topic Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard? in Credit Cards

upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

JM761 — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 22:13:24 GMT

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the rigth forum or if it should go into the generic Credit Card forum...if it's not the right place, let me know and I'll post there instead!

I just recieved a new card in the mail saying my CareCredit card has been upgraded to mastercard. Does anyone else have this card?

I'm not sure how it works...does this mean my old card will close and it my age of accounts will go down b/c I have a new card?

Is it a good card to have? It seems like it , esp if you use it for doggo vet bills, which we have a lot of. 5 points/dollar for most of the stuff I would use it for. 1000 points = $10, I think.

I opened a Care Credit card in March 2022. SL: $4900. Honestly, I'm not sure how b/c my credit was garbage. I needed it for my dog, so I am grateful I was able to use it!

Over the past year, I've used it heavily for doggie medical expenses while rebuilding my credit. My fico8 score is 120 points over where I started and I'm gardening and wait for some baddies to fall off.

Over the past year, I did 2 SP CLI requests, both approved. July: 12k, November: 19k.

My CL is now 19K. I"ve used the promotional offers of 0% down and always paid them off early.

So, it seems like accepting this card is a good thing, right?

I'm so used to being on the bad side of things, I'm feeling confused (and maybe a little proud) that I was able to get an upgrade (even if it is just synchrony)

Thoughts and advice are appreciated!

thanks!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

jodo1132 — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 23:01:18 GMT

You should be proud of that, congratulations!!. I had to google that card, I had not heard of it till now. There is nothing wrong with sycrony, most people on here have a sincrony card or two or three or ten.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

jodo1132 — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 23:05:55 GMT

Yes keep the card, I am sure your old card is no longer valid as soon as you activate your mastercard. It should not affect your age at CB. I am guessing syncrony will just edit the update

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

dlister70 — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 23:39:40 GMT

Your original card will eventually close and any balance will now be on the Mastercard version. I believe the age of account stays the same. Looking at my age on Credit Karma, it looks like it's the right age for when I originally opened the account, and not when it switched to a Mastercard.

The extra rewards are nice! I only ever use the card for vet bills too, and originally opened it when I had to take my cat to the ER. I take the longest promotional period that they'll give me, and then make darn sure to pay it off in time as the interest is ungodly if you don't. But now you'll get a little bit of cash back too, so there's only positives in the switch, as the card works entirely the same otherwise.

Congrats on getting the "upgrade" to Mastercard!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

JoeRockhead — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 01:10:12 GMT

It's a good thing, and a nice upgrade, congratulations!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

kickhard88 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 12:23:43 GMT

congrats on the upgrade

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

RobynJ — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:13:08 GMT

Congrats, can you let us know for DP's what your scores were when you opened your account, what it is now, and please add the vantage score that they provide if you can please. This helps us all learn more about each situation that occurs to be able to provide it back to others. Congrats once again and enjoy!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

fury1995 — Sun, 16 Apr 2023 12:30:30 GMT

@dlister70 wrote:
Your original card will eventually close and any balance will now be on the Mastercard version. I believe the age of account stays the same. Looking at my age on Credit Karma, it looks like it's the right age for when I originally opened the account, and not when it switched to a Mastercard.

The extra rewards are nice! I only ever use the card for vet bills too, and originally opened it when I had to take my cat to the ER. I take the longest promotional period that they'll give me, and then make darn sure to pay it off in time as the interest is ungodly if you don't. But now you'll get a little bit of cash back too, so there's only positives in the switch, as the card works entirely the same otherwise.

Congrats on getting the "upgrade" to Mastercard!

@JM761 This is correct. Both cards appeared for an interim time on my account a couple of years ago but the retail card eventually showed closed. Only one account ever reported and the entire history remained. Same thing happened with a TJX retail card >> TJX Mastercard a few years before that.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Legally_Speaking2512 — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 18:08:20 GMT

Congrats on the upgrade. Your story is similar to mine in terms of getting the Care Credit card for your dog. I had an emergency with my Mastiff in May 2022 and needed to take him to the vet emergency room and knew it was going to be expensive. I didn't have the cash at the time and much like you I have been rebuilding my credit post 2021 BK.

Funny thing is that prior to me getting the CareCredit card - synchrony wouldn't even look at me and still won't. They started me off with a $500 limit and I've been there ever since. I have multiple credit cards with a perfect payment history, two car loans obtained in December 2022 with financing through GM financial and the other through a credit union. Perfect payment history on everything with no negatives since bankruptcy and they turn up their noses lol. You should feel proud for the upgrade - hard work pays off and so does discipline.

