Consumer complaint received 2024-07-18 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: SD

Complaint narrative:
I signed up for a JC Penny credit card with Synchrony Bank a couple years ago. It is not used often. I just received a notice that they have updated their policy that they will be charging to receive paper statements as of next month. The fee is {$1.00}. Although the size of the fee is small, it is a fee which punishes consumers for managing their finances. 

For those that don't review statements religiously it could be easily missed. Otherwise it essentially is nudging if not forcing customers to use online statements only. Computer ownership is common nowadays however this policy is essentially requiring people that want to use their store credit card to own a computer and have internet. Should a customer want a paper copy for their records they would also need to own a printer. 

However my largest concern and my personal issue with this is this new policy forces a customer to manage finances online. Companies have IT departments that are constantly working to keep themselves safe but there is no way to guarantee security. I don't have an IT department on my end. I can not explain how a computer works or how the internet works or how a hacker works, etc. I do know that anything online is exposed to risk. Literally a few minutes ago I received a message that my data was compromised from another company I have business with. Some hacker got info from millions of their customers in the blink of an eye. I have had a bank that had a computer glitch and it erased a deposit made months before. They had no record it was ever received. I had my bank statements they sent me. Because of that they found the computer error and also multiple other customers affected. There is nothing anyone can say that will ever convince me online is safe. 

This policy could also be discriminatory against aged Americans that have been managing and paying bills via mail their whole lives. It essentially requires customers to " get with the times or get out ''. 

I work in finance. One thing that is and always has been the truth is people that manage their finances online are much less likely to actually review statements. They are lazy. This is not an opinion but a financial truth that online users are much more likely just to check the balance and never review a statements item by item. People from older generations learned how to balance a checkbook and reconcile their accounts with their statements. For example : there are commercials advertising apps that search your finances for things you are paying on and not using. This is a chronic problem with the younger generations. Thus discouraging paper statements engenders more errors going uncaught. 

I am employed in the financial industry for many years including financial crimes. Over the years I have seen and spoken to thousands upon thousands of customers and have noticed consistently that people that manage finances online are far more likely to miss errors and expose themselves to risk.

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