topic Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning in Credit Cards

Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

GreyvyTrain — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 21:44:10 GMT

The other day I recently asked for and was approved for CLIs for both my CareCredit, and Lowes card. Both always in good standing. I logged on today and both accounts were closed. Speaking to the live chat agent, they were not closed by Synchrony but at some request from the credit bureau? Agent said I would get a letter in the next couple days detailing the reason why, and once I get that I can contact them about reopening those accounts?

For some data points, I haven't had anything negative new pop up on my accounts, and the only recent change besides the CLIs with Synch was me transferring CL of one C1 card to another, but that hasn't even reported yet. I haven't been balance chased. The Lowes card was at 0/5000$ and the CareCredit at 1700/7000$, and that was not a rolling balance, it was paid in full last statement prior to my wife and my dental visits in the last month, which was the 1700$ balance. The agent stated the closures had nothing to do with my standing with Synchrony, so I guess I'm just waiting for a letter to see what's up..

Just curious if anyone else has run into this?

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

GreyvyTrain — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 20:55:07 GMT

Another thing to note is I stay right at, if not below 5% overall UTI, so the only thing that could've scared them would be the credit limit increases they gave me.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

JoeRockhead — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 21:06:29 GMT

Waiting to see what's in that letter.....

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

cashorcharge — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 22:47:46 GMT

Not a definitive...but did you by chance dispute the inquiries on your CB for that accounts when they were opened? I've heard of banks closing an account if you disputed the legitimate inquiry for opening the account. You didn't mention it so perhaps not.

Please update us when the letter arrives.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

Kforce — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:27:21 GMT

@JoeRockhead wrote:

Waiting to see what's in that letter.....

^^^^^ This

Unless I have been misinformed the card issuer has all decisions about CL's and closure.

A "Credit Bureau" provides reports and scores, not recommendations or request.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

coldfusion — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:27:35 GMT

I suspect you may have been gaslit by the CSR. There may be something that crops up on a report that makes an issuer nervous, but Synchrony wouldn't close cards because a credit bureau asked them to do so. For completeness you might want to go to annualcreditreport.com and get copies of your 3 major reports to be sure nothing is amiss .

Many examples mentioned on the site over the last few years of Synchrony closing all CC when the cardholder is in good standing, unfortunately one of the recurring themes is that the cardholder recently successfully requested CLIs on multiple Synchrony cards.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

GreyvyTrain — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:39:45 GMT

@coldfusion I've never disputed an inquiry, and haven't disputed anything this year at all, learned my lesson last year poking the bear and had some old COs start reporting again. The only other thing that I could possibly think of, is I've started letting Discover report before paying off, in order to see if I could squeeze past the "Insufficient use of current credit limit" they toss me when I ask, but it is always paid in full after the statement cuts.

I'll update once I get this letter. One other thing I could think possibly, would be the attempted double dip moments after the CLI was approved, but I've seen many people try that, and it actually worked on my last CLI for CareCredit.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 01:01:15 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
I suspect you may have been gaslit by the CSR. There may be something that crops up on a report that makes an issuer nervous, but Synchrony wouldn't close cards because a credit bureau asked them to do so.

This. Even supposing that the credit bureau algorithms showed that you were very likely to default soon, (which presumably would be reflected in the score) there is no financial impact to the bureau if you do. It's always up to the issuer to decide if a card should be closed, as any potential loss due to a default or fraud would be theirs.

Now I suppose there could be some cases, such as if they discovered that the SSN on your account was the same as someone with a different name and address on other accounts, this might be flagged to impacted issuers (no idea if it is!) but still the decision as to what to do would rest with the issuers.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

FicoMike0 — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 02:30:33 GMT

I'm sure many of us will be waiting for that letter. Very strange.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

visionsdivine — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 03:26:13 GMT

You poked the Synchrony bear.

/Thread

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

SouthJamaica — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 05:53:23 GMT

@GreyvyTrain wrote:
The other day I recently asked for and was approved for CLIs for both my CareCredit, and Lowes card. Both always in good standing. I logged on today and both accounts were closed. Speaking to the live chat agent, they were not closed by Synchrony but at some request from the credit bureau? Agent said I would get a letter in the next couple days detailing the reason why, and once I get that I can contact them about reopening those accounts?