I do have one question for you and you don't have to answer if you don't want but it's more of a research question. Do you have any Capital One cards or do you have trouble getting Capital One to approve you for anything? I've talked to a lot of people that I know who have synchrony-backed cards like Lowe's, Amazon, etc and they can't get Capital One to look at them. On the other end of the spectrum there are people like me who have obtained four Capital One cards in the past year and a half and other people I have talked to who Capital One seems to love can't seem to get synchrony cards. So that's why I ask. Congrats again on the upgrade my friend.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

ilove2learn — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 02:57:33 GMT

dlister70 & @JM761 - Both accounts did merge. The name of the card changed on my credit report, but not the account age. @ Medic2525 - Thank you discipline & hard work do pay off when combined with strategy they payoff is greater! It took a while for Synchrony Bank to let me in! They started me off with $ 1,000! I see post on here about synchrony accounts growing quickly, but that wasn't the case for me whatsoever! In terms of total exposure Synchrony Bank has been more generous than all other lenders BUT they also started me off with some of the lowest limits 300 for amazon after initially rejecting me 6 months earlier. Continue trying! As it relates to capital one.I NOW avoid applying for their cards due to them pulling from all 3. The last card they approved me for was Walmart Store Card years ago with a $300 limit that will not grow! From my experience with friends & family members who try Capital One their ALWAYS approved with thin credit profiles while Synchrony Bank VISA/Master cards were denied until their files were thicker. Capital One seems to be more sensitive to new accounts & inquiries than Synchrony . Customer Service Note: For me Capital One customer service tends to have longer wait times & be friendlier, but less competent than Synchrony Bank. I'll make a future post about Capital One hopefully under the approval section within the next week.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Alynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 07:30:01 GMT

Hi! I was also sent the mastercard from care credit. I have put of deciding to activate waiting to find people talking about it. But seems like the auto upgrade selt people. I've been using original care credit since like 2018 i think. Most for dental work. in the info that came in the mail with the card, plainly says we did not have to activate it you can keep your old card. But if you activate the MasterCard your old card will close. I know after the promotional few months it goes down to 2% rewards. From what I understand only 5% was during the promotion time. Were you charged a fee for account transfer? From what I read the new card has all the same benefits as the old card, but you can use it more places. I have a few days to decide. Let me know anything you might think I need to know. Thank you

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

JM761 — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:10:03 GMT

I ended up activating the card and have had no issues. There were no transfer or account frees when transferring either. I can use it more places. The promotion isn't huge but it's something. When we had a lot of vet bills that were high and it was helpful.

Your old card will close and the MasterCard will take its place on your carecedit account. One thing that was important to me and I wanted to share is that even though that happens, on your credit report, it will still report as the same account. For example, I opened the original care credit in 2022 and the upgrade to MC came in 2023 or so. When I look at "date opened" on my credit report, it says 2022. So the age of account isn't affected.

Also, I found my card limit is 20k but others have said it can go up to 25k. I've been in Touch w cc and they said some cards are for 20k and others 25k. Since my credit was bad at the time, looks like my original card was only 20k and I can't go higher, even w the MC. I use it regularly to keep it active and, so far, haven't had any issues. I tend to use my discoverit and Amex cash back card more but that was true w regular care credit card. I use the CC for vet bills and promotional interest free services.

Hope this helps! Good luck and congrats on the upgrade!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

smcj — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:17:52 GMT

@JM761 wrote:
Also, I found my card limit is 20k but others have said it can go up to 25k. I've been in Touch w cc and they said some cards are for 20k and others 25k. Since my credit was bad at the time, looks like my original card was only 20k and I can't go higher, even w the MC.

This is interesting and helpful info. I hit a 20k cap (or what looked like a cap) on my not-MC and have been trying to puzzle it out ever since. Makes sense now. Thank you!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Alynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:24:24 GMT

Yes thank you this was very helpful! I don't want to use it for any other reason other than dental stuff or something major medical if it happens. I've used it at the vet a couple times but But I'm careful using it for small amounts that are not interest free. Both cats had Teeth extractions and cleanings in February, so I used it for that. You say you use it sometimes to keep it active. With the old card I could just not use it for months, I didn't use it for like two years at one point, but when the time came it was still available. if there's no activity for a long period of time does that affect credit score? I had pretty bad credit when I got it, but the dental office basically applied you for it and automatically used it and I only had like a $4000 limit to start. I don't know what it is now. But I've since bought a car paid it off I have some credit cards I use. My credit's pretty great now. Oh yeah one more question, the original care credit card did not balance out your minimum to help you pay off promotional purchases. I made a couple large payments in the past and realized my promotional purpose purchase hadn't gone down much, So I started calling at the same time I submit a payment and they could allocate it to whatever promotion you wanted. The last few months anything I do in the payment has been off the purchase for the cats and not for a small recent charge. But I divide the total by number of Interest free months and make that my payment. I was convinced that they weren't allocating everything to the promotional purchase that ended soonest, and had very small minimum payments, because they wanted us to pay it in time. I complained to a representative, and emailed them how it was ridiculous that I couldn't choose where my payment went in the app, and that they divided of your payment between all purchases. It has since changed mostly. Sorry I rambled a little bit, but no one else I know with CareCredit was sent the upgrade and I've been dying to talk to someone about it. to sum up my main question is, can I not use my card for long periods of time without it affecting my credit score you think? Thank you so much again!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

smcj — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:39:11 GMT

@Alynn wrote:
to sum up my main question is, can I not use my card for long periods of time without it affecting my credit score you think? Thank you so much again!

Having a zero-balance revolving unsecured tradeline (which is what any unsecured credit card is) on your credit report will not negatively affect your FICO score. To my knowledge it won't negatively affect a VantageScore or other mainline credit score either.

