Synchrony Bank Reviews: Is Synchrony a Good Bank?

It’s 2024, having an online account with online banks is not as bad as some people make it out to be. In fact, you will be part of the larger majority of the cool people that have unshackled themselves from traditional banks.

You don’t need regular banks to have high yield savings accounts, competitive Annual Percentage Yield (APY), bank high yield savings, etc. Also, you can gain access to credit cards, build your credit score and credit account, etc.

Synchrony Bank will give you all of the above without taking bank fees from you. You can have an account online with this online bank, and you will have unrestricted online access to your account.

You don’t have to wonder about the security of your funds as, like the regular banks, this online bank is FDIC insured. In this Synchrony Bank review, you will learn all there is to know about this bank.

Synchrony Bank Reviews: Topic Overview

Understanding how bank accounts work can be overwhelming at first glance but we're here to help break it down so that anyone can understand it!

Check out our comprehensive review of Synchrony Bank's services below: -What are the benefits? -How does it compare against other banks? -What are the Pros and Cons -Who is it best for?

Everything you need to know about Synchrony Bank in one place. We've got the details for you.

What is Synchrony Bank?

The first thing we will do in this Synchrony Bank review is to thoroughly give an overview of what the bank is. Depending on who you ask, Synchrony Financial services company is not a full-service bank.

These people would rather refer to Synchrony Bank as one of the best Fintech financial institutions. Some people underestimate Synchrony Bank and feel that as one of the new-gen financial companies, Synchrony is inexperienced.

They couldn’t be more wrong as Synchrony Bank has over 80 years of dealing with consumer finances, and they are FDIC insured. Synchrony Bank began as a GE electric subsidiary before becoming an independent financial institution known as GE Capital Retail Bank.

After a while, Synchrony Bank grew from GE Capital Retail Bank to become Synchrony Bank, a subsidiary of Synchrony Financial. So, Synchrony Bank is not your regular Fintech company offering financial services, but it is an online bank with years of experience.

Online banks are usually new financial startups but not Synchrony Bank, which is not new to the Banking world. Synchrony Bank is a company that is a well-regarded subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company which is the biggest producer of private label credit cards.

How do Synchrony Checking Account and Savings Accounts work?

Although Synchrony Bank is an online bank, you are going to get a bank account number just like you would in a regular bank. Synchrony Bank offers competitive rates on its high yield savings account, money market account, certificate of deposit CDs, etc.

If you look closely, you will find that we didn’t mention checking account among the product Synchrony Bank offers. The reason for this is that the bank doesn’t truly have a checking account product and this is not a strange thing.

As reviewers, we have come across this type of situation many times, and we have discovered something about banks without a checking account. What we have discovered is that lack of a checking account means no checking account at all as these banks provide alternatives.

Here, we will be analyzing Synchrony Bank savings account and their version of a checking account. Basically, there are three types of accounts that Synchrony Bank provides apart from their massive credit cards production;

• High yield savings account
• Money Market Account
• CDs

In this heading of the Synchrony Bank review, we will only be discussing the high yield savings account;

High Yield Savings Account

What stands out about the high-yield savings account is that you get 0.50% APY without a minimum balance requirement. Also, this 0.50% APY you are entitled to be an across all ‘my accounts’ APY.

Recall that we have mentioned that Synchrony Bank doesn’t have a checking account that allows you to withdraw money often. This means that you have to use your high yield savings account to withdraw money often

Synchrony Bank allows you this access to your bank account and accounts details through your phone or through an ATM. However, you might wonder how this fits into the convenient transaction limit imposed by federal law, limiting savings accounts transactions.

The federal limit is six convenient transactions per month on savings accounts. So, ordinarily, people with savings accounts didn’t have unrestricted access to their savings account and risk account closure when they exceeded limits.

However, it would interest you to know that the government has lifted such a limit, and you can use your savings account as you want. You can withdraw and transact as much as you want, and with 400,000 ATMs across the nation, accessibility is not even an issue.

Synchrony Bank is on the Accel ATM network, and it doesn’t charge for the use of the ATMs on the Accel ATM network. It also doesn’t charge for the use of ATMs outside its network.

Note that you can close your account if you withdraw excessively from your savings account.

Click Here to Know More About Synchrony Bank.

What are the Features of Synchrony Banking?

Money Market Account

Remember what we said earlier about banks that don’t have checking accounts? Yes, they always provide alternatives.

Synchrony Bank’s first alternative is to give you an ATM card for your savings account. This is something other financial institutions are reluctant to do, but Synchrony cares about your personal finance and frowns on excessive withdrawal.

