Synchrony Bank (formerly GE Capital Retail Bank), a DepositAccounts.com advertiser, is the personal depository banking component of Synchrony Financial. Synchrony Bank, which also utilizes the Optimizer+plus brand and MyOptimizerPlus.com website for marketing its deposit accounts, has grown to become one of the most prominent online banks in the market. Synchrony is a member of the FDIC, and its accounts are FDIC insured (up to applicable limits).
As far as depository products go, Synchrony offers CDs, high yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and IRA CDs. The bank’s products have traditionally offered some of the highest interest rates on the market. The savings account requires an almost negligible minimum balance to be kept in order to avoid a monthly service charge. A money market account is also available with very similar features to the savings account, though in keeping with federal regulations, the number of monthly withdrawals per statement cycle is limited to six, after which a fee is enforced. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and IRA CDs are offered with term lengths currently ranging from 3 to 60 months as of the time of this writing. These CDs typically offer some of the most competitive rates on the market, but they do come with minimum initial deposit requirements and early withdrawal penalties, the latter of which varies based on the length of the CD term.
Synchrony Bank online banking provides a secure platform for customers to access and manage their accounts. The web-based system allows account holders to view transaction history, transfer funds, pay bills, and open up new accounts.
Synchrony Bank was originally established in 1988 as Monogram Bank, USA. Its headquarters remained in the Cincinnati, Ohio area for more than fifteen years before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah. The bank is now headquartered in Draper, Utah, a city just south of Salt Lake City, with a branch in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Prior to becoming to Synchrony Bank in June of 2014, the bank's previous name of GE Capital Retail Bank readily identified it with GE Capital, the financial services company from which it was born. GE Capital provides growth financing to middle market companies all over the world.
In March of 2014, GE Capital Retail Bank filed form S-1 with the SEC to rename the organization to Synchrony Financial and as of May of 2014 had published a message on its website regarding an upcoming name change to Synchrony Bank. The name change was made official in June of 2014.
Related Posts
2/23 - Synchrony High Yield Savings Rate Drops To 0.50%
9/25 - Synchrony Bank waiving "certain fees and charges"
7/31 - Savings Cut To 0.75% From 1.05%
6/2 - Savings Rate Plunges At Synchrony Bank
5/5 - Synchrony Bank Lowers Deposit Rates
3/18 - Synchrony Bank Makes Another Round Of Rate Cuts
1/14 - Synchrony Bank Drops Hi-Yield Savings To 1.7%
10/12 - Synchrony Bank Lowers Savings Rate To 1.90%
9/4 - Synchrony Bank Slashes High Yield Savings Rate.
8/23 - Synchrony Bank CD Rate Cuts
8/13 - Synchrony Bank Reduces 3, 4, And 5 Year CD Rates
7/11 - Synchrony Bank Cuts Savings Rate
7/2 - Synchrony .05 To .10 Reduction In CD Rates
6/11 - Synchrony Bank Continues To Slash Their CD Rates
4/30 - Synchrony Banks Cuts CD Rates
2/17 - 2.85% 15-Month CD Is No More.
2/5 - Synchrony Bank Bumps Savings And 12-Month CD Rates
12/25/18 - Synchrony Bank Raises Rates On Savings And Select CD Terms.
11/26/18 - Synchrony Bank Brings Back 14-Month CD Special
11/26/18 - 14 Month CD, 2.80% APY, $2K Min
11/12/18 - 15-MONTH CD 2.75 % APY
11/6/18 - Synchrony Bank Raises High Yield Savings Account Rate
11/6/18 - Synchrony Bank Bumps High Yield Savings To 2.05%
10/2/18 - Synchrony Bank Ups Rates and Introduces 15-Month CD Special
10/2/18 - Small Increase On Savings And Money Market And New CD Promo.
