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Synchrony Financial
Annual Report 2022

SYF · NYSE Financial Services
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Ticker SYF
Exchange NYSE
Sector Financial Services
Industry Financial - Credit Services
Employees 10,000+
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FY2022 Annual Report · Synchrony Financial
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2022 Annual Report

Letter From Brian Doubles

Dear Synchrony Stakeholders,

In 2022, Synchrony delivered record purchase volume and 
our second-highest earnings per share in company history. 
We achieved these results by remaining true to our long-
term strategy to:

•  Win and grow large partner programs  
•  Diversify and expand with new products and markets
•  Deliver best-in-class customer experiences
•  Operate with a strong financial profile to deliver 

attractive total shareholder returns

Surrounding this strategy is our commitment to innovation, 
investing for growth and resilience — and serving all 
stakeholders.  

In 2022, we demonstrated the strength of our partner-led 
model while continuing to leverage the scale of the millions 
of consumers who have a direct relationship with Synchrony 
through more than 70 million active accounts.

We continued to build out the broadest portfolio of 
consumer financial products, offering flexibility and choice 
in how people purchase and pay for the things that matter 
to them at a value that is meaningful for their needs, 
whether to furnish their home, keep their car on the road, 
enjoy the outdoors, take care of themselves or their pets, 
and so much more.

And we continued to build the kind of workplace where 
great people can do great work in a way that is flexible to 
their needs. We are a company that attracts and retains the 
industry’s best talent thanks to the flexible and innovative 
work environment that our employees create. I am 
extremely proud of the work they do every day. 

Read on for more on our record 2022 financial performance 
and the great work our team delivered.

01 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTOur 2022 Financial Performance

In 2022, we achieved record purchase volume of  
$180 billion, driven by double-digit purchase volume 
growth in our Digital, Health & Wellness, Home & Auto, 
and Diversified & Value sales platforms, and single-digit 
purchase volume growth in our Lifestyle sales platform.

Across these platforms, we originated nearly 24 million 
new consumer accounts. Spend per active account was 
7% higher in 2022, reflecting robust consumer demand 
across the broad range of products and services for which 
Synchrony offers flexible financing options. Our net interest 
income rose 9.7%, to $15.6 billion for the full year, and our 
retail share agreement (RSA) declined 4.4% compared 
with the prior year, partly offsetting the impact of higher 
credit losses and enabling Synchrony to deliver consistent 
and attractive risk-adjusted returns, as we have for many 
years. Synchrony also continued its progress toward 
our long-term operating efficiency target, reflecting the 
operating leverage inherent in our highly scalable model, 
our cost discipline and strong revenue growth. Synchrony’s 
ability to deliver consistent growth and strong returns is a 
testament to our well-diversified portfolio, our balanced 
approach to product and credit strategies, our compelling 
value propositions and the strength of our business model, 
delivering $3.0 billion in earnings, a 22.6% return on equity.

We also continued to operate with a very strong balance 
sheet; our CET1 capital ratio was 12.8% at the end of 
2022. Our reserve coverage was 10.3% and our total 
loss absorption capacity was 22.4%, well above industry 
averages. Our liquid assets as a percentage of total assets 
were 13.6%, and deposits in our Synchrony Bank increased 
$9.4 billion, or 15%, to $71.7 billion, comprising 84% of 
Synchrony’s funding.

As a result of our strong financial performance and  
balance sheet, Synchrony was able to return $3.8 billion  
of capital to shareholders during 2022. This included  
a 5% increase in the common stock dividend and  
$3.3 billion of share repurchases, which reduced common 
shares outstanding by 17%.

Our 2022 financial results reflect a healthy, well-managed, 
diversified business uniquely positioned to deliver 
sustainable growth and resilient risk-adjusted returns, 
even as market conditions change and the needs of our 
customers and partners evolve.

Growth Across the Business

Our full-year performance illustrated our continued strength 
across fundamental business drivers and a high level 
of execution across key strategic priorities. We scaled 
our products and digital capabilities while deploying 
Synchrony’s deep industry and domain expertise and 
consumer financing know-how, which helped us sign more 
than 30 new partner deals and renew or expand more than 
50 existing partnerships, including AdventHealth, Bassett 
Furniture, Guitar Center, Lowe’s, Rooms To Go, ShopHQ, 
Sleep Number, Sweetwater and more. 

We also continue to grow recent acquisitions. For example, 
in the two years since acquiring Allegro Credit, we have 
expanded our offerings beyond music and audiology to 
multiple specialties across our Health & Wellness business, 
including dental and cosmetics, growing the number of 
Allegro installment loans by more than 50%. And in the four 
years since we acquired Pets Best, we have significantly 
grown the business: We now cover more than 700,000 
pets through our insurance offerings, more than five times 
the number of pets we covered at acquisition in 2019. Pets 
Best has also been recognized as a top pet insurer by many 
organizations, including NerdWallet, USA Today and The 
Wall Street Journal.

