Synchrony PayPal Jacking Up Interest Rates.

[IsambardPrince]

I got an email from Synchrony stating that as of 9/19/2024 they are raising the Purchase APR from 29.24% to 31.99% and the Cash Advance APR from 32.24% to 34.99%.

This will make it the worst card in my wallet to carry a balance on if I ever did, and higher than the Purchase APR on my Discover card by about 9 percentage points.

This is on top of them nerfing the card's rewards rate outside of PayPal from 2% to 1.5%, which I get that or better on three cards in my wallet. The Discover Miles, the Wells Fargo Active Cash, and the Capital One QuickSilver.

Then they started charging $1.99 per statement if you want paper statements a few cycles ago.

Synchrony has been altering the account terms to make them much worse for people who carry a balance, prefer paper statements that other banks generally provide for free, and has started nerfing the card rewards, and at this point I'm likely to close the account lest I ever be tempted to run up a balance at these rates and just accept the fact that I took a hard pull last year and got minimal value out of this card.

If they keep figuring out ways to make it worse this won't even be a card for sockdrawering with the occasional Paypal activity.

The Customer Service is even worse at Synchrony than it is at Capital One, so that was already a negative factor.

This card is turning into a huge liability relative to its benefit to me. I rarely get a chance to use PayPal except for my car insurance bill or paying Mint Mobile up. Mine's paid for two years on the Mint and 1 year for the spouse.

Seems like if PayPal isn't up to something, Synchrony usually fills in the gap.

What really makes this card problematic for me is the $9,000 spending limit combined with these horrendous interest rates. If I were to charge up the card, I’d be stuck with a balance that’s almost impossible to pay off without incurring enormous interest costs. Given these factors, I’m strongly considering closing the account. I'm pretty sure I'd never do it, but closing the card means I couldn't.

Edit: 16 minute hold time (typical), but card is closed.

I have other cards and never run a balance, but this was becoming too much effort to tend to for marginal value. So better to prune. I've been meaning to close some cards anyway. This is the third one I've whacked this month that was older or charging a predatory rate.

My worst card now would be at an ongoing APR of 26.24% and the best at 23.49%. Over 30% means you're first on the chopping block since I want to focus more of my attention to better banks, better terms, and a SUB I'm working on.

[Anonymous]

Well, if you got little value out of the card, and were concerned about the APR for a hypothetical balance holding, closing makes sense.

Personally, I have several Paypal transactions so it's worth keeping, and I don't worry about the possibility of keeping a balance on that card.

Not that I was pleased with the nerf!

[zerofire]

I can confirm that Synchrony has increased the APR on the PayPal MasterCard. The catch with all Synchrony product is that you are not supposed to be carrying a balance. They literally do not want you to carry a balance or do any cash advances. If you make the mistake of forgetting to pay in full they want you to quickly correct it or win with a lot of money owed. I have never seen a Synchrony card that had realistic APR's. Personally I would have held the card open because the min redemption amount is a penny even though I have a better card for PayPal. If you no longer appreciate the card then closure is is definitely an option.

[Windchill92]

I couldn't tell you the APR on balances or cash advances on any of my cards b/c I always PIF. Also, Synchrony is lucky their name doesn't rhyme with sh1tty, like another national bank I know of.

If I know I'll have a large statement balance in the short term, I'll transfer some $$ from HYSA into checking before AutoPay initiates. If I have a large transaction coming in a couple months, I'll reduce spending for a couple months to counteract said transaction.

CCs are a tool that can work for- or against- you...always err for the former.