Lesson learned not to use Synchrony cards for large purchases

[glamchick]

I know Synchrony can be funny the way they report but this just upset me.   My statement balance was $25 on my Stash Rewards Card.   The statement cut last Friday and was posted on Saturday "statement balance $25".   I used the card for a large purcchase on Sunday, the charge posted on Tuesday and I was going to pay it in full today.   Well I received an alert that my new balance was $700 on my credit reports!!!  What?  It wasnt even on my card for maybe a day.   anyways lesson learned never to use this card for a large purchase because they will report you again with the new balance!  Which messes up my utilization.  I am sure once I pay it in full they will not report it again

[Anonymous]

Sorry this happened to you. I know it's frustrating. Synchrony has been reporting balances midcycle on different, random accounts for more than a year now. There seems to be very little rhyme or reason to when or if they decide to report midcycle.

A number of us on the board have had Synchrony report a balance midcycle, but you are correct, they never seem to report an "update" to the credit bureaus when you pay the account to zero. Interesting.

As a lender, it is within their rights to update a credit report and report any time they would like to do so, but as a customer I don't think it's very good business practice.

[takeshi74]

---

@glamchick wrote:

Which messes up my utilization.

---

Which is a short term hit.  It will recover the next time the card reports.

[Anonymous]

---

glamchick wrote:

Which messes up my utilization.

---

Which is a short term hit.  It will recover the next time the card reports.

+1.

It is the cost of doing business, if they want to report midcycle (not saying I think they're behaving well doing this, but if it's their thing then it's their thing).

If you lose any points to utilization on this, it is certainly temporary especially since you plan to pay off immediately.

The upside is, they see heavier usage on the card - which potentially leads to higher CLI - which then, in the end, has a much more positive effect on your utilization, especially for anyone whose total available credit is on the lower end, where a single charge of $500 or $1000 puts their utilization over the mark.

Utilization has no memory, so if it's paid off then the next time the account reports the damage is erased with no scar.

[Anonymous]

Synchrony has been doing this to me since the beginning of this year. They will continue to report throughout the month anytime my balance increases. If it increases 3 times, they will report to the bureaus 3 times, but they won't report a balance decrease or paid in full until statement closes again. This is what ticks me off. If they're going to do multiple mid-cycle reportings every month when my balance increases, then they should do the same when it decreases - but they don't.  Thank goodness Discover's 5% category this quarter is Amazon, so I've been using them instead.

[glamchick]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I thought I was safe since they just reported literally over the weekend.  Didnt think they would report again (4 days later).   Its OK just a lesson learned to only use these cards for smaller purchases.   

I do like the synchrony cards and their nice limits... just wish they would be more consistent on reporting dates for all of us.   Especially since I am requesting another CLI this month from another card... I wanetd my utilization at a certain rate.

[Anonymous]

So pay it down and the card will report with a lower balance.

Unless you're planning on financing a car, mortage, or applying for any other type of credit ove the next month, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Same thing happened to me with my Ebates credit card last month. I was highly annoyed. My balance was $0 as of my last statement which reported to all 3 bureaus.  I used it make several purchases online totaling $700.... next thing I know my bureaus updated with this new balance even though my next statement was not yet available. 

I have not had this happen with my Walmart store card though.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@glamchick wrote:

I know Synchrony can be funny the way they report but this just upset me.   My statement balance was $25 on my Stash Rewards Card.   The statement cut last Friday and was posted on Saturday "statement balance $25".   I used the card for a large purcchase on Sunday, the charge posted on Tuesday and I was going to pay it in full today.   Well I received an alert that my new balance was $700 on my credit reports!!!  What?  It wasnt even on my card for maybe a day.   anyways lesson learned never to use this card for a large purchase because they will report you again with the new balance!  Which messes up my utilization.  I am sure once I pay it in full they will not report it again

---

What a strange practice. I never heard of such a thing.

[Anonymous]

I have actually had them report more than twice in a cycle on my sams club mastercard.  3 times! I was using it VERY heavily, this was before the synch meltdown, in hopes of getting an increase (which of course I don't need but still).

Its still a great card, I am blessed to not have any issues with them, and certainly feel bad for those that do.

Yes its only temporary, but for folks without much total credit, that are micromanaging their scores, etc, I could see why it would be upsetting!

On a positive note I was just able to get $75 in interest reversed on my amazon card.  I made a large purchase last year and thought I was getting the 12 month promo, but fogot that I had used gift cards as well.  So they still have a little good left I suppose.