02 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORT 
Our Growth in Numbers

$180 
billion

in purchase 
volume

$3.0 
billion

in net earnings

$3.8 
billion

$71.7 
billion

in capital returned  
to shareholders

deposits in Synchrony Bank 
(84% of funding)

•  Our Synchrony APIs continue to support partners in 

their ability to quickly integrate Synchrony’s innovations 
into their business, driving more than 70% growth in the 
number of applications using our APIs and more than 
80% growth in API transactions over the prior year.

•  We continue to scale our diverse product suite with  

the launch of Synchrony’s Pay Later products at several 
retailers and providers. These “buy now, pay later” 
offerings represent another way to provide financing 
options and choice to customers while also driving 
incremental sales to our partners and providers.

Products, Capabilities and Channel 
Expansion Supports Growth and 
Innovation

By creating digital innovations and delivering new products 
and capabilities to market faster, we are driving growth for our 
partners and our company, while providing consumers with 
an experience that meets their financial needs. Whether it’s 
delivering flexible financing offers in a dental practice, helping 
pet parents care for their loved ones, connecting a customer 
with a large partner through a seamless mobile transaction,  
or driving incremental sales at small and midsize businesses, 
Synchrony meets our customers, partners and providers 
wherever they are in their buying journey to provide the right 
product at the right time. 

Our work with our partners and consumers is made possible 
by our dynamic technology platform that is designed to 
meet the financing needs of the massive constituencies we 
serve, for example:

03 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORT• 

In 2022, we drove greater mobile customer engagement 
through our digital wallet provisioning and Synchrony 
app. Accounts provisioned for digital wallet use grew 
75% compared with 2021, contributing to more than 73% 
growth in in-store sales and 89% higher out-of-partner 
spend through our customers’ digital wallets. 

•  We are leveraging our ecosystem of partners and 

consumers by connecting customers with information 
and relevant offers from brands they trust through the 
MySynchrony.com marketplace, which achieved a 25% 
increase in both new accounts and sales, as well as an 
11% growth in referrals to our partners during 2022.

•  Underpinning all our financial products is PRISM, 

Synchrony’s proprietary enterprise-wide credit platform. 
PRISM differentiates Synchrony by giving us a more 
holistic view of customers and helping with approval 
rates and fraud reduction while improving the customer 
experience. For each person seeking credit, PRISM 
evaluates 9,000 attributes, using analytics, machine 
learning and AI to make a credit decision in a split 
second. It has comprehensively transformed how we 
provide credit and manage risk. 

We continued to innovate with our partners to offer 
their customers new products, value propositions 
and capabilities that meet their needs. For example, 
we launched PayPal Savings last year, which enabled 

instantaneous movement of funds between PayPal 
balances, no withdrawal limits and a savings goal feature 
to empower customers to set and reach their financial 
goals. We also launched our refreshed co-branded PayPal 
cash-back credit card and a fully integrated experience 
within the PayPal app, powered by native APIs. And lastly, 
we enhanced our everyday value proposition on the Venmo 
co-branded card by introducing free person-to-person 
payments, with the 3% fee waived for the consumer when 
they use their Venmo Visa. The PayPal and Synchrony 
partnership is just one great example of how we can 
execute as we grow and evolve in new and unique ways 
while powering top-of-wallet products and best-in-class 
experiences for our customers.

We also launched several strategic partnerships over the 
last year to scale our products more quickly by expanding 
our distribution channels and broadening customer access 
to our comprehensive product suite. We integrated with 
point-of-sale and business management platforms like 
Clover and health and wellness practice management 
solutions like Sycle (adding to our existing integration  
with Epic Health). Through these channels, Synchrony has 
added hundreds of thousands of small business locations 
and several thousand provider locations through whom  
we can seamlessly and responsibly offer access to our 
flexible financing.

04 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTOur Progress on How We Work, 
Culture and Employee Engagement

Synchrony is able to innovate, collaborate with partners  
and delight customers — because we have the best team  
in the business. To do their best work, employees must  
be empowered to work in the ways that work for them. 
 They want the same flexibility and choice in how they  
work that we provide customers and partners through 
our offerings, and they want the training, mentoring  
and benefits that suit their career aspirations. 

For these reasons, Synchrony has reimagined its benefits 
programs around flexibility and choice over the past three 
years. We have pioneered flexible work options and new 
wellness offerings, as well as new learning, compensation, 
rewards and other programs. 

For example, we made permanent our expanded 
childcare benefits that were created during the 
pandemic, and we expanded and simplified our 
parental and maternity leave, which now includes 
up to 22 weeks, 100% paid, which is among the 
top in the industry.

We have helped our employees balance their work and 
home lives through our hybrid work model that is built on 
choice. This has paid off in a more efficient and engaged 
workforce that is delivering record financial results.

members — because we believe that diverse and inclusive 
teams are the best, most innovative teams. These programs 
have the support of my entire executive team, the Board of 
Directors, and our managers and employees.

