Consumer complaint received 2026-05-03 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
I am a CareCredit cardholder ( Synchrony Bank, account ending XXXX ) writing to formally complain about servicing failures by Synchrony Bank that materially harmed my ability to manage my account and have caused significant, documented damage to my credit profile and financial life. I am not disputing the underlying purchase, the disclosed deferred-interest terms, or risk-based credit limit decreases. I am specifically complaining about three issues : ( 1 ) Synchrony 's unified login platform migration in XXXX XXXX, which disrupted my online account access during a period in which I was making consistent payments and prevented me from continuing to pay through the channel I had been using ; ( 2 ) Synchrony 's continued assessment of late fees and interest at 32.99 % APR on the account after Synchrony itself closed the account in XX/XX/XXXX ; and ( 3 ) the cumulative impact of these servicing actions on my credit reporting and ability to access credit. Account history : I opened the CareCredit account on XX/XX/XXXX with an initial purchase of {$2500.00} under an 18-month deferred-interest promotion expiring XX/XX/XXXX. The original credit limit was {$2500.00} [ see Attachment 01 ]. Throughout late XXXX and into XXXX, I made payments through Synchrony 's online portal at synchrony.com / carecredit.com. My pre-migration payment pattern was consistent and online-portal-based : Payment Date Amount Channel XX/XX/XXXX {$67.00} Online portal XX/XX/XXXX {$130.00} Online portal XX/XX/XXXX {$190.00} Online portal last successful online payment [ Attachment 02 ] [ Payment gap during migration window no portal access ] XX/XX/XXXX {$500.00} Phone payment same day as account closure [ Attachment 03 ] The pre-migration payments were not only consistent but escalating - {$67.00}, then {$130.00}, then {$190.00} - which is not the profile of a customer headed toward default. The migration that disrupted my access : In XXXX XXXX, Synchrony migrated its CareCredit and private-label credit card customers to a unified login platform on synchrony.com a " new sign-in experience. '' This migration is publicly documented and well-known to have caused widespread access problems for cardholders. A compiled exhibit of public third-party documentation is provided in Attachment 09, drawn from two sources : XXXX XXXX XXXX ( active and unresolved as of XX/XX/XXXX ), which states : " We have identified that users with Synchrony Bank Credit Cards and Care Credit receive a XXXX / XXXX error in XXXX XXXX for XXXX and in XXXX XXXX for XXXX. This is a known issue and has been escalated to our teams for investigation. At this time, we don't have an estimated resolution, but we're actively working on it. '' The alert has been formally reopened six times since XX/XX/XXXX five months of escalation with no resolution. ( XXXX ) Verbatim XXXX XXXX XXXX reviews of Synchrony 's own MySynchrony app, with reviewer names and dates spanning XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX covering the entire period of this complaint. Selected examples ( full screenshots in Attachment 09 ) : XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX, 54 helpful votes ) : " for the past 3 weeks, I haven't been able to access my account on their app anymore!!! I'm only allowed to pay as a guest now! So now I have to keep track which bill is due manually or they'll make me pay a late fee! '' XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) : " Haven't been able to log in for months. This app is useless. '' A XXXX user ( XX/XX/XXXX, 27 helpful votes ) : " when I try to log into the app to check balances or pay a bill about 3 out of 4 times it will say we are having trouble connecting try again later. '' XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) : " it hasn't opened for me in months. it used to work, then suddenly wouldn't log in. I've been trying weekly for 4-5 months now and it still won't work. '' XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) : " On the previous app I was able to pull up and make payments with the one login for the 3 accounts. Now, it says it doesn't recognize my username or password. '' XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) : " required re-register every time log in. '' The full text and additional context for each of these sources is provided in Attachment 09 for the reviewer 's reference. My experience with Synchrony during this time : I did not receive - or did not recognize as actionable - any clear notification from Synchrony explaining that my login credentials would be invalidated, what I needed to do to maintain online access, or how to make payments through alternative channels during the transition. I have searched my email accounts and can not locate any clear, actionable migration communication from Synchrony or CareCredit. Synchrony had my mobile phone number from account opening [ Attachment 01 ], yet I received no SMS notification of the migration either. My access was disrupted during this migration window. I was unable to log in to my CareCredit account through the channel I had been using to make my regular payments. I continued receiving paper statements and notices in the mail demanding payment, but the online portal- my established payment method- was inaccessible. During the disruption, I assumed, based on Synchrony 's prior conduct, that the portal access issue would be resolved through normal channels. I did not anticipate that the disruption would persist for months