Talk:Synchrony Financial

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Synchrony Financial is a consumer financial services company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States.[2] Prior to its 2014 initial public offering, Synchrony operated as GE Capital Retail Finance Corporation and was a business segment of GE Capitaldivision of General Electric.[5] The company offers consumer financing products, including credit, promotional financing and loyalty programs, and installment lending, and FDIC insured savings products through Synchrony Bank, its wholly owned subsidiary.[6]
Synchrony raised $2.88 billion in its initial public offering, making it the third largest IPO of 2014.[7] It is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Synchrony is the largest provider of private label credit cards in the U.S. In 2014, the company comprised 42 percent of the private label credit card market.[8] The company provides private label credit cards for such brands as Amazon, CheapOAir, OneTravel,[9] Walmart,[10] Lowe’s,[10] Guitar Center,[11] Gap,[12] BP,[13] Banana Republic, Ashley HomeStores,[14] Discount Tire[14] and P. C. Richard & Son.[14] The CareCredit credit card, also issued through Synchrony Bank, is for health and wellness elective healthcare procedures or services, such as dental, veterinary, cosmetic, vision and audiology.[15]
History

Early History

General Electric Co. entered the consumer lending space during the Great Depression to provide customers with a line of credit with which to purchase GE appliances. [9] GE Capital Retail Bank was officially founded in 1988, and operated under GE Capital.

Initial Public Offering

General Electric filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2014 announcing its intention to spin-off the portion of it GE Capital business dedicated to retail credit cards [10] for companies such as J.C. Penney Co., Wal-Mart and Lowe’s. [11] GE’s SEC filing indicated that the new company would be called Synchrony Financial. [12]

On July 31, 2014, Synchrony Financial raised $2.955 billions in its initial public offering, making it the third largest IPO of 2014. [9][13] Synchrony is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SYF.

2014 to Present

In an effort to demonstrate to the Federal Reserve that Synchrony could operate without GE’s support, Synchrony Financial nearly doubled its IT staff following the split from GE. [14] Synchrony also invested in mobile technology innovation. [15]

The company was an early investor in LoopPay, which became Samsung’s mobile wallet service for the S6 and S6 Edge. [16] Synchrony also announced partnerships with Apple Pay in 2014 and Samsung Pay in 2015 to increase its mobile wallet capabilities. [17] Additionally, Synchrony reported an investment in mobile application developer for the retail industry called GPShopper in January of 2015. [18] Synchrony Financial joined R3, a group of companies working on blockchain technology, making it the first credit card issuer to join the consortium. [19]

Shortly before Synchrony’s NYSE debut, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice reached a $225 million settlement with the company. The settlement stated that while operating as GE Capital Retail Bank, Synchrony had engaged in “discriminatory credit card practices.” [20] According to USA Today, “The bank said it discontinued such sales practices in 2012 and has already refunded more than $11 million in fees as a result of its own review.” [21]

Subsidiaries

Synchrony Bank

Synchrony Bank is an online banking subsidiary of Synchrony Financial. [22] Synchrony Bank operates mostly as a direct bank, with one branch location in Bridgewater, NJ. [23] It was established in 1988 and has headquarters in Draper, Utah. [24] Synchrony Bank reported $35 billion in its deposits in its 2014 annual report. [25]

Key People

Margaret M. Keane, President and CEO, Synchrony Financial
Accusations of deceptive practices and CFPB consent decree[edit source] In June 2014, Synchrony agreed to pay $225 million after entering into a consent decree with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB alleged "deceptive and discriminatory practices" regarding Synchrony's consumer credit cards.[16] With regards to the practices that the CFPB called "deceptive,"It was alleged that, while operating as GE Capital, Synchrony telemarketers had sold numerous credit card add-on services, such as debt cancellation agreements, to consumers without notifying the buyer in an upfront manner of the terms of the agreements. According to the CFPB, in many cases, consumers were unaware that they would be charged for these services.

