Synchrony is the bank behind the store cards for Amazon, PayPal, Venmo, Lowe's, Verizon, Sam's Club, and the CareCredit card at your dentist's office. We compare the eight Synchrony cards we track, all with no annual fee, and explain the deferred-interest fine print that matters more than the rewards.
Synchrony might be the biggest credit card company you never chose. Almost nobody walks into a bank and asks for a Synchrony card; the card finds you at a checkout. The Amazon Store Card, the PayPal and Venmo credit cards, the Lowe's card, the Verizon Visa, the Sam's Club Mastercard, the JCPenney card, the CareCredit card your dentist's office offered you: Synchrony Bank issues all of them. If "Synchrony" showed up on your statement or your credit report and you are trying to work out why, that is almost certainly the answer.
This page does two jobs. First, it compares the eight Synchrony-issued cards we track in our database, all of which have no annual fee, and tells you who each one is actually for. Second, it explains the store-card fine print, especially deferred-interest financing, which matters more than any rewards rate on this list.
Synchrony is a consumer bank that mostly issues cards for other brands rather than under its own name. Its partner directory spans retail, home improvement, healthcare, and travel; the company describes it as thousands of stores and brands. When a retailer wants a store card program but does not want to run a bank, Synchrony is very often who they hire. The one card Synchrony puts its own name on is the Synchrony Premier World Mastercard, a flat-rate cash back card we cover below.
| Card | Annual fee | Standout earning | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam's Club Mastercard | None | 5% back on gas and EV charging, on the first $6,000 per year, then 1% | Sam's Club members who drive a lot |
| Venmo Credit Card | None | Up to 3% back on your top spending category each month, detected automatically | People who already live in the Venmo app |
| Verizon Visa Card | None | 4% back on groceries, gas, and dining, plus a monthly discount on eligible Verizon wireless plans | Verizon customers |
| Synchrony Premier World Mastercard | None | 2% cash back on all purchases | Anyone who wants one simple flat-rate card |
| Amazon Store Card | None | 5% back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market with an eligible Prime membership | Prime members who shop Amazon constantly |
| PayPal Cashback Mastercard | None | 3% cash back when you check out with PayPal, 1.5% everywhere else | People who reach for PayPal at every checkout |
| MyLowe's Rewards Credit Card | None | 5% off eligible Lowe's purchases every day, taken as a discount at purchase | Lowe's regulars and DIYers |
| CareCredit Credit Card | None | No rewards; deferred-interest and reduced-APR financing for health, dental, and vet bills | Financing a medical or vet bill you can pay off on schedule |
You can also browse the live comparison on our best Synchrony cards page, which pulls straight from the same card records.
The headline is gas: 5% back on gas and EV charging on the first $6,000 you spend per year, then 1% after that, per Sam's Club's own Sam's Cash FAQ. You also earn 3% on dining, and Sam's Club states that Plus members earn 3% on Sam's Club purchases. Rewards arrive as Sam's Cash rather than a plain statement deposit, which is fine if you shop there anyway and annoying if you do not.
The catch is structural: you need a Sam's Club membership to hold the card, so the membership fee is effectively the card's cost of admission. If you are already a member and you drive regularly, the gas rate is among the strongest we track at any fee level. Full details are on the card page.
Venmo's pitch, in its own words, is that you "automatically earn up to 3% cash back on purchases, based on your personal spending." The card watches your monthly spending across categories like groceries, gas, dining, travel, and bills, and pays its top rate on whatever you spent the most on, with lower rates on the rest; Venmo's rewards terms have the exact tier breakdown. Cash back lands in your Venmo balance at the end of each month.
Two application quirks worth knowing from Venmo's page: you apply through the Venmo app, and you must have a Venmo account in good standing that has been open for at least 30 days. This is a card for people who already use Venmo constantly, not a reason to start. Details on the card page.
The quiet overachiever of the group: 4% back on groceries, gas, EV charging, and dining, with 1% on everything else, and a $10 monthly discount on eligible Verizon wireless plans on top. Those 4% categories cover most of a normal household's weekly spending, which is why this card holds its own in our grocery card rankings despite being a carrier co-brand.
The obvious constraint: it only makes sense if you are a Verizon customer, and the plan discount only applies to eligible plans. If you leave Verizon, the case for the card mostly leaves with you. Details on the card page.
