Synchrony Bank Review 2023
Top-Tier Interest Rates
Are you looking for an online bank that offers higher-than-average interest rates on savings? Are you looking for savings options that include IRAs? Is the lack of a checking account a nonissue for you? If you answered “Yes” to these questions, Synchrony Bank may be an attractive choice. But is this online bank the best one for your money? We took a closer look to find out.
Commissions & Fees - 9
Customer Service - 4
Ease of Use - 6
Locations - 0
Savings Options - 8.5
Rates - 9
Synchrony Bank Features
| Accounts | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs |
| Access | Web Based, iPhone App, Android App, Blackberry App |
| Amount of Branches | 2 |
| ATM Reimbursement | |
| Online Deposits | |
| FDIC Insurance | |
| Customer Service | 24/7 automated phone service; Representatives available M-F 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. ET, S/S 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET (certain teams unavailable); Live Chat: 24/7 |
What Is Synchrony Bank?
Synchrony Bank is a subsidiary of Synchrony Financial, formerly known as GE Capital Retail Bank. Today, Synchrony Bank operates as an online-only bank with a focus on savings accounts. In fact, Synchrony Bank does not even offer checking accounts as an option.
Outside of the savings products, which include IRA accounts, Synchrony Financial offers co-branded and branded credit cards for a range of retail stores. But for today’s Synchrony Bank review, we are going to focus on the main savings products offered by Synchrony Bank.
Now, if you are looking for a bank with brick-and-mortar locations where you can check in on your account, you're probably going to want to go elsewhere. Synchrony has a grand total of two branch locations: one at its headquarters in Draper, Utah and another in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
| Highlights |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 8.5/10 | 8.5/10 | 7/10 |
| Accounts | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs |
| Online Deposits | |||
| Physical Branches | |||
| FDIC Insurance | |||
| ATM Reimbursement | |||
CIT Bank. Member FDIC. |
How Synchrony Bank Works
Synchrony Bank offers several types of savings accounts. The main feature and attraction is Synchrony’s top-tier interest rates. Synchrony High Yield Savings offers one of the best savings account rates available at any nationwide bank.
Accounts are FDIC insured and come with online banking to manage your account. With online banking, you can deposit or withdraw. You can also manage your account by phone or with an optional ATM card. Note that while Synchrony does not charge any ATM fees, you may be charged for using your ATM card at another bank’s ATM. Synchrony Bank refunds up to $5 per statement cycle for ATM charges on your savings and money market accounts.
Synchrony offers top-level bank security and encryption. So your funds and online banking connections are very safe. Synchrony also offers multi-factor authentication for maximum security.
In my personal experience with the bank, both online banking systems and customer service have left something to be desired. I had an online banking issue that prevented me from viewing my account. Customer service was not helpful in resolving the issue. I ended up closing my account and taking the funds to Ally Bank.
Synchrony Bank does not charge any monthly maintenance fees nor require specific activity to avoid a monthly fee. But you may run into fees for some uncommon activity, such as outgoing wire transfers.
You can fund your Synchrony Bank account in one of four ways:
- Via mobile deposit using your phone or tablet
- Via ACH transfer from an external bank account
- Via a personal or cashier's check mailed with a deposit slip to Synchrony's Atlanta office
- By wiring money from a different bank.
Synchrony Bank Savings Account
High Yield Savings
The most popular account at Synchrony Bank is the High Yield Savings account. This account currently offers 0.55% APY as of February 2021, among the best in the industry. There are no monthly fees or required minimum balances. You can transfer in or out of the account for no charge to or from any bank. There is no minimum opening deposit.
| Available For | Taxable, IRA |
| Account Fees | None |
| Custodial | |
| Savings Rates |
Minimum Deposit $0—0.50% APY
|
Synchrony Bank Money Market
Money Market
| Available For | Taxable, IRA |
| Account Fees | None |
| Savings Rates |
Minimum Deposit $0—0.40% APY
|
Synchrony Bank CD Rates
Synchrony CDs
A CD, or certificate of deposit, is a time-bound savings account. There is no longer a minimum deposit required to open a Synchrony CD. The popular 36-month CD offers 0.65% APY as of February 2021. Terms are available from three months up to 60 months. Like the Synchrony Bank savings account, the Synchrony CD is FDIC insured.
