Other lenders do this too, unfortunately, including some of the very major prime ones. I'm not crazy about it either. 
@Anonymous wrote:
Lol why stress? Just because they can give me the $$ back doesn't mean I want to make 100 phone calls, deal with them getting my name, address, credit score, and more information leading to them possibly stealing my bank account, other cards, or identity. That's why it's stupid. I'm not sitting here "stressing" I just think it's ridiculous. Clearly you've never had your identity stolen.
No I haven't. This is why I monitor and have constant freezes on all CRA's.. Sorry if this has every happened to you. I still stick with my point you aren't responsible for the charges though.. Many ways to prevent identity theft although I do feel for people that it has happened to. They just wouldnt get to far trying that crap on me is all
. I am sorry if it has happened to you though.
I agree though creditors can do a better job of protecting you and them though by making you activate card for a few easy things... Ritz came UPS I believe and didn't have to activate that card either and it stated that to make life easier for consumer.. Strange with such a large CL
@Anonymous wrote:
Lol why stress? Just because they can give me the $$ back doesn't mean I want to make 100 phone calls, deal with them getting my name, address, credit score, and more information leading to them possibly stealing my bank account, other cards, or identity. That's why it's stupid. I'm not sitting here "stressing" I just think it's ridiculous. Clearly you've never had your identity stolen.
I definitely understand your concern, and since I've had a card number stolen before I also understand the hassle it can be to make the phone calls, etc. That being said, I wasn't responsible for any of the charges, and having someone steal your card number isn't equivalent to someone stealing your identity.
I could be wrong (and I welcome the correction if I am) but other than fraudulent charges, I fail to see what a thief could do with a stolen credit card number. In my own case, when my own number was stolen I didn't worry at all about my bank accounts, other cards, etc, and as soon as the card was canceled it was completely useless to whoever had the number. Out of an abundance of caution I changed all of my online passwords, but that was the extent of my concern.
I'm not trying to discount your irritation (I actually agree), I'm just stating that it's not a reason to be overly concerned. If anything, it's a liability for Synchrony. 
There are certainly different security measures that I would like to see lenders tighten up on in several areas, but there isn't any reason to stress about a card coming already activated.
I've had already activated cards stolen from my mail (right along with an IRS document containing the last 4 of my social and mail containing two PIN numbers for other cards( not the cards that were taken). The whole group of mail was stolen at one time that contained several important things mentioned. It wasn't fun at all but I called the card companies immediately and the problem was taken care of.
I did not enjoy having the last 4 of my SSN information stolen and was actually a bit more upset at the IRS for sending that sensitive information out than I was about the cards.
I've also noticed how easy it is to "activate" some cards that do come with an activation sticker. One card (I believe it was my original Barclay card) only required me to enter my zip code in order to activate the card. That would have been easy for someone to know who had taken the card in the mail, so activation itself isn't an assurance of no problems.
@Anonymous wrote:There are certainly different security measures that I would like to see lenders tighten up on in several areas, but there isn't any reason to stress about a card coming already activated.
I've had already activated cards stolen from my mail (right along with an IRS document containing the last 4 of my social and mail containing two PIN numbers for other cards( not the cards that were taken). The whole group of mail was stolen at one time that contained several important things mentioned. It wasn't fun at all but I called the card companies immediately and the problem was taken care of.
I did not enjoy having the last 4 of my SSN information stolen and was actually a bit more upset at the IRS for sending that sensitive information out than I was about the cards.
I've also noticed how easy it is to "activate" some cards that do come with an activation sticker. One card (I believe it was my original Barclay card) only required me to enter my zip code in order to activate the card. That would have been easy for someone to know who had taken the card in the mail, so activation itself isn't an assurance of no problems.
I'm pretty sure it's because you're calling from your phone number they have on file. Had you called from an outside number there would be additional security measures to activate the card.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:There are certainly different security measures that I would like to see lenders tighten up on in several areas, but there isn't any reason to stress about a card coming already activated.
I've had already activated cards stolen from my mail (right along with an IRS document containing the last 4 of my social and mail containing two PIN numbers for other cards( not the cards that were taken). The whole group of mail was stolen at one time that contained several important things mentioned. It wasn't fun at all but I called the card companies immediately and the problem was taken care of.
I did not enjoy having the last 4 of my SSN information stolen and was actually a bit more upset at the IRS for sending that sensitive information out than I was about the cards.
I've also noticed how easy it is to "activate" some cards that do come with an activation sticker. One card (I believe it was my original Barclay card) only required me to enter my zip code in order to activate the card. That would have been easy for someone to know who had taken the card in the mail, so activation itself isn't an assurance of no problems.
I'm pretty sure it's because you're calling from your phone number they have on file. Had you called from an outside number there would be additional security measures to activate the card.
Perhaps. But asking someone to activate a card using easily available pieces of information such as zip code or even last 4 of social (which the person had who took my mail) isn't much of a security procedure at all.
And as Irish stated, I'm sure there are ways for criminals to use cards that have not been activated.
Point being, there isn't much security difference between sending cards already activated vs. those that need to be activated. However, there are other types of security measures that all credit card companies could strive to improve.