Synchrony Bank places a limit on how much you can withdraw from your savings account. After all, Synchrony’s mantra is for you to save smarter.

The other alternative by Synchrony Bank is its money market account which provides 0.35% APY and doesn’t require a minimum balance. This money market account has a lower APY than the savings account, but you can write checks on this money market account.

Synchrony Bank’s money market account has a greater APY than other banks' usual money market account. Also, you have access to 400,000 ATMs which you can use instead of writing checks to the bank often.

In addition, you won’t pay any form of monthly fees to maintain your money market account. Synchrony Bank offers to maintain your money market account for you without even an annual fee.

Synchrony Bank’s money market accounts are available within a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) or Roth IRA. You can also pay money into the IRA account anytime you want as long as you don’t reach the limit.

High Yield Savings Account

What stands out about the high-yield savings account is that you get 0.50% APY without a minimum balance requirement. Also, this 0.50% APY you are entitled to, is across all your accounts.

Recall that we have mentioned that Synchrony Bank doesn’t have a checking account that allows you to withdraw money often. This means that you have to use your high yield savings account to withdraw money often

Synchrony Bank allows you this access to your account and account details through your phone or with your debit card. However, you might wonder how this fits into the convenient transaction limit imposed by federal law, limiting savings accounts transactions.

The federal limit is six convenient transactions per month on savings accounts. So, ordinarily, people with savings accounts didn’t have unrestricted access to their savings and risk account closure when they exceeded limits.

However, it would interest you to know that the government has lifted such a limit, and you can use your savings as you want. You can withdraw and transact as much as you want, and with 400,000 ATMs across the nation, accessibility is not even an issue.

Synchrony Bank is on the Accel ATM network, and it doesn’t charge for the use of the ATMs on the Accel ATM network. It also doesn’t charge for the use of ATMs outside its network.

Note that you can lose your account if you withdraw excessively from your savings.

Certificates of Deposit CDs Accounts

It would help if you imagined certificates of deposit CDs as the account where you can put money in for a fixed period. You can’t withdraw the money until the duration matures or you risk paying a penalty fee during this period.

Synchrony Bank offers CD accounts for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 5 years. The CD has a fixed APY, which depends on the term of years set for the CD.

The APY for 3 months to 18 months is 0.15% to 0.55% APY, the APY for 24 months to 5 years is 0.60% to 0.80%, respectively. You should know that for higher deposits, the higher APY rates become inapplicable.

Synchrony Bank’s CD accounts differ from most CDs as you don’t need a minimum deposit to open. You can open Synchrony Bank’s CD with zero balance without paying any minimum opening balance.

You may choose to open a regular CD or a traditional or Roth IRA. Whichever one you choose, your CD renews automatically at the same interest rate after it reaches the due date.

When it reaches said maturity date, you only have a 10-day timeframe to decide your next course of action with the CD. During that window, you can choose to withdraw, add more money or change the terms.

However, you can exercise your right to give renewal instructions 30 days before the due date by submitting instructions on their website.

Recall that CD is fixed for a period, and trying to withdraw without that period will incur some costs against you. You will pay a 90-day interest if your cd is one year or less, a 180-day interest for less than 4 years CD, or 365-day interest if it is 4 years or more.

IRAs

You can also invest your retirement money in Synchrony Bank savings IRA, money market accounts IRA, or CDs IRA. Synchrony Bank provides its money market accounts IRA, CDs IRA for both Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs.

You can use Synchrony’s IRA in a way that will suit your goals. Customers have noted that Synchrony IRA can be helpful when planning for your retirement.

Synchrony IRA is best for less risky assets, which ensures that you get a sustaining ROI which could become impossible with riskier investments.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are a necessity in the current economic order in the United States as credit cards help access a credit line. Credit cards can help you build an impressive credit report which would tell the story of your strong personal finance.

Proper credit card-influenced credit reports would also create the impression that you are capable of managing your personal finance.

Synchrony Bank is the subsidiary of an immense company that people know for their large production of credit cards. You can easily create credit accounts with Synchrony Bank through their credit card.

Also, your account details will be secure. You can use any of the different credit card options which Synchrony provides through its many retailers.

You can use Synchrony Bank’s credit card for numerous transactions and financing of different plans. With Synchrony Bank’s credit card and its CareCredit product, you can access healthcare on credit.

However, these cards are co-branded, and you can only use them with specific businesses. This would have made these cards limited, but Synchrony had partnered with more than 100 successful businesses.

Accessibility

As an online bank, Synchrony has an advantage over other banks when it comes to accessibility as you can use it on the to. In addition, Synchrony Bank provides 400,000 ATMs for its customers for easy transactions.