| Term | Minimum Deposit | APY |
| 3 | 0 | 0.15 |
| 6 | 0 | 0.25 |
| 9 | 0 | 0.35 |
| 12 | 0 | 0.55 |
| 13 | 0 | 0.55 |
| 14 | 0 | 0.55 |
| 15 | 0 | 0.55 |
| 18 | 0 | 0.55 |
| 24 | 0 | 0.65 |
| 36 | 0 | 0.65 |
| 48 | 0 | 0.80 |
Synchrony Bank Pros & Cons
[table “proscons” not found /]Summary
Synchrony Bank is a reliable bank that offers some of the best savings account interest rates of all nationwide, online banks. While customer service is not their strong suit, the accounts are simple enough that you should be able to easily handle most needs through the self-service online banking tools.
The bank is a good choice overall due to its low fees and high interest rates. If that’s what you're looking for and you don’t care about not being able to do all of your banking under one roof, Synchrony Bank is a good option.
This is the worst organization I have ever dealt with.They cannot seem to address things properly. I received a statement then a week later I received an email stating my statement amount was actually double what the statement was. I’m tired of getting conflicting information from them and having to speak to people overseas to try to get things resolved.
Less than 1 Star. These guys are the worse credit card provider they decided to decrease my credit limit after Leas than 2 months from opening the account with them. I really regretting take their offer. I really don’t recommend them. I have lots of accounts with lots of different banks & no one does that. Don’t take them. Even their online banking doesn’t work I had difficulties to login online & adding my card to Apple Pay. They are terrible worse experience ever.
This is the worst credit card I have ever received in my life. I have had problems very often and then I decided to stop using it.
Before leaving for a trip to other country I call the bank and ask to authorize my card be used abroad, and then I try to used it is declined. They simply block my card for no reason when I have made payments regularly and when I call the customer service they don’t tell me why and start asking absurd things. They have no respect for their clients. I can’t trust this card anymore and already in the way to work with another bank.
I recently bought some furniture and used Synchrony to finance the purchase. I had been receiving statements for the last three months regularly, that is, until this month. When I tried to contact the bank through the contact number of 877-295-2080, I was put in touch with a computerized system that did not have any options of dealing with a human being. I did get my statement paid, my primary reason for the call. However, I also wanted to report that my statement did not arrive, and that would be a problem moving forward. I am not a believer in online or pay by phone systems, unless, they are backed up by a customer service department staffed by human beings. Since this instance had a lack of human interaction, I will finish my payment obligations to Synchrony, but, cannot use them going forward for any further purchases.
After 12 years of being a customer of Synchrony, I got a letter in the mail saying that my account was closed. Just closed. So I called to see if it was some kind of joke. Nope, they closed my account. I paid my account every month and sometimes twice a month with I had the extra cash but that was not good enough for them. They are just heartless.
YES..Synchrony Bank is the worse bank to deal with…I have a credit card with Amazon,and they charge 26.5 % interest on the card……I feel it is highway robbery..I always pay double of the minimum they ask, (181.00 and I pay 250.00) and when I requested an increase of $1,000.00 with the coronavirus crisis, they turned me down, My credit score is 740..I am retired military spouse, and have social security …well…I will pay them off and longer shop at Amazon…
I have some money at this bank that I earmarked as the overflow for my daughter’s college education. It is fine. However, in the last year, the commercial paper and repo markets have come back to life. This is important because it brings Money Market Mutual Funds back into play. For the longest time Vanguard was offering .04% on their money market while Synch and other on-line banks were around 1%. Now, Vanguard is at 1.9%. They are NOT FDIC insured though. However, that difference will continue to widen as interest rates increase. Something to think about.