While studying your credit report, you may have come across the abbreviation SYNCB/MC. It is likely impacting your credit score, but it depends on its location on your credit report and how recent it is.
Be at ease though—it’s likely there under normal circumstances, and its effect on your credit is probably minor or already baked in. Just watch out if it’s on your report due to identity theft.
Here’s how to understand SYNCB/MC on your credit report.
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What is SYNCB/MC on my credit report?
SYNCB/MC stands for Synchrony Bank/Mastercard. Synchrony Bank is a banking and financial services company that owns the rights to more than a dozen credit cards on the Mastercard credit card network.
In addition to providing co-branded retail and store cards for businesses, Synchrony Bank offers the following general-purpose credit cards directly to consumers:
- Synchrony Plus World Mastercard
- Synchrony Preferred Mastercard
- Synchrony Premier World Mastercard
If you see SYNCB/MC on your credit report, you probably applied for or already have a Mastercard issued by Synchrony Bank.
Synchrony Bank’s other affiliates
If you’ve noticed SYNCB on your credit report and you’re positive you’ve never applied for one of Synchrony’s Mastercards, you might have applied for another retail credit card that they issue. As the largest provider of private-label credit cards in the nation, Synchrony partners with dozens of notable brands.
Is SYNCB/MC a scam?
No, SYNCB/MC isn’t a scam—Synchrony Bank is a legitimate organization. If their name is on your credit report, it probably indicates that you have an account with them or they checked your credit.
If you’re certain that there’s activity on your credit report under SYNCB/MC 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 SYNCB/MC might be on your credit report in more detail in the next section.
Why is SYNCB/MC on my credit report?
SYNCB/MC can appear on your credit report for a number of reasons, some negative and some harmless. Here are the four most common reasons why SYNCB/MC might appear on your credit report:
1. Synchrony Bank checked your credit
You’ll see SYNCB/MC on your credit report if Synchrony Bank ran a credit check to determine whether or not to issue you a credit card. This type of check can appear as a hard inquiry or as a soft inquiry.
- Hard inquiries: These generally appear on your credit report when you apply for new credit, such as credit cards, store cards, rewards cards, or installment loans. For example, SYNCB/MC will show up on your credit report if you actually applied for a card from Synchrony Bank.
- Soft inquiries: These show up on your credit report when someone checks your credit but you’re not actually looking to open a new account. 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 will usually lower your credit score by a few points, but the effect won’t last more than a year, and the inquiry will fall off your credit report entirely after two years. 1 Note that you usually can’t remove a hard inquiry early unless the bureau added it to your report by mistake.
2. You have a Synchrony Bank credit account
SYNCB/MC will appear on your credit report if you currently have or previously had a Synchrony Bank credit account. Even if you closed your account, SYNCB/MC can stay on your credit report for 7 years (if the account was delinquent due to missed payments) or 10 years (if the account was in good standing). 2
You might find your Synchrony Bank credit account marked as closed even if you never took any active steps to close it. This can happen due to account inactivity—it’s common for lenders to close credit accounts if they haven’t been used for a while.
3. You’re an authorized user on someone else’s Synchrony Bank credit account
SYNCB/MC can show up on your credit report if someone else added you as an authorized user to their own Synchrony Bank credit account.
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 Synchrony Bank credit account, their activities on the account could affect your credit score. 3
If the primary cardholder is a responsible person and a reliable borrower, being an authorized user on their account will probably improve your credit score by helping you build a positive payment history. On the other hand, you might see a small drop in your credit score if the primary cardholder neglects their payments or cancels their account with unpaid debt.
Similarly, your use of someone else’s credit will affect their credit score, so take care when acting as an authorized user.
4. You’re a victim of identity theft
If you see a SYNCB/MC hard inquiry on your credit report but you’re sure you didn’t apply for a Synchrony Bank credit account, it could be a sign of identity theft.
If you suspect that someone’s trying to fraudulently open accounts in your name, take these steps:
- Contact the company that made the hard inquiry (Synchrony Bank). 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. 4
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 SYNCB/MC affect my credit score?
There are several ways that SYNCB/MC can affect your credit score, depending on whether it’s been reported as an inquiry or an account.
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. 5 6
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.
Open and closed accounts
If you have an open or closed Synchrony Bank account on your credit report, then it’s contributing to your credit score by influencing the following factors:
If the account is open, then it’s also contributing to your credit utilization rate (also known as your debt-to-credit ratio).
To learn how your Synchrony Bank account will affect your credit score, familiarize yourself with the factors that make up your FICO score and VantageScore.
How to remove SYNCB/MC from my credit report
If you want to delete SYNCB/MC from your credit report, then try one of the following approaches.
1. Send a dispute letter
If you see an item listed under SYNCB/MC on your credit report that you suspect is a mistake, then you can dispute it by sending a dispute letter to Synchrony Bank and/or the credit bureaus.
Send your letter to Synchrony Bank if you believe the error originated with them (e.g., they reported a late payment when you actually paid on time). Send it to the credit bureaus if you believe they made the mistake (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 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 dispute, the credit bureau will be required to investigate and correct any inaccurate information on your report, usually within 30–45 days. 7
2. Use a credit repair company
A credit repair company will act as a middleman between yourself and your creditors (and the credit bureaus). They might be able to get a hard inquiry or other SYNCB/MC item off your credit report by helping you gather evidence and handling all the required communication.
However, be wary of scammers. By law, credit repair companies are not allowed to charge you before they’ve helped you. 8 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 SYNCB/MC off your credit report.
