Consumer complaint received 2025-10-26 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Overcharged for something you did purchase with the card
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Since XXXX, I have used PayPal Credit to make purchases under their No Interest if Paid in Full in XXXX  Months promotion. I have consistently paid on time and maintained a good payment record. However, I recently discovered that not all purchases were properly categorized as promotional. Some were marked as standard without clear notice, and these were not visible in the promotional section of my online account. As a result, I was unaware of their existence and did not pay them within the required time, leading to unexpected interest charges. 
The account statements provided by PayPal Credit ( Synchrony Bank ) are extremely confusing and lack transparency. There is no clear breakdown of standard purchases : no list of merchants, transaction dates, or amounts. Interest charges appear as lump sums without any indication of which purchases generated them. This makes it impossible to track or verify what is accruing interest and why. 
Additionally, payments I made were not automatically applied to the promotional balances that were closest to expiring. I had to call customer service multiple times to request manual reallocation of payments to avoid deferred interest charges. This process was inconsistent and burdensome. In some cases, I was told payments would be applied correctly, only to find later that they were not. 
I also discovered a major discrepancy between my promotional balances and total debt. While my promotional purchases totaled {$930.00}, my total balance was {$1700.00}. After making a payment of {$100.00} toward a XXXX promotion, my corrected total balance is now {$1600.00}. A refund of {$810.00} was issued and the promotional balance shows as zeroed out, but the refund was not applied to reduce my overall balance. Instead, I was told it was used to cover interest charges from standard purchases that were never clearly disclosed or visible on the website. 
After manually reviewing my account transaction history, I was able to identify XXXX standard purchases that were never clearly disclosed or categorized in the promotional section : - {$130.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$120.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$49.00} in XX/XX/XXXX These purchases were only found by individually filtering and reading each transaction. The system does not allow me to filter or view all transactions beyond a certain date range. Despite selecting XX/XX/XXXX as the start date, the platform fails to load the full list of transactions. This makes it extremely difficult to identify which purchases are generating interest and to manage my account responsibly. 
Although I have now closed my PayPal Credit account, I am still actively making payments toward the remaining balance. I want to emphasize that I have never intended to avoid payment obligations. I have consistently paid on time and have made every effort to manage my account responsibly. The confusion and unexpected charges stem from the lack of transparency in how purchases were categorized, how payments were applied, and how interest was calculatednot from any failure on my part to meet payment deadlines.

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