Synchrony's own card is deliberately boring: 2% cash back on all purchases, no annual fee, World Mastercard benefits. Synchrony's terms state the cash back is applied to your statement within two billing periods after an eligible purchase. There are no categories to track and no store to be loyal to, which makes it the one card on this list you could reasonably hold without shopping anywhere in particular. If you want a single-card setup with zero maintenance, a flat 2% earner is a defensible answer. Details on the card page.
The card Amazon offers at checkout. With an eligible Prime membership it earns 5% back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market (Whole Foods requires paying with the Amazon In-Store Code), and Amazon automatically upgrades the card to the Prime Store Card. Without Prime there is no standing percent-back rate; Amazon's terms say it may offer percent-back promotions to non-Prime cardholders at its discretion, but you should not count on them. Rewards accrue as points, with $1 of rewards equal to 1 point, redeemable at Amazon checkout or as a statement credit.
Two structural things to know. On any given purchase you choose either the 5% back or a promotional financing offer, never both. And the financing changed in early 2026: Amazon's page states that special financing, the deferred-interest kind, is no longer offered for new purchases starting the week of February 16, 2026. What remains is the cleaner kind, equal monthly payments at 0% APR: 6 months on purchases between $50 and $599.99, 12 months on purchases of $600 or more, and 24 months on select purchases; after the promo, and on non-promo balances, purchases carry the standard 29.49% variable APR (as of January 2026), which is exactly why the pay-on-schedule discipline matters. New cardholders also get an Amazon gift card on approval; the amount varies by offer, so check the application page. Details on the card page.
The one true general-purpose card on this list besides the Premier. PayPal's page puts it plainly: "you earn unlimited 3% cash back when you checkout with PayPal and 1.5% on all other purchases everywhere else Mastercard is accepted." No rotating categories, no annual fee, and PayPal's help center confirms the card is issued by Synchrony Bank. Rewards post as soon as purchases post to the account, and PayPal says you can add up to 6 authorized users to accelerate earning.
If most of your online checkouts already run through PayPal, a flat 3% on those with a 1.5% floor everywhere else is a strong no-fee combination. It is the corporate sibling of the Venmo card above; pick whichever app you actually use. Details on the card page.
Lowe's runs its card benefit differently: instead of cash back, you get 5% off eligible purchases at US Lowe's stores and Lowes.com, taken off the receipt at purchase after other discounts. On any purchase you pick one lever, the 5% off or promotional financing: no interest if paid in full within 6 months on purchases of $299 or more, with a 12-month version on appliances, installed flooring, installed HVAC, and custom cabinets and countertops. Bigger projects can choose fixed-payment plans instead: 36 months at 7.99% APR or 60 months at 8.99% APR (both installed sales only), 84 months at 9.99% APR on purchases of $2,000 or more, and 120 months at 9.99% APR for installed HVAC of $2,500 or more.
New cardholders get 20% off their first purchase, capped at $100, in place of the 5% that day. The purchase APR is 31.99% per Synchrony's official pricing table, so the deferred-interest warning below applies in full. This is a private-label card: it works at Lowe's and nowhere else. Details on the card page.
The card people acquire in a waiting room. CareCredit is not a rewards card at all; it exists to finance health and wellness bills (dental, vision, veterinary, hearing, cosmetic, and more) at over 285,000 network locations, plus select merchandise at partners like Walgreens, Walmart, and Sam's Club. The core offer is deferred-interest financing: no interest if paid in full within 6, 12, 18, or 24 months on qualifying purchases of $200 or more. CareCredit's own FAQ is upfront about the mechanic: interest accrues from the purchase date and gets charged if you do not clear the balance in time.
For larger bills there are reduced-APR fixed-payment plans: 24 months at 17.90% APR, 36 months at 18.90% APR, or 48 months at 19.90% APR on purchases of $1,000 or more, and 60 months at 20.90% APR on purchases of $2,500 or more. The standard APR for new accounts is 32.99% (as of 5/30/24) with a $2 minimum interest charge. One quirk from CareCredit's FAQ: applications are considered first for the separate CareCredit Rewards Mastercard and then for the classic card, so which product you get depends on your approval. Read the deferred-interest section below before you sign anything at a receptionist's desk. Details on the card page.
Synchrony's directory still holds plenty of household names we have not added, so we will name them without quoting rates:
We only publish rates and terms we have verified against first-party pages, so those cards will appear in our comparisons as we add them.
