Synchrony Amazon Card Payments

[therebilllll]

About a month ago, I got the Amazon Prime Store Card. I was approved for a whopping $500 limit. I buy on Amazon a lot and want to use this card for the rewards. I make $200 payments weekly and have made two payments so far. Both payments are being "held" and won't clear for 2+ weeks after they were made. Is that normal for Synchrony? Their website says payments clear in 1-3 business days. Not two plus weeks. The money has been taken from my bank account, so I don't know what the holdup is. I just want to use my card. 

[DoppelgangerD]

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@therebilllll wrote:

About a month ago, I got the Amazon Prime Store Card. I was approved for a whopping $500 limit. I buy on Amazon a lot and want to use this card for the rewards. I make $200 payments weekly and have made two payments so far. Both payments are being "held" and won't clear for 2+ weeks after they were made. Is that normal for Synchrony? Their website says payments clear in 1-3 business days. Not two plus weeks. The money has been taken from my bank account, so I don't know what the holdup is. I just want to use my card. 

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Banks don't like "credit cycling", which is when you spend more than your total  credit limit in a credit cycle.

Even if you're paying it off and then charging up again.

Personally I think it's a stupid policy, but banks look at is as you over extending the loan they've granted you.

Synchrony Bank can be very finicky too, and might shut down your account.

If it were me, i'd go ahead and ask for a limit increase and see what happens.

That card (and most synchrony cards) are easy to grow pretty quickly, assuming you have good credit and decent income to back it up.

[UncleB]

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@therebilllll wrote:

About a month ago, I got the Amazon Prime Store Card. I was approved for a whopping $500 limit. I buy on Amazon a lot and want to use this card for the rewards. I make $200 payments weekly and have made two payments so far. Both payments are being "held" and won't clear for 2+ weeks after they were made. Is that normal for Synchrony? Their website says payments clear in 1-3 business days. Not two plus weeks. The money has been taken from my bank account, so I don't know what the holdup is. I just want to use my card. 

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There are several things likely causing your issue.  

You have a new account, you're making frequent payments and those payments are large relative to your credit line.  I'm assuming you're making the payment from the Amazon/Synchrony website... if you send a payment using your bank's billpay there will likely be no hold. 

Years ago when I had smaller credit lines I had similar issues anytime I let the card 'pull' the payment from my bank; sending payments via my checking account's billpay solved the problem.

Only once have I had a payment hold when I've pushed a payment... that was NFCU, and my account was new.  That is the sole exception, though (even for new accounts); all other payments I've sent via billpay have had no holds.

[Girl_In_The_City]

I agree with the previous comment. Use your bank billpay system to push the payment and there will not be a hold.

[BallBounces]

Synchrony is among the worst servicers in this respect.  Do not plan for timely application of payments.  There is quite literally no accounting for some of their practices and decisions.

However, bigger picture ... any time you use a credit product in a non standard method -different from the way most people do, and different from what the creditor expects - there is a chance the creditor responds in a way that you do not appreciate.     

YMMV, and the above is based solely on personal experience.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is a ymmv. I have Sams MC, Paypal MC, and an Amazon store card. All have worked flawlessly for 3+ years after the initial break-in period.

• Paypal MC had a 3 month break-in of "Holding my used credit limit hostage for 7 to 21 days after payment"
• Amazon Store card had no break-in. Worked flawlessly from the start.
• Sam's had no break-in. Worked flawlessly from the start.

So @therebilllll, I do know it is annoying, but give the Amazon card time and it will smooth out. Synchrony is skittish and they want to get to know you. Also, they are good with CLI requests.

[TG101]

I have a personal policy of never ever using ACH debit (pull) to pay anything. I always "push" payments with my bank's BillPay service. It is a lot faster and no holds. 

[therebilllll]

I tried to do bill pay with my bank but it says they can't send it electronically to Synchrony and they'll send a paper check instead. I assume that'll be slow too. 

[UncleB]

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@TG101 wrote:

I have a personal policy of never ever using ACH debit (pull) to pay anything. I always "push" payments with my bank's BillPay service. It is a lot faster and no holds. 

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Yeah, I usually prefer pushing payments myself, but there are plenty of people in the other camp... there's been more than one thread about it with the pros and cons of each.

[UncleB]

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@therebilllll wrote:

I tried to do bill pay with my bank but it says they can't send it electronically to Synchrony and they'll send a paper check instead. I assume that'll be slow too. 

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Hmm... I don't have any suggestions for this.  I've used billpay with two separate banks and both have supported electronic payments to all five of my Synchrony accounts.

You might try deleting and re-adding the Amazon card as a biller (try to find the biller name 'Amazon' over the generic 'Synchrony') since your bank may have changed and the Amazon card might be electronic now.  If that fails, you might consider sending a $5 payment to see how long it takes anyway, since it still might be faster than 2+ weeks.