Synchrony Financial

Last updated
Synchrony Financial
Company type Public
Industry Financial services
FoundedSeptember 12, 2003;21 years ago (2003-09-12) [1]
Headquarters
Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. [2]
Key people
[3]
Products Credit cards
Payment systems
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$14.8 billion (2018) [4]
Increase2.svg US$4.21 billion (2021) [5]
Total assets Decrease2.svg US$95.748 billion (2021) [5]
Total equity Increase2.svg US$13.655 billion (2021) [5]
Number of employees
16,500 (2018) [4] [6] [7]
Website synchrony.com

Synchrony Financial is an American consumer financial services company with its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. [2] The company offers consumer financing products, including credit, promotional financing and loyalty programs, installment lending to industries, and FDIC-insured consumer savings products, through Synchrony Bank, its wholly owned online bank subsidiary. [4] [8]

Contents

History

Synchrony traces its roots to 1932. [9] GE Capital Retail Bank was started during the Great Depression, providing customers with a line of credit to purchase GE appliances. The lending arm remained GE Capital Retail Bank until it was spun off from its parent company in June 2014. [10] [11] GE filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2014, announcing its intention to spin off the portion of its GE Capital business dedicated to retail credit cards. GE's SEC filing indicated that the new company would be called Synchrony Financial. [10] On July 31, 2014, Synchrony Financial raised $2.88 billion in its initial public offering. [11]

Recent corporate history

In 2017, Synchrony acquired GPShopper. [12] [13]

In 2018, Synchrony acquired Loop Commerce, which provides a patented digital gifting platform called GiftNow. [14] [15] In 2018, Synchrony's largest program was the acquisition of PayPal's $7.6 billion credit receivables portfolio. [4] [16] PayPal also chose Synchrony Bank to be its exclusive issuer for the PayPal Credit point of sale financing program in the United States through 2028. Additionally, PayPal agreed to extend its existing co-brand credit card relationship with Synchrony through the same 10-year term. These transactions (collectively, the "PayPal transaction") officially closed in July 2018. [17]

GIC Private Limited, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, owned 7.72% of Synchrony's stock in 2019. [18] However, GIC exited its position by 2023. [19]

Products and technology

Synchrony is the largest provider of private-label credit cards in the U.S. [20] Brands partnered with Synchrony include Amazon, [21] Lowe's, [22] Guitar Center, [23] Cathay Pacific, Rakuten, Verizon, Sleep Number, Walgreens, and Sam's Club. [24]

Synchrony increased its Car Care acceptance network to more than 500,000 locations across 25 categories including gas, auto parts and service, car washes, parking, and ride sharing. [25]

Synchrony has four "Innovation Stations," which are located in Stamford, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; Kettering, Ohio; [26] and Hyderabad, India. [27]

In 2016, Synchrony Financial launched Digital Apply, a credit application site, and SyPI (Synchrony plug-in), a feature for retailers' mobile apps, through which customers can access their credit card information. [28] As of 2019, more than 20 retailers had adopted SyPI and nearly $2 billion in credit card payments had been made through the technology. [29]

In 2018, Synchrony created the Alexa Store Card skill for customers to manage their Amazon Store Cards via voice technology. [30]

Public-private partnerships

In 2016, the University of Connecticut's School of Engineering announced the launch of Synchrony's Center of Excellence in Cybersecurity. [31]

In 2018, Synchrony opened an emerging tech center at the University of Illinois. [32]

In 2019, Synchrony opened the Synchrony Digital Technology Center at the University of Connecticut's Stamford campus. [33] During the dedication of the center, the company announced a $1 million donation to the "Connecticut Commitment" – an initiative aimed at helping lower-income Connecticut students attend the university, tuition-free. [33]

Settlements

In June 2014, shortly before Synchrony's New York Stock Exchange debut, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice reached a $225 million settlement with the company after it entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The settlement stated that while operating as GE Capital Bank, the company had engaged in deceptive and discriminatory credit card practices, primarily surrounding nefarious enrollment practices for add-on programs such as financial hardship relief. [34] 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," however the CFPB ordered many millions more in redress. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EFTPOS</span> Type of Electronic Funds Transfer system

Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale, abbreviated as EFTPOS, is the technical term referring to a type of payment transaction where electronic funds transfers (EFT) are processed at a point of sale (POS) system or payment terminal usually via payment methods such as payment cards. EFTPOS technology was developed during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PayPal</span> American multinational financial technology company

PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. The company operates as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites and many other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visa Inc.</span> American multinational financial services corporation

Visa Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Express</span> American multinational financial services corporation

The American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Express Tower, in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Amex is the fourth-largest card network globally based on purchase volume, behind China UnionPay, Visa, and Mastercard. 141.2 million Amex cards were in force worldwide as of December 31, 2023, with an average annual spend per card member of US$24,059. That year, Amex handled over $1.7 trillion in purchase volume on its network. Amex is one of the largest US banks, and is ranked 77th on the Fortune 500 and 28th on the list of the most valuable brands by Forbes. In 2023, it was ranked 63rd in the Forbes Global 2000. Amex also owns a direct bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of America</span> American multinational banking and financial services corporation

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with investment banking and auxiliary headquarters in Manhattan. The bank was founded by the merger of NationsBank and Bank of America in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization, both after JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves about 10 percent of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.

Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States. It was introduced by Sears in 1985. When launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit. A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases.

GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one division of the company remained, GE Energy Financial Services, which was transferred to GE Vernova when General Electric was broken up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital One</span> Bank holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia

Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994 and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is the 12th largest bank in the United States by total assets as of December 31, 2022, the third largest issuer of Visa and Mastercard credit cards, and one of the largest car finance companies in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco de Oro</span> Philippine banking company

BDO Unibank, Inc., commonly known as Banco de Oro (BDO), is a Philippine banking company based in Mandaluyong, the Philippines. BDO Unibank is a member of the SM Group and so can be found at SM Malls throughout the country.

The economy of Stamford, Connecticut is robust and is considered an anomaly for having a large number of corporate headquarters in a city of its size. In the 1980s and 90s, Stamford had the third highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country, with 18 companies headquartered in the city. The only two cities that had higher concentrations in the nation were New York City and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Affinion Group</span> American corporation

CXLoyalty is a private company based in Stamford, Connecticut that provides customer engagement and loyalty programs. Affinion designs, markets, and services programs that deal with customer relationships for other businesses. The company says it reaches 250 million consumers in 20 countries. In 2006, Affinion Group was cited by Forbes as number 321 on its list of largest private companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Dot Corporation</span> American issuer of prepaid debit cards

The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payment platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple Cash, Uber, and Intuit. The company was founded in 1999 by Steve Streit as a prepaid debit card for teenagers to shop online. In 2001, the company pivoted to serving the "unbanked" and "underbanked" communities. In 2010, Green Dot Corporation went public with a valuation of $2 billion. Since its inception, Green Dot has acquired a number of companies in the mobile, financial, and tax industries including Loopt, AccountNow, AchieveCard, UniRush Financial Services, and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.

Discover Financial Services, Inc. is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, an online bank that offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Fargo</span> American multinational banking and financial services company

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important financial institution according to the Financial Stability Board, and is considered one of the "Big Four Banks" in the United States, alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

PayPal Credit, formerly named Bill Me Later (BML), is a proprietary buy now, pay later payment method offered on merchant websites, including those of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, USPS and eBay in the United States. The site provides consumers with a line of revolving credit through Synchrony Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of Ayudhya</span> Commercial bank in Thailand

Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited, branded and commonly referred to as Krungsri, is the fifth largest bank in Thailand in terms of assets, loans, and deposits, and one of Thailand’s six Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs).

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. is an American publicly-traded provider of private label credit cards, coalition loyalty programs, and direct marketing, derived from the capture and analysis of transaction-rich data.

Margaret Keane is an American businesswoman who was the chief executive officer of Synchrony from February 2014 through April 2021. She transitioned to the role of executive chair of Synchrony’s board of directors. Brian Doubles, formerly Synchrony’s president, became chief executive officer. When Synchrony was spun off from General Electric as an independent bank, it became the most valuable bank in the US with a woman CEO. Keane is one of only three women, the others being Beth Mooney of KeyCorp and Jane Fraser of Citigroup, who lead an independently traded US bank whose value is over $10 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PRA Group</span>

PRA Group, Inc. is a publicly-traded debt buyer and debt collection company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company buys delinquent consumer debt from credit card issuers and other financial institutions at a discount and pursues collection of the full debt owed. Founded in 1996, PRA Group employs more than 3200 people in 18 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Affirm Holdings, Inc.</span> American financial services company

Affirm Holdings, Inc. is an American technology company offering financial services to shoppers and merchants. Founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, it is the largest U.S. based buy now, pay later lender. As of 2024, Affirm reports nearly 19.5 million users, processing $26.6 billion in payments annually.

