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What is R Us Credit Card SYNCB on my credit report?
R Us Credit Card SYNCB is an acronym that can appear on your credit report. The first part stands for a credit card from Toys “R” Us, and the second part stands for Synchrony Bank, a large financial company.
Toys “R” Us, a toys, games, and baby products retailer, first partnered with Synchrony Bank in 2012 to offer two credit cards. 1 The Toys “R” Us store card and Toys “R” Us Mastercard could also be used at the affiliated brand Babies “R” Us.
Since Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and closed all of its US locations, these cards are no longer issued. 2
Other names for this inquiry
In the past, this inquiry may have appeared on your credit report as one of the following:
- RUS CREDIT CARD/SYNCB
- SYNCB/TOYSDC
- SYNCB/TYDC
- GECRB/TYDC
“GECRB” stands for General Electric Capital Retail Bank, one of Synchrony Bank’s names before it became independent of General Electric in 2015. 3
Synchrony Bank’s other affiliates
SYNCB may appear on your credit report if you have an account with one of Synchrony Bank’s affiliates. As the largest issuer of private-label credit cards in the nation, Synchrony Bank partners with dozens of companies in an array of industries. 4
Is R Us Credit Card SYNCB a scam?
No, R Us Credit Card SYNCB isn’t a scam. Synchrony Bank is a legitimate organization (and so was Toys “R” Us, when they were in business). If they’re on your credit report, it probably indicates that you had an account with them or they checked your credit at some point.
If you’re certain that there’s activity on your credit report under R Us Credit Card SYNCB that shouldn’t be there, it’s possible you’ve been the victim of identity theft.
We’ll discuss the reasons (both legitimate and fraudulent) that R Us Credit Card SYNCB might be on your credit report in more detail in the next section.
Why is R Us Credit Card SYNCB on my credit report?
R Us Credit Card SYNCB can appear on your credit report for a number of reasons, some negative and some harmless. It’s possible for it to show up even if you never had a Toys “R” Us credit account.
Here are some reasons why R Us Credit Card SYNCB might be on your credit report:
1. Synchrony Bank checked your credit
You’ll see R Us Credit Card SYNCB on your credit report if Synchrony Bank ran a credit check to determine whether or not to extend credit to you. This type of credit check can appear as a hard inquiry or a soft inquiry.
- Hard inquiries: These generally appear on your credit report when you apply for new credit, such as credit cards, store cards, or installment loans. For example, if you applied for a Toys “R” Us credit card, Synchrony Bank probably triggered a hard inquiry when reviewing your application.
- Soft inquiries: These show up on your credit report when someone checks your credit but you’re not actually in search of new credit. For example, if you received an unsolicited offer letter in the mail for a credit card issued by Synchrony Bank, then they may have triggered a soft inquiry during the prequalification process.
Thankfully, soft inquiries won’t affect your credit score. Hard inquiries usually lower your credit score by several points, but the effect won’t last more than a year, and the inquiry will fall off your credit report entirely after two years. Note that you usually can’t remove a hard inquiry early unless the bureau added it to your report by mistake.
2. You had a Toys “R” Us credit account
R Us Credit Card SYNCB will appear on your credit report if you previously had a Toys “R” Us credit account. Even if you canceled it, R Us Credit Card SYNCB can stay on your credit report for 7 years (if the account was delinquent due to missed payments) to 10 years (if the account was in good standing).
R Us Credit Card SYNCB will remain on your report for the full 7–10 years even though Toys “R” Us is no longer in business. In fact, it’s even possible the account is still active if Synchrony Bank transferred it to a different company when Toys “R” Us shut down. If this happened, it will still appear as a current credit account on your credit report, although it will probably appear under a different name, not as R Us Credit Card SYNCB.
3. You were added as an authorized user on someone else’s Toys “R” Us credit account
R Us Credit Card SYNCB can show up on your credit report if someone else added you as an authorized user to their own Toys “R” Us credit account in the past.
You might have been named as an authorized user by your:
- Spouse
- Child
- Parent
- Friend
- Business partner
If someone designated you as an authorized user on their Toys “R” Us credit account, their activities on the account could have affected your credit score (either positively, if they managed the account well, or negatively, if they didn’t).
