@UncleB wrote:
@Justagirl73 wrote:I personally don't want multiple cards with one lender. Anything could happen to make that lender jumpy....then you would be SOL (till you apped for new cards with another lender). There are a lot of threads where the poster had multiple cards with one lender and they were ALL shut down.
My advice is don't put all your eggs in one basket 😀
+1
I agree... but even with my agreeing and knowing it's 'good business' to have diversity I still ended up with four accounts with Synchrony.
In my case (and probably many others) it's not that we're "in love" with Synch, it's just that they back so many retail cards now it's hard to avoid them. In my case, my Lowe's and Belk cards are my two oldest accounts (12 and 10 years, respectively) and I don't want to close either due to this. My other two cards with them are Sam's Club MasterCard and Care Credit, both of which I am actively using (Sam's Club MC very actively).
I would put Chase in the same category... they back so many 'partners' it's hard to avoid them (especially for a frequent traveler).
With Synchrony (and Chase, to a lesser degree) I would just say to be mindful of your velocity in acquiring new cards with them (or large CLIs), as these two things seem to be common factors with the people who have had issues (with a few exceptions). In my case, both the Amazon store card and JC Penney could be useful, but I mindfully refrain from getting either since "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", and the value of my existing cards with Synchrony mean more to me than the possible value of the new additions I have my eye on.
I would add Citi to this list, as unless you're paying attention, I bet it would be difficult for the "normal" consumer to tell what all of their cards are (Best Buy, Sears, Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and one, if not both, of the office supply companies (Office Max/Depot and Staples). I'd go as far as to say that if you're actively trying to avoid Synch, you're almost force into a relationship with Citi)
Another probiem, especially with accounts over a decade old (as UncleB has), is they may not have started off as Synch cards (actually, they COULDN'T have started out as Synch cards, as it was GE Bank back then, but that's just being pedantic 
), but were taken over at some point, and so you might be overexposed to Synch, even if you tried to diversify.