p.3 #1 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
Your point is well taken, Henry. And a quick search of the site you've noted shows this:
https://www.truthinadvertising.org/?s=Synchrony+Bank and when you get there, click on the embedded graphics. Those are old data, dating back to 2016 and 2014 respectively. However, a more extensive search of the web using legal resources shows that even currently, some of what our members here are describing is happening elsewhere.
I've spent many thousands of dollars buying from BH. That you are now being forced by the government to serve as an intermediary tax-collector and distributor is freaking shame, but, it is what it is, and it won't stop me from buying from you, tax add-on, notwithstanding. What it will do also is enable me to support with my business those B&M stores locally to where I live. That will be good for them also.
anthony
Aug 06, 2019 at 02:57 PM
jim allison Offline • • • [X]
p.3 #2 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
Synchrony Bank seems to specialize in retail credit. They do Loews, Home Depot
and many other large retail chains. A lot of other lenders got out of financing retail sales and they gobbled up all that business. I have three accounts with them including Paypal. They offer 0% interest promotional financing, however, if you are a day late you are libel for a heavy interest charge for the entire amount of the purchase, even if you are on the last payment. There statements are very hard to understand and are in my opinion designed to be confusing. There customer service is poor. You have to be very careful if you do business with them, but if you play by their rules you can save some real money. I think that it would be wonderful if B&H had their own Visa or Mastercard with Chase or Citibank rather than relying on Synchrony.
p.3 #3 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
Hello, I am trying to figure out my options after being denied a BH credit card from Synchrony Bank. My husband and I applied jointly, and we have great credit history and there is basically no reason for us to be denied the card; we even have an Amazon credit card with Synchrony already. First, we received a letter stating that the issue was bankruptcy. After checking to see that our credit report was perfectly fine, we called the bank and they said they made a mistake with the bankruptcy but still couldn't give us the credit card because of too many inquiries (and this inquiry was the only one within the past year). They said there was nothing they could do. Five minutes later, the representative called us back saying that the "too many inquiries" was a mistake since when they refreshed the information from the credit bureau, everything was ok. But, the bank still said that they couldn't approve us because there was a problem with my credit history, that my credit history is indicative of potential invalid identity. All of my information is correct on my credit report. The bank representative said that my husband should apply again (with another hard inquiry) by himself to get approved. Since it's a weekend, I can't call the credit bureau to find out where there is a problem in my credit history, and I don't think that there is any. Anyways, I think the only option is to file a complaint with Synchrony, and if they can't fix this issue, then file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Has anyone had a similar experience? What do you suggest doing?
p.3 #4 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
bastkittygal wrote:
Hello, I am trying to figure out my options after being denied a BH credit card from Synchrony Bank. My husband and I applied jointly, and we have great credit history and there is basically no reason for us to be denied the card; we even have an Amazon credit card with Synchrony already. First, we received a letter stating that the issue was bankruptcy. After checking to see that our credit report was perfectly fine, we called the bank and they said they made a mistake with the bankruptcy but still couldn't give us the credit card because of too many inquiries (and this inquiry was the only one within the past year). They said there was nothing they could do. Five minutes later, the representative called us back saying that the "too many inquiries" was a mistake since when they refreshed the information from the credit bureau, everything was ok. But, the bank still said that they couldn't approve us because there was a problem with my credit history, that my credit history is indicative of potential invalid identity. All of my information is correct on my credit report. The bank representative said that my husband should apply again (with another hard inquiry) by himself to get approved. Since it's a weekend, I can't call the credit bureau to find out where there is a problem in my credit history, and I don't think that there is any. Anyways, I think the only option is to file a complaint with Synchrony, and if they can't fix this issue, then file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Has anyone had a similar experience? What do you suggest doing?...Show more →
Your experience is very much like mine, which I've already reported to this site. I decided to give up on trying to obtain a Paybooger card from Synchrony Bank. For whatever reason, it is apparent from the stories on this site that either B&H or Synchrony Bank has no intention of giving out this card to people who are good customers of B&H and have good credit scores. It's astounding. There's that saying that the simplest answer is usually true. What's the simplest answer here? I'll let readers decide that for themselves. I say forget the hassle; life is too short.
p.3 #5 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
bastkittygal wrote:
Hello, I am trying to figure out my options after being denied a BH credit card from Synchrony Bank.