without resolution. The publicly documented systemic nature of the migration disruption [ Attachment 09 ] confirms that my experience was not unique - it was the documented experience of Synchrony cardholders across multiple platforms throughout this period. My XX/XX/XXXX phone payment demonstrates good faith and intent to pay. When I worked through Synchrony 's phone payment channel, I did not make a minimum payment. I made a {$500.00} payment, which was XXXX times larger than my largest previous payment [ Attachment XXXX ]. This was a good-faith catch-up payment by a customer trying to bring his account current after a servicer-caused disruption to his established payment method. Synchrony closed my account the same day I made the catch-up payment. According to my TransUnion credit report, Synchrony closed my account on XX/XX/XXXX - the same day my {$500.00} payment posted [ Attachment 06c ]. According to my XXXX report, the closure was effective XX/XX/XXXX [ Attachment 06d ]. Synchrony chose to close the account rather than restore my online access or work with me to keep the account in good standing after I demonstrated my willingness and ability to pay. Notably, Synchrony charged me a {$41.00} late fee on XX/XX/XXXX seven days BEFORE my {$500.00} catch-up payment [ Attachment 03 ] - meaning they knew the account was past due and chose to assess additional fees rather than reach out to help me cure or restore my access. Post-closure conduct : Once Synchrony closed the account on XX/XX/XXXX, my reasonable understanding as a consumer was that the account was no longer active and that there was no longer a standard servicing relationship through which to make ongoing payments. Synchrony itself had unilaterally ended the active account relationship. I continued to receive paper statements demanding payment on the resulting balance, but Synchrony 's own action - closing the account on the same day I made a {$500.00} catch-up payment - communicated clearly that the standard active-account servicing channels I had used were no longer the appropriate path. Despite closing the account and ending normal servicing, Synchrony continued to assess $ 41 monthly late fees and interest at 32.99 % APR on the balance for the next six months [ Attachment 07 - portal activity showing post-closure fees ]. Specifically, between XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX alone, Synchrony assessed {$120.00} in late fees and {$240.00} in interest charges on the closed-account balance. The balance grew from {$1900.00} in XX/XX/XXXX [ Attachment 03 ] to {$3200.00} by XX/XX/XXXX [ Attachment 05 ] - a {$1300.00} increase driven entirely by deferred-interest billing [ Attachment 04 - XX/XX/XXXX statement showing {$1300.00} deferred-interest charge ] and post-closure fees and interest, with XXXX new purchases. Synchrony 's decision to close the account : Rather than restore my online access or work with me after I demonstrated good faith with the {$500.00} payment- is the proximate cause of the six months of post-closure fees and interest accrual that followed. A consumer can not reasonably be expected to service a closed account through the same channels as an active account. Closing an account ends the active relationship; continuing to assess late fees and 32.99 % interest on the resulting balance for six months, on an account the consumer reasonably believes is no longer in active servicing, is fundamentally unfair. Documented financial harm : The negative tradeline reported by Synchrony is now appearing on all three major credit bureaus showing 120+ days delinquent, 177 % utilization, and a balance of {$3200.00} against a {$1800.00} credit limit [ Attachment 06a - three-bureau summary ; Attachment 06b - payment history showing the cascade from XX/XX/XXXX forward ]. This single tradeline has caused the following documented harm : On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX reduced my business credit line on my XXXX XXXX account from {$10000.00} to {$4300.00} a 57 % reduction - citing " Delinquency reported on accounts '' as the primary reason and " Balance owed on revolving accounts too high '' as a secondary reason [ Attachment 08 XXXX adverse action notice ]. The Synchrony CareCredit tradeline is the dominant driver of both factors - it is the only seriously delinquent account on my credit report, and its 177 % utilization ( driven by Synchrony 's post-closure fee stacking ) is a major contributor to my elevated revolving balance metrics. XXXXXXXX XXXX adverse action also reduced employee credit lines connected to this account, extending the harm to my team. This is not a claim of speculative harm- this is a third-party financial institution 's adverse action notice attributing the credit reduction directly to the tradeline at issue. My XXXX score, previously above XXXX, has been reduced substantially as a direct result of this single account. What I have already done to resolve this. I contacted Synchrony by phone and was offered a settlement of approximately {$1300.00} in exchange for resolving the account. The Synchrony representative declined to ( a ) update the tradeline to reflect a good-standing status of " Paid in Full, '' ( b ) reverse late fees and interest assessed during the migration access disruption period, or ( c ) consider deletion of the tradeline as part of settlement. The Synchrony representative specifically directed me to file a complaint with the CFPB if I wished to pursue tradeline deletion as part of resolution.

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