With regards to the practices the CFPB called "discriminatory," it was found that Synchrony had discriminated against Latino Americans by excluding from two different promotional statement credit deals customers who had elected to receive communications in Spanish and customers with mailing addresses in Puerto Rico. The promotional deals were offered from 2009 until 2012. In error,to customers with delinquent accounts and allowed them to settle their balance with Synchrony Financial by paying some amount which was less than the outstanding balance, under certain conditions. It is not known why Synchrony didchose not to offer this promotion to its Hispanic customers, but the CFPB found that this practice constituted "discriminat[ion]... on the basis of... race and national origin."
Recognition

• Synchrony Optimizer Plus named as Best CD in Money Magazine’s Best Banks in America List for 2014 [24]
• Synchrony Financial was ranked among Information Week’s Elite 100, a ranking of top technology companies [25]
• Synchrony Financial was included in CIO magazine’s CIO 100, a ranking of innovative companies [26]
• Synchrony Bank named among Top 10 Savings Account by GOBankingRates [25]
• Synchrony Bank received the Bankrate.com top tier quarterly award for the first quarter of 2015 for its yields for various CD, IRA and money market account products [27]
• Synchrony Bank’s Chevron and Texaco Visa card was named a best gas reward credit card by CardRatings.com [28]
• Synchrony Bank named among 10 Best CD Accounts of 2015 by GOBankingRates [29]
• Synchrony Bank named among 10 Best Online Banks of 2015 by GOBankingRates [30]
• Synchrony Financial was named among BenchmarkPortal’s Top 100 Call Centers [31]
• Synchrony Financial was ranked number 29 in Best Workplaces for Diversity 2016 [32]
• Synchrony Financial was ranked number 314 on the Forbes 5000 List in May 2016 [33]

ProMadison7 (talk) 16:11, 23 January 2017 (UTC) ProMadison7

Synchrony Bank is also now providing a savings account offering through PayPal. /mjp (talk) 18:40, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

References

Thoughts on the inclusion of the pending June 2024 class action lawsuit vs SB

Would like to discuss if the sourcing W:V and notability makes sense for potentially including this topic in the article as its own sub-heading. And if there is enough sustained coverage W:NSUSTAINED to warrant inclusion at this time? Any thoughts on this please, thanks. W:NEXIST.

Briefly, the class action lawsuit was filed in June 2024 in North Carolina by military veterans. 'Taylor et al. v. Synchrony Bank et al.' alleges complaints/violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Truth in Lending Act and Military Lending Act, W:SNPOV.

There are four articles from law and finance news outlets that are relevant, which summarise and cite the lawsuit directly W:MNA. The other American financial news portal published an article in April 2024 and references potentially relevant business practices by SB in this wider context W:NPOV.

Is there enough here, and does its inclusion in the article be in the public interest? Let's discuss and decide.

Silent424break -s

WP:Dashboard § Requested edits. User:Squeakachu User:Anastrophe 2601:280:4981:3E70:1583:2D5D:D90D:27EB

Silent424Break (talk) 22:46, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

I think it's borderline for notability. Virtually all of the 'classaction' websites wouldn't stand scrutiny, because they're in the business of getting people to sign on to class actions - so they're biased toward a particular outcome, obviously. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is similarly biased, but that would be expected. Law360.co.uk would be an odd choice for a US based bank and action. I think the American Banker site would be the best bet, as it has thorough coverage and appears reasonably neutral.

Pending class actions tend to be a grey area for notability. A great many pending class actions never come to fruition - either settled out of court, or the courts deem it should go to arbitration, or it's tossed entirely.

Frankly, I think a single sentence noting it, using the American Banker site, would be the most likely to survive scrutiny. I wouldn't make it a separate section; perhaps rename the 'Settlements' section to 'Settlements and Lawsuits'...not sure that's a great construct. Perhaps 'Legal actions'.

Anyway, that's my take on the matter. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 02:20, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Silent424Break (talk) 06:07, 27 August 2024 (UTC)