8/14/18 - Synchrony Bank Debuts 13-Month CD with Very Competitive Rate
8/14/18 - 2.65% 13-Month CD Special At Synchrony Bank
7/24/18 - Synchrony Bank Ups High Yield Savings Account APY
7/24/18 - Synchrony Bank Ups High Yield Savings & Money Market
7/12/18 - Synchrony 12-Month CD To 2.40% APY From 2.25%
6/19/18 - Synchrony Bank Boosts Rate of 14-Month CD Special
6/19/18 - Synchrony Bank Raises 14-Month Promotional CD Rate
6/5/18 - Synchrony Bank Raises High Yield Savings Account Rate
6/5/18 - High Yield Savings Rate Increase
5/23/18 - Synchrony Bank Hikes Rates on CDs and IRA CDs
5/17/18 - 3% 3-Year Non-Callable Brokered Cds
5/1/18 - Synchrony Bank Ups Savings Account Rate and Debuts Top 14-month CD
5/1/18 - HYS Increased To 1.65% APY (Up .1 Basis Pts). CD Increases Also
4/10/18 - Synchrony Bank Ups CD Rates
3/27/18 - Synchrony Bank Increases Rates on Five CDs
2/21/18 - Another Savings Account Rate Hike at Synchrony Bank
2/21/18 - Small Rate Increase For Savings & 12 Month CD
2/21/18 - High Yield Savings At 1.55%
2/6/18 - Savings Account and CD Rate Increases at Synchrony Bank
2/6/18 - Small Rate Increases At Synchrony Bank
2/1/18 - Synchrony Bank Lowers Rate On 12 Month CD
1/4/18 - Synchrony Bank Hikes Rate
1/4/18 - Big Rate Increases At Synchrony Bank
11/27/17 - Synchrony Bank Adds Cyber Week 13-Month CD
11/27/17 - 1.75% 13 Month Certificate
9/21/17 - Savings Account and CD Rate Hikes at Synchrony Bank
9/21/17 - Synchrony Raises High Yield Savings Rate To 1.30%
7/24/17 - Synchrony Bank Savings Account Rate Increase
7/18/17 - Synchrony Bank Increases Savings Account Rate Again
7/18/17 - Small Increase For High Yield Savings Account
6/5/17 - Competitive 15-Month CD Special at Synchrony Bank
6/5/17 - Synchrony 15-Month Special
6/1/17 - Synchrony Bank Raises Its Savings Rate
6/1/17 - Synchrony Bank Increases High Yield Savings Account Rate
5/10/17 - More CD Rate Hikes at Synchrony Bank
5/9/17 - CD Rate Increases
3/21/17 - Synchrony Bank Increases CD Rates to Very Competitive Levels
2/2/17 - Synchrony Bank Ups Long-Term CD Rates
1/16/17 - Synchrony Bumps Some CD Rates--A Little
8/10/16 - Synchrony 5-Year CD Rates Drop
5/22/16 - Synchrony Raises EWP For New 4-And 5-Year Cds
2/22/16 - Synchrony Bank CD Rate Reduction
6/3/15 - Top 1-Year and 2-Year CD Rates at Synchrony Bank
4/13/15 - Synchrony Bank Raises High Yield Savings Account Rate
1/27/15 - Higher CD and IRA CD Rates at Synchrony Bank
12/18/14 - New 19-Month CD Rate Special at Synchrony Bank
11/17/14 - Synchrony Bank’s High Yield Savings Account Joins the 1% Club
11/5/14 - IRA CD Partial Withdrawal
7/14/14 - Higher Special 15-Month CD Rate at Synchrony Bank
5/19/14 - GE Capital Retail Bank Changing Name to Synchrony Bank
5/17/14 - Name Change
4/29/14 - Best Deal for CDs Is Now at GE Capital Retail Bank
4/28/14 - Bump Up On Optimizer CD's @ GE Captal Retail Bank
3/17/14 - Another Top Short-Term CD Special at GE Capital Retail Bank
3/5/14 - Top CD and Savings Account Rates at GE Capital Retail Bank
2/11/14 - Higher 5- and 4-Year CD Rates at GE Capital Retail Bank
11/17/13 - 5-Year Jumbo CD Rate Change
10/15/13 - Higher 5-Year CD Rate at GE Capital Retail Bank
8/12/13 - Special 15-Month CD Rate at GE Capital Retail Bank
5/14/13 - Higher CD Rates at GE Capital Retail Bank
1/15/13 - MetLife Bank is Now GE Capital Retail Bank
9/9/05 - MetLife Bank Raises Money Market Rates
There When I Needed Them!
