {$450.00} I just made another {$1000.00} payment which is breaking me during COVID especially, but I'll keep paying $ XXXX/month in interest alone if I don't get rid of this ridiculous debt. Mind you, their suggested monthly payment, which I've been paying, has been {$130.00} - XXXX. So this year, I've made 8 of those payments = at least {$1000.00} plus {$2000.00} extra payments and my debt has effectively gone from XXXX to just under XXXX. 

I'm most upset that this type of lending targets poor people without the ability to pay back the loan. I would have rather dealt with medical debt straight from the office and medical collectors, but this was sold to me as a reasonable alternative. Also, Care credit was already fined {$34.00} XXXX  for this exact issue, so why is this allowed to continue to aggressively target those with minimal means.

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 monetary relief