For some data points, I haven't had anything negative new pop up on my accounts, and the only recent change besides the CLIs with Synch was me transferring CL of one C1 card to another, but that hasn't even reported yet. I haven't been balance chased. The Lowes card was at 0/5000$ and the CareCredit at 1700/7000$, and that was not a rolling balance, it was paid in full last statement prior to my wife and my dental visits in the last month, which was the 1700$ balance. The agent stated the closures had nothing to do with my standing with Synchrony, so I guess I'm just waiting for a letter to see what's up..

Just curious if anyone else has run into this?

I'm pretty sure they were not closed in response to a "request from the credit bureau". Synchrony is notorious for abruptly closing accounts without warning, usually without any logical reason.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 18:33:55 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
. Synchrony is notorious for abruptly closing accounts without warning, usually without any logical reason.

Without any logical reason that is

a) obvious to us and

b) we assume that the information provided in posts is correct and complete

Presumably Synchrony has data to show whether their approach is worth it (presumably minimizing loss at some expense to revenue)

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

moneyworldcuriousity — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 19:26:52 GMT

Search the Internet for phrases such as SYNCHRONY CREDIT or SYNCHRONY CLOSURE or SYNCHRONY REVIEWS. Then you may see hundreds or even thousands of postings about SYNCHRONY that you will not be happy seeing. That includes the US, Canada AND the U.K.-!! There was at least one posting from a Financial business source that noted Synchrony appeared to be closing or SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASING "AVAILABLE" CREDIT LIMITS & in turn SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING APR's on the account holder's remaining cards based on the obviously much much much lower FICO SCORES that resuled from "account closures" or "reduced available credit limits". PS - Another FINANCIAL RESOURCE noted that about 20% of Synchrony's REVENUE -- WAS FROM LATE FEES - as compared to about 12% of all other credit card companies-!! Wow!!

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 01:15:22 GMT

@moneyworldcuriousity wrote:
- Another FINANCIAL RESOURCE noted that about 20% of Synchrony's REVENUE -- WAS FROM LATE FEES - as compared to about 12% of all other credit card companies-!! Wow!!

While this is presumably intended to bash Synchrony, a) the difference isn't THAT big and b) 12% on average is much bigger than I would have guessed. I would have expected the combination of swipe fees, interest and annual fees to be more than 88%

ETA: But I would be wrong. Federal Register :: Credit Card Penalty Fees (Regulation Z)

Some Larger Card Issuers may be disincentivized to lower late fee amounts below the safe harbor, given that the industry as a whole continues to rely on late fees as a source of revenue and many consumers may not shop for credit cards based on the amount of the late fee. For the Larger Card Issuers in the Y-14+ data, late fees represented 10 percent of charges to consumers in 2020, but individual card issuers' revenue from late fees varied.[43] The share of late fees for Larger Card Issuers in the Y-14+ data ranged from approximately five to 30 percent of total consumer charges in 2019. Among issuers there is a strong correlation between reliance on late fees and concentration of subprime accounts. Yet, the industry as a whole continues to rely on late fees as a source of revenue.

Good point about consumers in general not shopping based on late fees.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

NoMoreE46 — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 04:49:17 GMT

You might be another victim of Sync slashing CL @GreyvyTrain ....

I know you are a ~ 5% UTI now, but would you provide a breakdown of the balances owed to each issuer from your sig?

@GreyvyTrain wrote:
The other day I recently asked for and was approved for CLIs for both my CareCredit, and Lowes card. Both always in good standing. I logged on today and both accounts were closed. Speaking to the live chat agent, they were not closed by Synchrony but at some request from the credit bureau? Agent said I would get a letter in the next couple days detailing the reason why, and once I get that I can contact them about reopening those accounts?