In fact, if the account is still active under a different name, it could still be affecting your credit. If you’ve ever been added as an authorized user to someone’s credit card, review your credit report and make sure you fully understand the current status of the account.
4. You’ve been a victim of identity theft
If you see a R Us Credit Card SYNCB hard inquiry on your credit report but you’re sure you never applied for a Toys “R” Us credit account, it could be a sign of identity theft.
If you think that R Us Credit Card SYNCB is on your credit report because someone previously tried to open fraudulent accounts in your name, take these steps:
- Contact the company that made the hard inquiry (which will be Synchrony Bank, unless they hired another company to perform the inquiry for them). Tell them you didn’t authorize the inquiry. Ask them for details (i.e., when and under what circumstances their records show the inquiry was authorized).
- Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Go to www.identitytheft.gov and answer the questions to generate an identity theft report and recovery plan.
- Contact any of the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) and have a fraud alert placed on your credit report. You only need to contact one of the bureaus; they’ll coordinate with the others, and your fraud alert will be acknowledged by all three.
You may also want to freeze your credit (or get a credit lock, which is very similar).
Carefully monitor your credit reports over the next few months for further signs of fraudulent activity.
How does R Us Credit Card SYNCB affect my credit score?
There are several ways that R Us Credit Card SYNCB can affect your credit score, depending on whether Synchrony Bank triggered an inquiry or managed one of your accounts.
Hard inquiries
As mentioned, a single hard inquiry will have a small, short-term effect on your credit, usually lowering your FICO score by up to five points and your VantageScore credit score by 5–10 points.
This effect is usually cumulative, so too many hard inquiries can really hurt your score. However, a single inquiry isn’t something to worry about—your credit score ranges from 300 to 850, which means 5 points in either direction isn’t significant.
Hard inquiries only affect your score for a few months to a year, and they drop off your credit report entirely after two years. Since Toys “R” Us is no longer in business, R Us Credit Card SYNCB is probably an old mark, which means it’s unlikely to be a hard inquiry.
Credit accounts
If you have a closed R Us Credit Card SYNCB account on your credit report, then it’s contributing to your credit score by influencing the following factors:
If the account was open, then it would also be contributing to your credit utilization rate (also known as your debt-to-credit ratio). However, open accounts aren’t likely to appear under R Us Credit Card SYNCB on your credit report because Toys “R” Us is no longer providing credit accounts.
How to remove R Us Credit Card SYNCB from my credit report
If you want to delete R Us Credit Card SYNCB from your credit report, then try one of the following approaches.
1. Send a dispute letter
If you see an item listed under R Us Credit Card SYNCB on your credit report that you suspect is a mistake, then you can dispute it by writing something known as a credit dispute letter.
You should send your letter to whoever you think the error originated with. You can send it to:
- Synchrony Bank: Send your letter directly to them if you believe they made the original mistake (e.g., they reported a credit check to the bureaus that you never actually authorized).
- The credit bureaus: Write to the credit bureaus if you believe the error originated witih them (e.g., they confused you with someone with a similar name or Social Security number).
Either way, it’s usually a good idea to send copies of the letter to both parties, the bureaus and your card issuer (Synchrony Bank). They may contact each other as they investigate the matter, and it’s important to make sure everybody has received the relevant information.
Once you’ve filed your credit dispute, the credit bureau will be required to investigate and correct any inaccurate information on your report, usually within 30–45 days.
2. Use a credit repair company
A credit repair company will act as a middleman between yourself and your card issuer (and the credit bureaus). They might be able to get a hard inquiry or another R Us Credit Card SYNCB item off your credit report by helping you gather evidence and handling all the required communication.
However, be wary of scammers. There are restrictions on the cost of credit repair—by law, credit repair companies are not allowed to charge you before they’ve helped you. If they ask for payment upfront, hire a different company.
Although hiring a credit repair company can save you some time and hassle in disputing items on your credit report, bear in mind that they can’t do anything for you that you can’t do yourself.
They also won’t necessarily be able to erase valid negative information or turn a bad credit score into a good credit score overnight. Think carefully before hiring a third-party company to get R Us Credit Card SYNCB off your credit report.