I am very sorry for your disappointing situation. I understand how disconcerting this must me. Synchrony bank handles the entire application process without any input or interference from B&H. We don't know when an application is submitted nor when it i approved or denied. If denied, we don't know the reason, to protect your privacy.
You can email me at [email protected] with the contact info you provided the bank when you applied and our liaison can ask the bank for whatever meager information they're willing to share. That will not alter the application nor reverse the denial but i might provide some insight. If the bank suggested your husband apply individually you may want o consider doing that.
photoagent101 wrote:
For whatever reason, it is apparent from the stories on this site that either B&H or Synchrony Bank has no intention of giving out this card to people who are good customers of B&H and have good credit scores.
I understand you too are disappointed but your situation is not dissimilar to what bastkittygal shared. Synchrony bank handled your entire application process without any input or interference from B&H. The bank has its own criteria which do not include whether you are a good customer of B&H but only whether in their opinion, you have a good credit score.
p.3 #6 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
photoagent101 wrote:
Your experience is very much like mine, which I've already reported to this site. I decided to give up on trying to obtain a Paybooger card from Synchrony Bank. For whatever reason, it is apparent from the stories on this site that either B&H or Synchrony Bank has no intention of giving out this card to people who are good customers of B&H and have good credit scores. It's astounding. There's that saying that the simplest answer is usually true. What's the simplest answer here? I'll let readers decide that for themselves. I say forget the hassle; life is too short. ...Show more →
You're right. I am beginning to think that they really don't want us to have the card, so they come up with many different vague reasons for it. I called the bureau and bank today. The bureau said that my history is clean with no problems whatsoever. The bank rep said that their system automatically catches behavioral credit patterns that it doesn't like. In my case, I have no installment loans and no debt, and that I filed the application online, which is indicative of invalid identity, so their system didn't like that. I don't understand how they can say invalid identity when I'm right there on the phone and can confirm my identity to them. I guess their system is programmed to not want people to pay off their b and h expenses without interest, so that the bank will lose money. The only reason I'm bummed is that I have a hard inquiry on my credit history now, and I wish I knew that they wouldn't accept me beforehand so that I wouldn't have the inquiry hurting my credit score. The tax cash back sounded too good to be true. Maybe some people are lucky and got the card. This is the first credit card that my husband and I have been declined and we have many good ones. This is just wrong what they do, declining people for no good reason.
p.3 #7 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
henryp wrote:
I am very sorry for your disappointing situation. I understand how disconcerting this must me. Synchrony bank handles the entire application process without any input or interference from B&H. We don't know when an application is submitted nor when it i approved or denied. If denied, we don't know the reason, to protect your privacy.
You can email me at [email protected] with the contact info you provided the bank when you applied and our liaison can ask the bank for whatever meager information they're willing to share. That will not alter the application nor reverse the denial but i might provide some insight. If the bank suggested your husband apply individually you may want o consider doing that.
I understand you too are disappointed but your situation is not dissimilar to what bastkittygal shared. Synchrony bank handled your entire application process without any input or interference from B&H. The bank has its own criteria which do not include whether you are a good customer of B&H but only whether in their opinion, you have a good credit score.