Prompt Customer Service

Synchrony financial services are online and have few physical branches, which in no way affects their accessibility. It's few physical branches make it close it impossible to talk to a bank official physically.

Synchrony understands this and provides prompt customer service available from 8 am to 10 pm. These customer representatives are also available on the weekends from 8 am to 10 pm and with them, a physical branch is unnecessary.

You can also use the bank’s automated customer service, which can provide answers for you on specific issues. Synchrony is thorough in how much they care for their customers.

How much does Synchrony Cost?

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Who is Synchrony Best For?

1. Synchrony is the perfect fit for a millennial and a generation z age grade who don't really need physical branches to transact with banks.
2. The bank is best for you if you need a healthcare branded credit card to access healthcare easily and pay back over time.
3. Also, if you are the kind that doesn't mind small profits, this bank is for you

 

Synchrony Bank Pros and Cons

Synchrony Compare to other Banks

Synchrony vs. Ally

Ally Bank is like Synchrony in some ways, as they are both digital banks that operate mostly online. One would be inclined to think that these banks are the same, but there are some aspects where Synchrony is a superior bank.

Although Ally Bank is online and can be accessed anywhere, it is cannot boast of the reach Synchrony. The reason for this is that Ally has access to just 43,000 ATMs while Synchrony has the reach it 400,000 ATMs.

Also, when it comes to experience in the issue of experience in the world of finance, Ally Bank can’t compare to Synchrony. Synchrony began as part of a company, became a bank then changed to a digital bank.

So, Synchrony has dealt with multiple personalities and businesses which helps guide it’s successful policies.

Synchrony vs. CIT

Ally Bank is like Synchrony in some ways, as they are both digital banks that operate mostly online. One would be inclined to think that these banks are the same, but there are some aspects where Synchrony is a superior bank.

Although Ally Bank is online and can be accessed anywhere, it is cannot boast of the reach Synchrony. The reason for this is that Ally has access to just 43,000 ATMs while Synchrony has the reach it 400,000 ATMs.

Also, when it comes to experience in the issue of experience in the world of finance, Ally Bank can’t compare to Synchrony. Synchrony began as part of a company, became a bank then changed to a digital bank.

So, Synchrony has dealt with multiple personalities and businesses which helps guide it’s successful policies.

>> Read More About CIT Bank Reviews: Is CIT a Good Bank?

Synchrony vs. Discover

Discover is similar to Synchrony majorly as they are both digital banks whose customers engage in bank transactions online. You might want to think that Discover is in the same league as Synchrony, but there are some aspects where Synchrony is a superior bank.

The two banks claim to be accessible, but Synchrony beats out Discover in this regard. Synchrony has a robust ATM network of 400,000 ATMs, unlike Discover.

Also, Synchrony has been in the banking world for a longer period of time and has competed with the leaders of the American banking industry. This has prepared Synchrony to be better able to cater to the interest of its customers.

Synchrony has come far too long and is far ahead right now.

>> Read More About Discover Bank Reviews: Is Discover a Good Bank?

Conclusion: Is Synchrony a Good Bank?

Synchrony is an online bank with a pedigree most banks would dream of having as it has been a figure in the banking sector for years now. As an online institution, with ease of use and accessibility by many, the bank has adopted customer-friendly rates.

The general perception is that banks are like parasites that want to take more than you can give. People have their account details with banks, but they would rather avoid bankers as they see them as leeches.

This is where Synchrony is different as the bank looks to always want to give so much to their customers while also safeguarding their account details. The bank has juicy rates that not many other banks can claim to have.

Synchrony’s juicy rates run across its savings, money market accounts, and CDs. In addition to this, the bank has connections with different businesses to provide co-branded credit cards.

Although you can only use these cards with those businesses, they number over 100, so you have options. This is the same with their lack of checking accounts, as there are alternatives to take care of the limitations.

Synchrony is the right choice for you as it offers benefits not many businesses offer. There is so much to gain without being shackled fees and compulsory minimum balances.

Synchrony Bank FAQs

What is synchrony bank's rating?

Synchrony has great online access and this online access makes it to be highly rated Based on different reviews, Synchrony has a rating average of 4.3 stars.

Does synchrony Bank have good customer service?

For your account, online Synchrony provides prompt customer service that is available from 8 am to 10 pm. These customer representatives are also available on the weekends from 8 am to 10 pm, and with them, a physical branch is unnecessary.

Who is synchrony bank owned by?

Synchrony is part of GE Capital for over 80 years now.

Click Here to Know More About Synchrony Bank.