Consumer complaint received 2025-06-24 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
I enrolled in CareCredit with a 24-month 0 % promotional financing period and set up auto-pay, believing it would automatically pay the amount needed to avoid interest charges before the promotional period ended. I was told that I could automate the monthly payment and avoid interest that way. However, auto-pay only made " minimum '' account payments, which were insufficient to pay off the promotional balance in time. Since this was a 0-interest period, it's not clear what a " minimum '' even means. 

When my promotional period expired, I was charged retroactive interest on the entire original balance from the purchase date, despite making all required payments through auto-pay. I was never adequately informed that auto-pay would not ensure promotional payoff or that minimum payments would be insufficient to avoid interest charges, or that there was a difference between the two. 

The auto-pay feature created a reasonable expectation that it would help customers avoid interest penalties, but instead it trapped me into owing significant deferred interest charges. I also did not receive any emails or notifications that the promotional period was ending. All I received was a statement balance with the interest charge with no warning ( screenshot attached ). This appears to be the same type of deceptive practice that led to the CFPB 's previous enforcement action against CareCredit in XXXX, where over 1 million consumers were affected by inadequate disclosure of promotional financing terms. 

https : //www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-ge-carecredit-to-refund-34-1-million-for-deceptive-health-care-credit-card-enrollment/ I tried calling and explaining the situation to CareCredit, mentioning that I pay on time and simply didn't understand what autopay was doing, but they refused to offer any leeway at all. CareCredit is continuing this harmful pattern According to the article above, CareCredit is required to : " Enhance consumer disclosures : CareCredit will also be required to enhance the disclosures provided to consumers during the application process and on billing statements. The new disclosures will include improved descriptions of the deferred-interest product, and consumers will be warned in advance when the promotional period is ending. Representatives will contact most CareCredit consumers within 72 hours of the initial transaction to explain the product to them over the phone. In addition, for certain transactions of more than {$1000.00}, consumers will enroll directly through a CareCredit representative and not through the doctor or dentist office representative. '' However, I did not receive these disclosures. And although my transaction was well over {$1000.00}, I was not enrolled with a CareCredit representative, and was signed up for this at the dentist 's office. Additionally, the online interface for setting up auto-pay is misleading, and does not make it clear that this is insufficient for meeting the promotional period and avoiding interest. The online interface does not provide an alternative button or option for auto-pay that sets up the correct monthly amount for avoiding interest. Altogether, this seems like a system deliberately designed to obfuscate and land consumers in this situation

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