Henry, thank you for your input. The thing that bothers me most is their reasoning for the denial. Banks have never denied me cards and I have very good credit. If only they stated that the reason for the denial is because they don't want to lose money because I pay my bills on time, then I would understand. Anyways, I don't think there is anything you can do to help. My husband doesn't want another hard inquiry so he won't apply again. Besides, they gave us three different reasons for denying us, with three letters, so they may deny him if he reapplies, as well. I just wish that I knew that they would deny me before applying.
p.3 #8 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
Foollio wrote:
I read about problems with credit cards and just happy that I have a debit
I understand your reasoning, but I have saved so much money with cashback. I pay all my bills on time every month, and don't buy what I don't need and can't afford. Pros and cons.
p.3 #9 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
bastkittygal wrote:
Henry, thank you for your input. The thing that bothers me most is their reasoning for the denial. Banks have never denied me cards and I have very good credit. If only they stated that the reason for the denial is because they don't want to lose money because I pay my bills on time, then I would understand. Anyways, I don't think there is anything you can do to help. My husband doesn't want another hard inquiry so he won't apply again. Besides, they gave us three different reasons for denying us, with three letters, so they may deny him if he reapplies, as well. I just wish that I knew that they would deny me before applying. ...Show more →
I know this is upsetting and I'm sure it won't ease your mind to know the overwhelming number of applications are approved. Despite what others may say here, we DO want as many as possible to apply and get approved and we DO want customers to look at this as a positive B&H program. As I said the bank tells us almost nothing and wouldn't take our opinion of your credit worthiness into account in any case.
p.3 #10 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
henryp wrote:
I know this is upsetting and I'm sure it won't ease your mind to know the overwhelming number of applications are approved. Despite what others may say here, we DO want as many as possible to apply and get approved and we DO want customers to look at this as a positive B&H program. As I said the bank tells us almost nothing and wouldn't take our opinion of your credit worthiness into account in any case.
I understand why many people were accepted. Most people, unlike my husband and I, do not pay off their bills and pay interest on their cards, which will be beneficial for the bank. I guess some people with good credit who pay off their loans did get accepted, as well. They don't want to lose money paying the taxes, so of course they need some kind of cost benefit ratio. Perhaps, I'm wrong, but it seems very shady to me, the reason for the denial, considering my credit history. Thank you for your offer to help, but since the decision can't be reversed, I see no reason to do so.
p.3 #11 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
I too suffered a hard credit inquiry due to applying for this Paybooger card. As did my wife. Now I am having to deal with it since we are refinancing. It's possible that our bank is going to turn down our refinance (and I will then be out some fees like the appraisal fee) because of this hard credit pull and the fact that we were denied credit. Like bastkittygal, we pay off all our bills and do not pay interest on our credit cards. We've never been denied a credit card and have cards from Chase, Citi, Amex, and BofA. The negative effects of applying for this Paybooger credit card will be longlasting and hard to deal with. So again, I suggest to anyone thinking about applying for this card -- think long and hard, because you will certainly get a hard credit pull; and you may well be denied the card, thus denting what would otherwise be a stellar credit history. You will spend the next five years or more explaining why you were denied credit, and this denial of credit may affect you negatively for years to come. Just terrible. I am so very angry at this situation.
Conclusion
Always run your cards as Credit. Protect your funds by allowing your sponsoring credit company to implement their fraud protection. Never be afraid to dispute or question charges you see pending or fulfilled. Time is important in cases of fraud and waiting may make the process of proving fraud more difficult.
p.3 #13 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
bastkittygal, your reasoning makes sense. Maybe Synchrony Bank only accepts customers who tend to carry credit card balances rather than paying their credit card balances off in full every month.
I never carry a balance on my credit cards since the interest rates and other fees are so ridiculously high. Maybe Synchrony Bank uses this as a criteria, realizing that they won't be making money off interest for customers that have a history of paying off credit card balances every month (like you said).
I wonder if the other folks who have been denied the Paybooger card also handle their credit card balances like us.
I look forward to hearing from others on this forum.
p.3 #14 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
photoagent101 wrote:
...and have cards from Chase, Citi, Amex, and BofA.
I'm no expert but I've been told, more than once, that having a wallet full of credit cards increases the likelihood your next application will be turned down. I've also been told that if you ask a bank to cancel an account and don't specify they show it as cancelled at the customer's request, the effect of the cancellation can be a knock to your credit worthiness.
p.3 #15 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
photoagent101, that's terrible with your refinancing. It takes one second to submit the application and then you have years of consequences, as you said. I was planning to buy a house within the year with my husband, but we may reconsider if this will hurt us significantly. We also have really great credit cards and a credit score of over 800 each. What was the reason the bank denied you the Payboo card?