From Care Credit to Lowes.. This bank has been there for me when I needed them. I am very grateful for that!!
Master Card Rewards
Synchrony Bank issues a PayPal branded credit card with 2 percent cash back rewards. The reward goes to your PayPal account and from there, it can be transferred to any of your linked external accounts. I have this card and in fact, I found it very convenient to be able to move the cash "Any Amount, Any Time" to another account. However, claiming "Any Amount, Any Time" is a misnomer as it should also include the phrase 'Per Statement Cycle'. What actually happens is that your 2 percent cash back rewards only appear at the end of the current statement cycle. "Any Amount" is true but "Any Time" is actually false. It is nice though to have a credit card with rewards expressed in percentage rather than points. Many card issuers like to tout points because no one actually knows how much in dollars a point is worth. The whole process of claiming your rewards is rather lengthy because once logged onto the PayPal site, it has to transfer you over to the Synchrony site for further navigation. The "Chat Now" feature goes to a Robot but if you fail to get a useable answer, it connects you to a live person. I thought this was very useful and far above the typical level of customer service.
Will NEVER Do Business With This Bank Again
Can't begin to list all the problems with this bank. I opened several CDs with them years ago, when their rates were higher than average. Since then, they've proven themselves to be so incompetent that I can only conclude upper management does not care at all. On one occasion a CD came due, and I requested the funds be sent to me through an ACH transfer. After two days the funds had not been put through; I call and stay on hold for 20 minutes before speaking to someone who tells me it takes up to 4 days. That's legally permitted, but every other bank I've worked with (and I do this often) takes 24 hours or, occasionally, 48. Synchrony always takes the full 96 hours. However, on this occasion they hadn't put the transfer through -- they'd sent a check via regular mail, sent bulk rate. It took a week before I got someone on the phone who admitted as much. So I had to wait three weeks for it, but even then it never arrived; they claimed it must have gotten lost. Then they said it takes two more weeks to file a "lost check" claim. All in all, it took TWO MONTHS for me to get my money -- all of which time it was sitting in Synchrony's float account, where they were earning interest on it. I filed a complaint with the BBB, and their response was a pack of lies. On numerous other occasions I've had other problems with Synchrony. Pretty much every time a CD comes due, they have one reason or another why it takes an extra week or two before they return my money to me. I contacted a lawyer about it, who read the application and showed me the small print where it says the customer waives the right to be part of any class-action lawsuit against Synchrony. Pretty smart of them to put that in there, since they knew they'd get sued. Criminal company you should absolutely avoid.
Great Bank, Nice Customer Service
Had a Jumbo CD with a great rate and they delivered. Easy application, nice website and answered the phone too! If you rather stick with the big boys (Synchrony or Marcus are just two of a many) that are great bets for accounts without gotchas, have name recognition, easy website platform and near top tier rates and lack limitations on access. W 5 stars!on't be THE rate leader but stays closer to the top.
Data as of Q4 2020
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 27314 |
| Year Established | 1988 |
| Employees | 8968 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.65% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 14.18% |
| Annual Interest Income | $11.01B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $85.30B$91.28B |
| Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $64.15B$71.90B |
| Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $65.85B$68.60B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $10.10B$11.91B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $9.57B$5.13B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $1.07B$1.73B |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $0$0 |