Synchrony Denied BH Payboo Credit Card For Vague, Unspecific and Wrong Reasons

[Anonymous]

I am trying to figure out my options after being denied a BH Payboo credit card from Synchrony Bank for vague, unspecific and wrong reasons.

My wife and I applied jointly. We both have FICO above 800, no missed payments, pay off our debt on time, never denied credit in the past, low revolving balance paid off each month, above median income. We even applied and have had an Amazon Synchrony credit card for several years. After Synchrony declined our application, we received a letter stating that the issue was a bankruptcy. Never had a bankruptcy in our lives. After checking to see that our credit report was clean, we called the bank and they said they made a mistake with the bankruptcy. But they still couldn't approve the credit card because of too many inquiries (within the past 2 years, there was only one inquiry for another card that was approved for both my wife and myself.)

After hangning up, 5 minutes later, the Synchrony representative called back and stated that the "too many inquiries" was another mistake on their end. But, they still cannot approve us, because there was a problem with my wife's credit history, that her "credit history is indicative of potential invalid identity". When I pressed for details, they advised to call credit bureau and check my wife's credit report. Well, the next day my wife called the credit bureau. Sure enough their dispute resolution specialist confirmed that her credit history is clean and nothing indicates invalid identity.

Calling Synchrony bank, again, and conveying this information, they cited again the same vague reason of potential invalid identity. Pressing again to give specific reason, the rep told me that their underwriting system catches behavioral credit patterns that it doesn't like. But what does that mean? By law, they are required to give a consumer the reason for denying the credit. I cannot make anything out of this credit history is indicative of potential invalid identity. The rep stated that this could be due to my wife's having no installment or revolving debt, filing an application online, etc. But this is wrong. My wife has many joint accounts on her credit history that are paid. And there is no way to apply for this card other than online.

The bottom line is this in my case. Their approval system is negligent (giving wrong reasons twice.) They also gave a final vague, unspecific and wrong reason for declining credit, even though our credit history is in pristine condition. The credit agency confirmed that my wife’s credit history does not have any issues.

At this point, I am planning to file a formal complaint with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Not sure if anything comes out of this, but it is the only option I have at this point.

So the advice for anyone here is to be very, very careful with Synchrony's cards, if you really care about your credit history. Especially if you plan on taking an important credit decision such as applying for a mortgage. You must be sure you need this card. Even if you think your credit history is in order, that means nothing to Synchrony. You can be left with denied credit and hard credit inquiry from Synchrony Financial. This has harmed our credit history and impaired our ability to open credit lines in the next several years.

No wonder large retailers sue or move away from Synchrony, such as Walmart switching from Synchrony to Capital One and blaming Synchrony in a 2019 lawsuit for not approving enough applications. In my case, unfortunately, it was the last application with Synchrony, even though I would greatly benefit from having Payboo card for my business.

[JourneyStartsNow]

I would still be cautious even if your wife called and the said credit bureau said her CR was fine and dandy. You should double check both of your credit reports with your own eyes. Do you guys have common/popular names?

[Jnbmom]

Sorry for your troubles. I agree I would check both your reports with own eyes, sometimes reps are not correct.

I have several synch cards and have never had an issue with them.

[Anonymous]

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@JourneyStartsNow wrote:

I would still be cautious even if your wife called and the said credit bureau said her CR was fine and dandy. You should double check both of your credit reports with your own eyes. Do you guys have common/popular names?

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Not at all, our names are unique of non-English/non-American origin. I check our credit history on a frequent basis. So no, no issues there. It is clean as far as my own eyes concern.

Even Synchrony supervisors or higher level managers that I was able to get through eventually could not make sense out of this reason and could not explain it to me.

[Anonymous]

By law, the credit bureau used by Synchrony must give you free access to your credit report if you request it within 60 days of the date of adverse action (denial of credit).  The prudent course of action would be to get a hard copy of your credit report and go through it thoroughly to see if there are any anomalies.  Don't rely on the word of any representative of the credit bureau, they don't have a vested interest in your credit.

If you haven't yet gotten one, you should soon be receiving a Notice of Adverse Action letter from Synchrony where they are required to list up to four reasons for their denial...I suggest you study them carefully and cross-check them against your credit report.

I'm not sure what you intend to accomplish with filing a complaint with CFPB; a creditor is free to deny you credit if they so choose as long as their reason(s) is not discriminatory.

A denial does not harm your credit history; in fact it doesn't even appear on your credit report so your claim of supposed "harm" is a bit overwrought. 

[Anonymous]

I access my credit report on a frequent basis and reviewed our reports immediately after denial, noting no issues there. Calling the bureau was more for a formal confirmation and to have a reference number for my case. Of course I cross-checked Synchrony's reasons for denial the credit from their letters immediately, noting that they were wrong. I am acutely aware how this process works.

I will definitely file a compaint with CFBP. I do not expect to get this application reviewed and approved again anyway. But I will let other users know to be extra careful when dealing with Synchrony. 

Yes, it is true that denial does not show up on the credit report. However, my credit history was affected by this hard inquiry with no approval for wrong and vague reasons. This is where my harm lies. 

[JourneyStartsNow]

You access all 3 main credit reports from each respective CRA daily?

[Anonymous]

A credit inquiry is a cost of applying for credit and at most a single inquiry should not affect your credit score by more than 10 points.  All those points will be recovered within a year since the inquiry is not scoreable after 12 months although it remains on your credit report for 24/25 months.

Your claim of harm is not borne out by the facts. Also, I couldn't help but notice that you've repeatedly posted similar comments in other threads so I have to wonder about your motivation in making those comments.  Its understandable that you're peeved by the denial but that isn't reason to distort facts to speculate about Synchrony's business practices.

[Anonymous]

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@JourneyStartsNow wrote:
You access all 3 main credit reports from each respective CRA daily?

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No need to be sarcastic. I access them all each year, as allowed by law.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

A credit inquiry is a cost of applying for credit and at most a single inquiry should not affect your credit score by more than 10 points.  All those points will be recovered within a year since the inquiry is not scoreable after 12 months although it remains on your credit report for 24/25 months.

Your claim of harm is not borne out by the facts. Also, I couldn't help but notice that you've repeatedly posted similar comments in other threads so I have to wonder about your motivation in making those comments.  Its understandable that you're peeved by the denial but that isn't reason to distort facts to speculate about Synchrony's business practices.

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Which facts were distorted? I put exact account of my case. My only motivation is to let other people know about this issue. I posted much shorter versions of this post on three other threads at the myFICO forum that directly pertain to the Payboo credit card. I did not intend to disparage anyone, but state facts and let other people decide.

Of course I know that the hard inquiry will go away eventually, that is not the main issue here. As I mentioned, my harm was getting a denial for wrong reasons and now being left with a hard inquiry.