For some data points, I haven't had anything negative new pop up on my accounts, and the only recent change besides the CLIs with Synch was me transferring CL of one C1 card to another, but that hasn't even reported yet. I haven't been balance chased. The Lowes card was at 0/5000$ and the CareCredit at 1700/7000$, and that was not a rolling balance, it was paid in full last statement prior to my wife and my dental visits in the last month, which was the 1700$ balance. The agent stated the closures had nothing to do with my standing with Synchrony, so I guess I'm just waiting for a letter to see what's up..

Just curious if anyone else has run into this?

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

GreyvyTrain — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:21:46 GMT

@NoMoreE46 Sure!

BofA (AU) - $0/30000

Cap1 Venture1 - $0/500

Cap1 Savor1 - $96/1500

Credit one - $0/700

Discover - $10/1800

Chase AMZN - $0/1500

Kohls - $0/1500

Merrick - $0/1100

SECU - $1560/15000

Aspire - $0/1000

Closed Lowes - $0/5000X

Closed CareCredit - $1650/7000X

Also have a student loan amount of 589$ as of right now.

I got another rep today at ol' synch, and they said that my accounts were closed due to a "Routine account review." and because something regarding my credit/loans on my report has changed. A note to add, the account was closed right at its 1 year mark, tomorrow would've been the one year mark of me opening carecredit. Still waiting on that letter, and there is nothing newly negative on my reports besides the 3 COs in 2019. My scores have actually risen now that both of those accounts reported as "closed, never late"(carecredit) and "paid/closed, never late"(lowes). Both with remarks at request of credit grantor of course. Went up roughly 3-5 points per bureau.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

NoMoreE46 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:31:52 GMT

Thanks for the DPs. As an old friend used to say, you got 'rooked.'

Sorry @GreyvyTrain ...

@GreyvyTrain wrote:
@NoMoreE46 Sure!

~~BofA (AU) - $0/30000~~
Cap1 Venture1 - $0/500
Cap1 Savor1 - $96/1500
Credit one - $0/700
Discover - $10/1800
Chase AMZN - $0/1500
Kohls - $0/1500
Merrick - $0/1100
SECU - $1560/15000
Aspire - $0/1000
Closed Lowes - $0/5000X
Closed CareCredit - $1650/7000X
Also have a student loan amount of 589$ as of right now.

I got another rep today at ol' synch, and they said that my accounts were closed due to a "Routine account review." and because something regarding my credit/loans on my report has changed. A note to add, the account was closed right at its 1 year mark, tomorrow would've been the one year mark of me opening carecredit. Still waiting on that letter, and there is nothing newly negative on my reports besides the 3 COs in 2019. My scores have actually risen now that both of those accounts reported as "closed, never late"(carecredit) and "paid/closed, never late"(lowes). Both with remarks at request of credit grantor of course. Went up roughly 3-5 points per bureau.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

GreyvyTrain — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:35:33 GMT

@NoMoreE46 No worries, I wasn't using the Lowe's and while the CareCredit helped out a little, I was always thinking there's gonna be one day where I miss the ending of one of those promotional balances, and the amount doubles back up on me. Two less cards to worry about as I lay low waiting on these COs to age off. Figure if I do heavy spend accompanied by heavy payments on the Chase card, might get me somewhere with them.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

NoMoreE46 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:44:33 GMT

Good for you. Yes- focus your spending on the Disco and Chase. They can grow big (my Chase Prime went from $6000 to $20500) and more importantly, you won't typically have to go through these types of "reviews" with them.

@GreyvyTrain wrote:
@NoMoreE46 No worries, I wasn't using the Lowe's and while the CareCredit helped out a little, I was always thinking there's gonna be one day where I miss the ending of one of those promotional balances, and the amount doubles back up on me. Two less cards to worry about as I lay low waiting on these COs to age off. Figure if I do heavy spend accompanied by heavy payments on the Chase card, might get me somewhere with them.

Re: Synchrony Accounts closed without warning

xenon3030 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:51:07 GMT

Synchrony possibly did a favor to you that closed them sooner rather than later. Enjoy doing your business with the other credible lenders.

Not sure whether somebody can do any risk to take mortgage with these guys