Anyways, I'm going to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I think that because the bank changed the reason of the denial so many times and I have so many different letters, something may actually come through with this. I also urge others with really good credit history to not apply for this card, and would like to hear more stories of people's experiences with applying for the card.
p.3 #16 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
henryp wrote:
I'm no expert but I've been told, more than once, that having a wallet full of credit cards increases the likelihood your next application will be turned down. I've also been told that if you ask a bank to cancel an account and don't specify they show it as cancelled at the customer's request, the effect of the cancellation can be a knock to your credit worthiness.
I actually do keep up with credit card rules through forums like flyertalk. Actually having a bunch of credit cards does not seem to affect your credit score or whether you are approved for another. Yes, if you apply for too many credit cards in a timeframe, you can be denied. Chase Bank has a 5/24 rule that is well known. You will be denied by Chase if you have applied for five credit cards within a 24 month time frame. I keep track of my credit cards and stay within the 5/24 rule by Chase. The Paybooger credit card was the only one I've applied for in the past year. And like I said, I have not been denied a credit card for as long as I can remember, in the past 15 to 20 years. I am not boasting, I am just a careful and educated financial consumer. This is why this entire Paybooger credit card denial situation to myself and others seems so bizarre.
p.3 #17 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
bastkittygal wrote:
photoagent101, that's terrible with your refinancing. It takes one second to submit the application and then you have years of consequences, as you said. ...What was the reason the bank denied you the Payboo card?
I wrote this in an earlier post:
After completing the application process, both of us were given this message on the final application web page:
Please Call 1-877-794-8400 to complete the application process.
We called the above number a few days later. The bank told both of us that we needed to wait for a letter. The letter arrived 10 days later, and were rejected!
We were both rejected due to the bank "not being able to verify [our] address. "
p.3 #18 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
henryp wrote:
I'm no expert but I've been told, more than once, that having a wallet full of credit cards increases the likelihood your next application will be turned down. I've also been told that if you ask a bank to cancel an account and don't specify they show it as cancelled at the customer's request, the effect of the cancellation can be a knock to your credit worthiness.
That's true if there are many opened accounts within the past few years that you don't use anymore, but that was not the reason for the denial of the credit card for me. I know B and H doesn't have a say in the underwriting process for the credit card, but had I gotten the Payboo card, I would have made all my gear purchases on B and H (I spend $5000 a year, sometimes more), but now I am going to buy where the deals will be, whether it is Amazon, B and H, Unique Photo, or somewhere else. I have no hard feelings for B and H, only Synchrony Bank.
p.3 #19 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
photoagent101 wrote:
I wrote this in an earlier post:
After completing the application process, both of us were given this message on the final application web page:
Please Call 1-877-794-8400 to complete the application process.
We called the above number a few days later. The bank told both of us that we needed to wait for a letter. The letter arrived 10 days later, and were rejected!
We were both rejected due to the bank "not being able to verify [our] address. "
We have been at our address for 20+ years!
Wow. I'm not sure if that is even a legal reason to deny an application, especially if you can confirm the address, though I'm not well-read in the legalities of this. In my case, since I was given many different reasons because of their negligence, maybe that has legal standing.
p.3 #20 · Major problem with B&H's new PayBoo credit card ...
By the way, Walmart also partnered with Synchrony and broke their contract to partner with Capitol One. There was a lawsuit stating that Walmart lost customers and money as a result of not enough approved credit card applications for valid customers and excessive fees. The lawsuit was dropped, but still gives insight to this as Synchrony said that their underwriting process is the same for all customers. Going back to the idea that Synchrony is trying to make up for losses of the tax cash back, the Payboo card has a 30% interest rate, which is considerably more than other cards that I have.
