What Is SYNCB on My Credit Report?

SYNCB on your credit report means Synchrony Bank, the bank behind store cards for Amazon, Lowe’s, T.J. Maxx, Sam’s Club, PayPal, and many other retailers. If you see SYNCB as a hard inquiry or an account, it usually means you applied for or have a store card or financing plan issued by Synchrony, even though the card carries the store’s name, not Synchrony’s.

The part after the slash usually tells you which store: SYNCB/AMAZON is the Amazon Store Card, SYNCB/LOWES is Lowe’s, and SYNCB/PPC is PayPal Credit. But sometimes there’s nothing after it at all. This guide explains each version, which bureau Synchrony usually checks, and what to do if you don’t recognize one.

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What Does SYNCB Mean on a Credit Report?

SYNCB is short for Synchrony Bank, the bank owned by Synchrony Financial. Synchrony is one of the largest issuers of store credit cards in the country, and most of its cards carry a retailer’s brand instead of its own. Credit reports show the issuer’s name, though, so the card you know as your Lowe’s card appears as SYNCB/LOWES.

Synchrony issues cards and financing for hundreds of brands. These are the ones that appeared most often in SmartDispute’s data, all listed as Synchrony cards in Upgraded Points’ list of Synchrony store cards (updated August 2026):

• Amazon Store Card
• Lowe’s
• TJX Rewards (T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods)
• Sam’s Club
• PayPal Credit and the PayPal Cashback Mastercard
• Verizon Visa
• JCPenney
• American Eagle, Belk, eBay, Google Store, and Walgreens

Synchrony also issues CareCredit, the health care financing card, and the Walmart card through OnePay. If you applied for any of these, a SYNCB inquiry is expected.

How Synchrony Appears on Each Credit Report

Each credit bureau shortens the store name its own way, so the same card can look different on each report. These are the versions that appeared most often in SmartDispute’s data:

Other versions follow the same pattern: SYNCB/VERIZO or SYNCB/VRZN (Verizon), SYNCB/JCP (JCPenney), SYNCB/AEVISA (American Eagle), SYNCB/EBAY, SYNCB/BELK, SYNCB/GOOGLE, SYNCB/WALG (Walgreens), and SYNCB/HFT (Harbor Freight). In all, Synchrony appeared under 34 different names in our data.

Two names people often search for don’t name a store directly. SYNCB/PPC is PayPal Credit, PayPal’s revolving credit line. SYNCB/PPMC is the PayPal Mastercard.

Which Credit Bureau Does Synchrony Use?

Synchrony doesn’t publish which bureau it checks for a given application. But SmartDispute’s de-identified data on 14,326 hard inquiries from 590 members, who each had reports from all three bureaus (inquiries dated January 2023 through September 2026), shows a clear pattern:

A few other patterns stand out:

• Synchrony leans hard on TransUnion. Of the 20 lenders that appeared for the most members, only Navy Federal and Regional Acceptance relied on TransUnion more.
• Many TransUnion inquiries carry no store name. Half the members with a Synchrony inquiry (109 of 219) had at least one listed only as SYNCB.
• One application can mean two inquiries. For Amazon and TJX cards, Synchrony checked two bureaus on the same day for more than 80% of applications. Across all Synchrony cards, about a third of applications showed up on two bureaus at once.
• The habit varies by card. PayPal and JCPenney inquiries appeared only on TransUnion, while Amazon and TJX inquiries split between Experian and TransUnion.
• Synchrony is one of the most common names in the inquiry section. Nearly four in 10 members had at least one Synchrony inquiry, the third most common lender after Capital One and Chase.

These are patterns, not rules. Synchrony can check any bureau, and your own reports are the only reliable record of where an inquiry appears.

Is a SYNCB Inquiry Legitimate?

Usually, yes. A hard inquiry from SYNCB normally means you applied for a store card or financing from a Synchrony partner, often at checkout, where saying yes to a store card offer takes a minute. Applying gives Synchrony a permissible purpose to check your credit.

Two things often make a legitimate SYNCB inquiry look suspicious:

• No store name. On TransUnion, the inquiry may say only SYNCB. Look at the date and think back to any store card, financing offer, or “buy now, pay over time” plan you accepted around then.
• Two inquiries for one application. If you see a SYNCB inquiry on two reports with the same date, it’s likely one application that Synchrony checked at two bureaus. Both inquiries come from the same permissible purpose.

Not every Synchrony credit check is a hard inquiry. If you already have a Synchrony card, Synchrony may review your report to manage the account. Those account reviews are soft inquiries: they appear only in your own copy of the report and don’t affect your score.

