Consumer complaint received 2020-01-17
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: MI
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:
I have both Synchrony and Care Credit accounts and my issue is with the unreasonable length of time Care Credit takes to apply larger payments and the lack of proper notice given to customers about this delay. 

As of XX/XX/2020, I was carrying a balance of {$2300.00} on my Care Credit account with a promotion expiration date of XX/XX/2020. Anticipating that I would need to utilize all of my available credit ( {$5000.00} ) for my dog 's XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I paid this promotion balance of {$2300.00} online by ACH on XX/XX/XXXX. ( I made this payment from the same bank account that was already registered with Care Credit and from which my previous monthly payments had been processed by ACH. ) In doing so, I noted the following on the payment screen of Care Credit : " Please allow 48 hours for this payment to be reflected on your account. '' Prior to picking my dog up from the hospital on XX/XX/XXXX, I checked the Care Credit website only to see that my available credit had not been updated. I called customer service and spoke to XXXX who told me that it takes 7 - 10 days for a payment over {$500.00} to be credited. I pointed out that there was no notice given of this policy on the payment screen and that my bank had cleared the funds on XX/XX/XXXX. She first said that this policy is posted on their website but then told me it was included in the Terms and Conditions. She told me there was nothing that could be done. I had the same conversation with a supervisor, XXXX, ( who said the payment threshold was {$1000.00}. ) I was told that it would not be possible for me to access my remaining available credit until the payment processed 8 days later. XXXX told me I could request an increase in my credit limit. I stated that I did not want to do this because of the adverse effect it would have on my credit score. Having no other option to pay for my dog 's XXXX and be able to bring him home from the hospital, I requested, and was approved for an additional {$5000.00}. As I told XXXX, if my credit was already going to have to take a hit, I would extend the limit. 

I have two complaints against Care Credit in this situation : 1 ) Taking 7 - 10 days to credit a larger payment is far in excess of normal and acceptable ACH banking time frames. This results in tying up customers ' money for an unnecessary and unreasonable amount of time. Inducing customers to apply for additional credit to cover expenses as a result is anti-consumer. 

2 ) This delay in crediting payments should be noted clearly on the Care Credit website. Failure to include this policy on the payment screen along with the statement that payments may take 48 hours to be reflected is misleading and deceptive. 

I later looked on the Care Credit / Synchrony website for any mention of the 7 - 10 day hold and could find none. It appears that not even the Terms and Conditions are available to be read on the website, as I found a page where I could request that they be mailed to me.

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