Also, like you, FWIW, I have gone long periods without using my non-MC CareCredit because it was procured to leverage promotions when dealing with vet bills. No longer have vet bills, and I don't have large non-insurance uncovered medical expenses so the card went idle.

Recently, I have taken to using it once annually for a small amount and paying it off immediately -- before the statement even cuts (so on the CR it remains at a zero balance + zero monthly payment at all times) -- just to limit the likelihood of having it closed due to inactivity.

Hope this is helpful.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Alynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:51:58 GMT

Just want to add, had no idea how much my limit was l, it started pretty low like 2000 and went to 4000 pretty quickly, but it's only 5000 now. I wonder if it will change with the MC. And the care credit app now, you canrequest to increase your limit, I feel like I would be approved for an increase because my credit score is great now compared to when I got the first card. If I activate the new MC card, I won't use it for anything not promotional. But with the new card, they say you can use it anywhere for you and animals health care needs and that your not supposed to use it for like buying a new rug. With a new one, I can use it for something health related that's just a regular store. Last night I went to their website and there's three different MasterCard with CareCredit with different incentives and restrictions. so maybe that's why some comments have said you can use it anywhere. One person that replied to you when you first posted said they don't have promotional purchases anymore, I wonder why because they still will, 12, 18, 24 months just like now. Anyways thanks again. I can now make a more informed decision. I really thought there was some catch that I wasn't gonna see and regret upgrading. So glad I found this forum!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Alynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 17:06:06 GMT

This thread has been so helpful! The fine print in financial companies is actually really hard to wrap my head around. And I don't trust that they want somehow screw me over. CareCredit has been a lifesaver for all my dental needs and my cats dental needs. I couldn't have had anything done without it. I was very nervous about the upgrade, asking if it was in my best interest or not. And I couldn't find much Info online from people who had the new card, till i looked a little harder online recently and found this page. Thank you so much!

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

smcj — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 17:19:24 GMT

@Alynn wrote:
This thread has been so helpful! The fine print in financial companies is actually really hard to wrap my head around. And I don't trust that they want somehow screw me over. CareCredit has been a lifesaver for all my dental needs and my cats dental needs. I couldn't have had anything done without it. I was very nervous about the upgrade, asking if it was in my best interest or not. And I couldn't find much Info online from people who had the new card, till i looked a little harder online recently and found this page. Thank you so much!

Digging around Reddit, I spotted one report, within the last year, where someone who was converted (involuntarily, they claim) to the MC version had later trouble with a medical spend where the staff did not know how to properly code the charge to have it go under a deferred interest promo program (which is about the only way it would have gone in under the not-MC CareCredit). Having observed both medical and vet go through contortions to put a CareCredit purchase in, this doesn't exactly surprise me; guessing the poster's situation was that the staff ran the charge as "regular MC" as opposed to "CareCredit" or something like that, and it turned into a mess. With that in mind I would be diligent come time to "swipe the card" if planning to do so under promotional purchase -- talk with the staff, be crystal-clear, make sure you are 100% speaking the same language and on the same page up front, so you don't have to manage consequences/fallout after.

My recollection of not-MC CareCredit -- my sole hands-on experience -- is that if you aren't, at the time of purchase, signing some piece of paper that talks about the deferred interest agreement, that purchase isn't going under a deferred interest agreement. The end full stop. It's been a while so YMMV, but that's what I remember from my go-rounds years ago, and that probably applies firmly to the MC as well.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

JM761 — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 17:33:00 GMT

@smcj wrote:
@JM761 wrote:
Also, I found my card limit is 20k but others have said it can go up to 25k. I've been in Touch w cc and they said some cards are for 20k and others 25k. Since my credit was bad at the time, looks like my original card was only 20k and I can't go higher, even w the MC.
This is interesting and helpful info. I hit a 20k cap (or what looked like a cap) on my not-MC and have been trying to puzzle it out ever since. Makes sense now. Thank you!

I'm glad you found this helpful! I was stumped for a while because people in the forum all said it was 25k as a upper limit but I couldn't get above 20, despite getting regular increases. I started at $4,000 and within a year was up to 20K. I've heard some crazy things about synchronicity Bank that they will randomly close accounts so I was nervous. I was going to be closed out but it turns out my card just couldn't go any higher.

Re: upgraded to Care Credit Mastercard?

Alynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 17:35:57 GMT

That's really good to know! I was told at one of my health appointments there's no promotional purchase for anything under I think it was $200. My dental office said the only thing that will give you 24 months is 4000 or $5000 charge. I feel like everything I've put on there was automatically on a promotional purchase over $200 or so. But maybe these offices automatically do that cause they know why you're using it. I asked my periodontist office about the new MasterCard, they knew nothing about it, but the person that does all the financial things and estimates there said she was reaching out to her carecredit representative to ask about it. This particular office can only run my care credit like through the computer punching in the info and it takes a while, they can't swipe it. So I probably need to make sure they don't swipe the MasterCard and actually put in through their care credit specific account or whatever. I would be so screwed if one of my expensive things did not go under an interest free promotional purchase. Thank you!