Synchrony Bank Review 2024
Written by
Edited by
The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for .
At a glance
CDs
Savings
MMA
About Bankrate Score
Overview
Synchrony Bank is ideal for savers who are comfortable banking entirely online. Synchrony offers competitive rates on its savings products, and there’s no minimum balance requirement. However, the bank doesn’t offer a checking account.
Highlights
- High APY
- No Monthly Fees
- Highly Rated App
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.7/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 5/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.9/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Overall
Synchrony Bank is an online bank that issues credit cards and offers several products that pay some of the best rates. But if you’re looking for a checking account at an online bank, you’ll want to consider other options such as Ally Bank or Capital One.
Pros
-
Synchrony consistently offers competitive rates on deposit products.
-
Synchrony doesn’t require minimum balances for its savings accounts, money market accounts and CDs.
-
Up to $5 in domestic ATM rebates are available per statement cycle.
Cons
-
Synchrony has no branches.
-
Checking accounts aren’t offered.
-
Synchrony Bank’s money market account doesn’t earn as high of a yield as its savings account.
Synchrony Bank banking products
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account. APY as of 4/18/2024
Synchrony Bank savings overview
Pros
-
The account offers a competitive yield.
-
There are no monthly service fees.
-
The account comes with an ATM card and offers rebates.
Cons
-
All tiers have the same APY, so customers are not rewarded for depositing more money.
-
Some banks offer a higher APY on their savings accounts.
-
See how rates for this account have changed over time. Interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.
Synchrony BankAPYAPYNational average APYHow do we get this data?
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.7/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
Bank fees
| Fee | Charged? |
|---|---|
| Overdraft fee | None |
| Non-sufficient funds fee | None |
| Monthly maintenance fee | None |
| Out-of-network ATM fee | None |
| Excessive transaction fee | None |
| Outgoing wire transfer | $25 |
Customer experience
Customer support
Support hours. As an online-only bank, Synchrony Bank has no branches. Customers who need assistance can contact a representative via the mobile banking app, online chat service or phone. Customer support is available seven days a week, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
Low customer satisfaction. Synchrony Bank received the second lowest score in overall satisfaction among online-only banks for its savings accounts, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 Direct Banking Satisfaction Study.
Digital experience
Highly rated mobile app. Synchrony’s mobile app is highly rated on the Apple App Store, but receives middling scores on the Google Play Store. Collectively, more than 60,000 users have reviewed the app. “The desktop website is one of the cleanest, most intuitive platforms I’ve seen in awhile,” said a Bankrate staff member who uses Synchrony personally. “Each option provides plenty of instructions, FAQs and interactive options to toggle through ranging from how to deposit money to more specific prompts like a CD maturing and assessing how much I wanted to transfer, remove or keep the same.”
That noted, Synchrony doesn’t show you how much interest you’ve earned across accounts. Thus, you’ll need to check year-to-date interest paid on each account and tally it up to see how much you’ve earned across accounts.
Bankrate staff insights
“My experience with Synchrony Bank has been nothing short of exceptional,” said a Bankrate staff member with a Synchrony account. “Most of the digital products I use in my day-to-day are ones I’ve vetted, tested its competitors and landed on a product that checks boxes that competitors didn’t.”
The above images were last updated on Feb. 19, 2024.
About Synchrony Bank
Synchrony Bank is based in Stamford, Connecticut. Until 2014, Synchrony Bank was known as GE Capital Retail Bank, an extension of General Electric.
Synchrony offers certificates of deposit as well as savings and money market accounts but no checking accounts. A number of credit cards, including those offered by Amazon, Lowe's and Walgreens, are issued by Synchrony Bank. Synchrony is the biggest issuer of private label credit cards in the U.S., according to Synchrony's website.
How Synchrony compares to other banks
Synchrony vs. Ally Bank
As online-only banks, Ally and Synchrony share many similarities. Neither bank has minimum opening requirements, minimum balance requirements or monthly maintenance fees for their accounts. Moreover, both banks offer highly competitive APYs for their savings products, which is a hallmark of the best online banks.
Although Ally generally has a larger pool of financial products, including checking, retirement and investment accounts, both banks offer competitive yields on par with each other for their CDs and savings accounts. Moreover, Synchrony has a wider array of CD terms to choose from.
Synchrony Bank FAQs
Review methodology
We assign a score to each type of account and its features, weigh them carefully based on importance to account holders and determine an overall score. Read our full review methodology.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Bankrate