References

  1. ↑ "Synchrony Financial on the Forbes Global 2000 List". Forbes . Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  2. 1 2 "Document". www.sec.gov.
  3. ↑ Bishop, Sue. "Synchrony Promotes Brian Doubles To President". PR Newswire (Press release). Synchrony. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "SYNCHRONY 2018 Form 10K Annual Report". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA List". SEC . Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. ↑ "Synchrony Financial Fact Sheet".
  7. ↑ "Working at Synchrony Explore out Products, People and Principles". Synchrony.
  8. ↑ "Factsheet". Sychrony. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Shah, Aman (13 March 2014). "GE files to spin off credit card unit". Reuters. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  10. 1 2 De La Merced, Michael (March 13, 2014). "G.E. Files to Spin Off Retail Finance Unit". New York Times .
  11. 1 2 "GE credit card unit Synchrony Financial prices IPO at $23 per share". Reuters . July 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ "BRIEF-Synchrony Financial to buy GPShopper". Reuters. March 20, 2017.
  13. ↑ Rogers, Bruce. "Maya Mikhailov's Journey From Russia To Co-Founder Of GPShopper". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  14. ↑ "Synchrony To Acquire Loop Commerce". PARTNERSHIPS / ACQUISITIONS. PYMNTS. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Zacks. "Synchrony Financial Braces Portfolio With Loop Commerce Buy". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  16. ↑ PayPal (July 3, 2018). "PayPal and Synchrony Complete Consumer Credit Receivables Sale". PayPal.
  17. ↑ Perez, Sarah (July 3, 2018). "PayPal sells its consumer credit portfolio to Synchrony for $7 billion". TechCrunch.
  18. ↑ "Synchrony proxy statement". sec.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  19. ↑ "SCHEDULE 14A - Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934" (PDF). investors.synchrony.com.
  20. ↑ "Synchrony Financial SEC Registration". sec.report. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  21. ↑ GuruFocus. "Warren Buffett And Seth Klarman Agree On One Stock – Synchrony Financial". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  22. ↑ Johnson, Andrew (March 13, 2014). "GE Plans Credit-Card IPO as Plastic Gets Popular; New Company to Be Called Synchrony Financial". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  23. ↑ Passeri, James (April 17, 2015). "GE Spinoff Synchrony Financial Is Still Trying to Stand on Its Own". The Street. TheStreet, Inc. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Synchrony Credit Cards: Prequalify or Apply Online". www.synchrony.com.
  25. ↑ Zacks, Publisher. "Synchrony Financial's Credit Card Expands Acceptance Network". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  26. ↑ "Innovation". Synchrony.com.
  27. ↑ "synchrony-financial-to-invest-12-m-in-hyderabad-facility". The Hindu. 29 April 2016.
  28. ↑ "Synchrony Financial Plug-in Easily Integrates Credit into Retailers' Mobile Apps". Business Wire. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  29. ↑ "Synchrony Financial Q4 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. 23 January 2019. p. 8. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  30. ↑ Ward, Nicole (2 May 2018). "Synchrony Teams with Amazon to Introduce New Alexa Skill for Amazon Store Card". Business Wire. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  31. ↑ Mahoney, Sara (12 Oct 2016). "UConn Establishes Synchrony Financial Center of Excellence in Cybersecurity". UConn Today. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  32. ↑ Bliell, Laura (12 April 2018). "Synchrony Opens Emerging Tech Center at the University of Illinois to Develop Artificial Intelligence Solutions". Synchrony Financial. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  33. 1 2 "Synchrony Digital Technology Center Dedicated; Gift to Connecticut Commitment Announced". UConn Today. 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  34. ↑ "CFPB Orders GE Capital to Pay $225 Million in Consumer Relief for Deceptive and Discriminatory Credit Card Practices" (Press release). Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. June 19, 2014.
  35. ↑ Schneier, Cogan (14 June 2019). "GE Capital arm to pay record credit card settlement". USA Today.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.