A SYNCB hard inquiry deserves a closer look when:

• You don’t remember applying for any store card or financing around that date.
• The store name doesn’t match anywhere you’ve shopped.
• The same inquiry appears more than once on the same bureau, on different dates, for one application.
• You believe someone may have applied in your name.

How to Dispute a SYNCB Inquiry

Inquiries follow a different order than other credit report disputes. Start with Synchrony, then involve the credit bureau.

1. Write to Synchrony first. Send your letter to the address the credit bureau lists with the inquiry on your credit report. Ask Synchrony to identify the application behind the inquiry, including the store or brand, and the permissible purpose it relied on. Don’t include ID or your Social Security number.
2. Wait 35 days from the date you mailed it.
3. Dispute with the credit bureau reporting the inquiry if Synchrony doesn’t respond or can’t connect the inquiry to you. Attach a copy of your letter to Synchrony as an exhibit.
4. Follow up if the bureau’s result comes back “verified” without addressing why Synchrony pulled your report.

Asking Synchrony to name the store is especially useful when the inquiry says only SYNCB. The answer often settles the question either way.

The letters for each step are in Free Inquiry Dispute Letters That Work, and we explain why this order works in How to Remove Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Report.

If you’re certain the inquiry came from identity theft, there’s a faster route: an identity theft report and a block under Section 605B of the FCRA, which we cover in our guide to permissible purpose.

How to Dispute a SYNCB Account

If a Synchrony account on your report has incorrect information, the approach is different from an inquiry: dispute with Synchrony and with each credit bureau reporting the error at the same time.

Start by matching each SYNCB account to the right card. Many people have more than one Synchrony card, and SYNCB/AMAZON and SYNCB/LOWES are separate accounts with separate histories. Then check these details against your own statements and records:

• Payment history: late payments that don’t match your records, or late payments reported after the account was closed or paid off.
• Balance and credit limit: a balance reported after you paid the card off, or a credit limit that’s wrong, which can distort your utilization.
• Promotional financing: a deferred-interest purchase you paid off in time but that still shows interest or a balance afterward.
• Dates: the date opened, date closed, and date of first delinquency. An incorrect date of first delinquency can change how long a negative item stays on your report.
• Duplicates: the same card listed twice, which can happen when a store card program changes names or moves to a new account number.

When you dispute, identify the account (a partial account number is enough), state exactly what is wrong, say what the correct information is, and include copies of the statements or letters that support it.

Ask Synchrony for the records behind what it reports: the payment history for the months in question, the date of first delinquency, and any record of the account being closed, transferred, or paid.

Synchrony Contact Information for Credit Reporting

Disputes about credit reporting are best handled in writing. A letter creates a record of what you asked and when, which a phone call doesn’t.

Frequently Asked Questions About SYNCB

What does SYNCB stand for?

Synchrony Bank. It’s the abbreviation credit bureaus use for Synchrony, which issues store cards and financing for many retailers.

What is SYNCB/PPC on my credit report?

SYNCB/PPC is PayPal Credit, the revolving credit line PayPal offers through Synchrony Bank. SYNCB/PPMC is the PayPal Mastercard.

Why does my SYNCB inquiry not show a store name?

On TransUnion, many Synchrony inquiries appear only as SYNCB. The application was still for a specific card. Match the date to any store card or financing offer you accepted, or ask Synchrony to identify the application.

Why do I have two SYNCB inquiries for one application?

Synchrony sometimes checks two bureaus for the same application. In our data, that happened for more than 80% of Amazon and TJX card applications. Two inquiries with the same date on different reports usually come from one application.

Which credit bureau does Synchrony use?

Synchrony can check any of the three bureaus. In SmartDispute’s data, Synchrony inquiries appeared on TransUnion most often (71%), then Experian (25%), and rarely on Equifax (4%).

Is SYNCB a collection agency?

No. Synchrony Bank is the original creditor for its store cards, not a third-party debt collector. If a Synchrony account was charged off and sold, a collection agency may appear on your report separately.

Can I remove SYNCB from my credit report?

An accurate Synchrony account or a legitimate inquiry generally stays on your report. Hard inquiries remain for up to two years, and FICO counts them for only 12 months. If the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or the inquiry can’t be connected to an application you made, you have the right to dispute it.

The Bottom Line

Seeing SYNCB on your credit report usually means one thing: a store card. Most of the time it’s a card you accepted at checkout, under the bank’s name instead of the store’s.

When it isn’t, the path depends on what you’re looking at. For an inquiry you can’t explain, ask Synchrony first and take the answer to the credit bureau. For an account with errors, dispute with Synchrony and the bureau together, with your records in hand.

SmartDispute.ai’s AI credit repair tools read your actual credit reports, so you can see every SYNCB entry across all three bureaus, decide which ones deserve a closer look, and prepare the right letter for each.

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