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Synchrony Bank Review 2023

Updated September 14, 2023
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At a glance

4.3
Rating: 4.3 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
Caret Down

CDs

Rating: 4.9 stars out of 5

Savings

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

MMA

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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
Compare offers
Info
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
4.75
%
APY
APY
Info
As of 9/28/2023
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right
Promoted offer: Savings Products with Competitive Rates and No Minimum Deposit
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
4.50
%
APY
APY
Info
As of 9/28/2023
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right
Promoted offer: No account fees & earn up to $250 w/ direct deposit. Terms apply.
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
4.35
%
APY
APY
Info
As of 9/28/2023
Rating: 4.9 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right
Promoted offer:

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

  • Checkmark

    Synchrony consistently offers competitive rates on deposit products.

  • Checkmark

    Synchrony doesn’t require minimum balances for its savings accounts, money market accounts and CDs.

  • Checkmark

    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

5.0
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
Invest Rate
4.75% APY
Info
Loan
$0 minimum deposit to open

Synchrony Bank savings overview

The Synchrony Bank High Yield Savings account earns a competitive yield and doesn’t charge a monthly maintenance fee. It also doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit and doesn’t have a minimum balance requirement. The account offers an ATM card and reimburses up to $5 for out-of-network ATM fees in the U.S. per month.

Pros

  • Checkmark

    The account offers a competitive yield.

  • Checkmark

    There are no monthly service fees.

  • Checkmark

    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 Bank
    APY
    APY
    Info
    National average APY
    See table view
    How do we get this data?
    Info
Current Savings Rate
Info
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
4.75
%
APY
APY
Info
As of 9/28/2023
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Info
$0
Min balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right
Promoted offer: Savings Products with Competitive Rates and No Minimum Deposit

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

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.

Bank experience

As an online-only bank, Synchrony Bank has no branches. Customers needing assistance can contact a representative via the mobile banking app, online chat service or phone. Synchrony charges no ATM fees, though fees imposed by the ATM owner/operator may still apply. And as mentioned above, Synchrony will refund domestic ATM fees up to $5 a month.

The mobile banking app has earned highly positive ratings on the Apple App Store, but only an OK rating on the Google Play Store.

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 FAQs

Review methodology

With so many financial institutions to choose from, it can be hard to know who to trust. Bankrate’s ever-growing list of bank and credit union reviews is updated regularly. Our editorial team analyzes and reviews each institution across deposit products such as savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts (MMAs). Banks are rated by important factors such as offered interest rates, fees, minimum balance requirements, access to funds and more.

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.