Deferred interest is the store-card trap. Many Synchrony store programs advertise promotional financing, such as six months of promotional financing on purchases over a minimum amount. The mechanic to understand: with deferred-interest offers, if you do not pay the entire promotional balance before the period ends, interest is typically charged retroactively on the original purchase amount from day one, not just on what is left. A $1,900 purchase with $50 remaining at month six can suddenly owe months of back interest on the full $1,900. If you use promotional financing, divide the balance by the number of months and automate the payments with room to spare.
Where the cards on this page stand today: the MyLowe's card's everyday offer is 6 months no interest if paid in full on purchases of $299 or more, CareCredit's runs 6 to 24 months on purchases of $200 or more, and both charge the accrued interest retroactively if you miss, at go-to rates of 31.99% APR (MyLowe's) and, for new accounts, 32.99% APR (CareCredit). The Amazon Store Card is now the exception: Amazon discontinued deferred-interest special financing for new purchases in February 2026, and its current promotional financing is equal monthly payments at a true 0% APR, with a standard 29.49% variable APR outside promos.
Store cards reward paying in full. As a category, store cards tend to carry higher interest rates than general bank cards, so any rewards math collapses the moment you carry a balance. The rates on this page assume you pay the statement in full, every month.
You can usually check your odds first. Synchrony's application flow advertises prequalification; its card directory tells applicants they can "apply with no impact to your credit score if declined," and CareCredit and PayPal say the same on their pages. If you are considering any card on this page, look for the prequalify option before submitting a full application.
This is one of the most common reasons people search the name. If you see Synchrony Bank on your credit report or a Synchrony charge on your bank statement, you almost certainly hold, or once held, a store card from one of its partner brands, even if the card itself says Amazon or Lowe's or JCPenney on the front. Synchrony runs an account-lookup directory on its site if you cannot remember which account is yours.
Does Synchrony have its own credit card? Yes, one: the Synchrony Premier World Mastercard, which earns 2% cash back on all purchases with no annual fee. Everything else Synchrony issues carries a partner brand's name.
Is the Amazon Store Card the same as the Amazon Prime Visa? No. The Amazon Store Card is a Synchrony-issued private-label card that works only at Amazon and merchants using Amazon Pay, while the Amazon Prime Visa is a Chase-issued Visa that works anywhere. Both earn 5% at Amazon.com with an eligible Prime membership; the Visa also earns everywhere else, and the Store Card counters with 0% equal-monthly-payment financing.
Does CareCredit earn rewards? The classic CareCredit credit card does not; it is purely a financing card. Synchrony also issues a separate CareCredit Rewards Mastercard that does earn points, and per CareCredit's FAQ your application is considered for that card first. The Rewards Mastercard is on our to-add list.
Can I check my approval odds without hurting my credit score? Synchrony's card directory advertises prequalification and says you can apply with no impact to your credit score if declined. Look for the prequalify option on the specific card's application page and read what it says before submitting.
What is deferred interest? A promotional financing structure where interest accrues silently from the purchase date and is only waived if you pay the full promotional balance before the period ends. Miss it by a dollar and the accrued interest for the whole period is added to your account. It is the single most expensive misunderstanding in store-card land.
Is a store card worth keeping after I stop shopping there? Usually yes, if it has no annual fee. An open account with history and unused capacity helps your credit utilization and average account age. Keeping a no-fee card open in a drawer costs nothing; just check it occasionally for fraud.
Which Synchrony card is best overall? For most people who are not attached to a specific store, the flat 2% Premier is the simplest answer, and the PayPal Cashback Mastercard's 3% on PayPal checkout with 1.5% everywhere else is the other general-purpose pick. If you are a Sam's Club member who drives a lot, the Sam's Club Mastercard's gas rate is hard to beat. Verizon customers should run the numbers on the Verizon Visa first, because 4% on groceries, gas, and dining covers a lot of real life.
Facts checked July 3, 2026 against first-party sources: Synchrony's credit card directory (synchrony.com/financing/credit-cards), Sam's Club's Sam's Cash FAQ and membership benefits pages (samsclub.com), Venmo's credit card rewards page (venmo.com/about/creditcard/rewards), Synchrony's published Premier World Mastercard terms, Amazon's Store Card page with Synchrony Bank card terms (amazon.com), PayPal's Cashback Mastercard page and help center (paypal.com), Lowe's consumer credit center (lowes.com) with Synchrony's Lowe's partner page and the official MyLowe's Rewards pricing table (synchrony.com, synchronybankterms.com), and CareCredit's FAQ with the official CareCredit pricing table (carecredit.com, synchronybankterms.com). All eight tracked cards' records were verified against these sources and captured in our card knowledge snapshot store on the same date.