We also believe that a robust diversity, equity and inclusion 
(DEI) focus is key to employee engagement. We sponsor 
many DEI programs — including our eight Diversity Networks 
with more than half the workforce (9,500 employees) as 

Core to our approach is a focus on equity backed by data. 
For example, Synchrony created leadership development 
programs offering career coaches, mentors, experiences 
and senior executive sponsors to high-performing, 
diverse talent. We measure the results to hold ourselves 
accountable for progress. Since the program began in 
2020, nearly 40% of VP or higher promotions have been 
ethnically diverse, and 50% have been women. We are 
proud of the results and are working to make further 
progress. We also have made pay equity a focus through 
more than $5 million in investments since 2018 to meet 
our goal of 100% pay equity across genders and racial/
ethnic groups. I am proud of the work our team has done to 
promote equal pay and to have effectively eliminated any 
pay gaps for our U.S. workforce and globally, as certified by 
third-party analysis.

We continue to work with outside organizations to promote 
equity and societal progress. For example, in 2022, 
Synchrony partnered with Moms First, a national nonprofit 
organization working to transform our workplaces, our 
government and our culture to value women’s labor and 
enable moms to thrive, which is something we work on every 
day at Synchrony. And in February 2023, we announced  

05 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTa $100 million commitment in Ariel Alternatives’ Project 
Black, which aims to scale sustainable minority-owned 
businesses and position them as leading suppliers to 
Fortune 500 companies.

Through these investments — in both our employees and 
our external partnerships — we are seeing a more engaged 
workforce, a better pipeline of candidates who want to 
come work for us and great business results. I am proud 
that we are consistently recognized as a Great Place to 
Work® on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For®”  
list, moving from the 25th spot in 2022 into the Top 20 in 
2023. This is an honor bestowed on companies — based 
on feedback from their employees — for creating an 
outstanding employee experience. Synchrony has moved 
up the list every year since 2019 as we continue to listen  
to our employees and act on their feedback and ideas.  
I appreciate the award and especially the fact that  
94% of Synchrony employees surveyed by the  
organization said our company is a great place to work, 
compared with 57% at a typical U.S.-based company. 

All that we do is driven by our belief that being a great 
company is all about listening to our employees and 
acting on their needs and ideas. That creates an engaged 
workforce, which in turn drives a great customer and 
partner experience — and, ultimately, great business results. 
We had all those ingredients at play in 2022, as evidenced 
by the results I outlined in this letter.

On behalf of all Synchrony stakeholders, I also want to 
thank Margaret Keane, who retired from the Synchrony 
Board of Directors this year. Margaret has been an 
invaluable partner and friend to me personally. We wish  
her all the best in her well-deserved retirement.

And congratulations to Jeffrey Naylor, who is succeeding 
Margaret as independent chair of the Board. Jeff has  
served on Synchrony’s Board since 2014, most recently  
as lead independent director. He has brought his extensive 
management and business expertise to our company.   
I look forward to working with Jeff in his new role. 

Given all that we’ve accomplished, I’m confident about 
Synchrony’s prospects to drive long-term value. We have 
a lot on our side: industry know-how, innovation, an 
unmatched product lineup and an amazing team. Serving 
more than 70 million active accounts and 460,000 
merchant and provider locations, we bring buyer and seller 
together at the point of purchase. All of these advantages 
fuel our competitive differentiation and allow us to win in  
the marketplace.  

These strengths make Synchrony resilient, built for good 
times as well as challenging ones, adaptable to changing 
conditions and able to capitalize on emerging opportunities. 

These are the elements of long-term success. 

Thank You for Your Ongoing Trust in 
Synchrony

Brian Doubles 
President and CEO

I want to close by thanking all Synchrony’s stakeholders: 

•  Our employees for choosing to work here and the 

amazing work they do every day

•  Our customers for choosing to do business with us
•  Our partners for their engagement and commitment  

to driving growth together
•  Our investors for trusting in us

06 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
Letter From the Board of Directors

Dear Stakeholders:

The Board of Directors supports Synchrony management 
in accelerating growth and building a leading financial 
ecosystem that creates long-term value for shareholders — 
and all stakeholders. We do this by providing active  
oversight of the company’s strategic direction, business  
and management performance, and employee programs.  

In 2022, Synchrony comprehensively delivered on its  
strategy. The company added, renewed or expanded  
more than 80 partner programs. Synchrony also launched 
and scaled key capabilities while continuing to execute 
its digital-first commitment by launching new consumer 
capabilities. The company also continued to invest in its 
people through compensation, benefits, wellness and  
other innovative programs. Synchrony also made  
important investments in diversity, equity and inclusion  
in how the company hires, trains and advances the  
careers of its employees, through our supplier process,  
and through investments in diverse companies as part  
of Synchrony Ventures.

The Oversight Process

As part of our annual strategic planning process, the Board 
conducted an intensive, multiday review of Synchrony’s 
short-, medium- and long-term strategic plans, considering 
economic, consumer, technology, healthcare, sustainability 
and other significant trends, as well as developments in the 
industry and regulatory initiatives. 

The Board’s input was then incorporated into the strategic 
plan and approved. The output of these meetings provided 
the strategic context for the Board’s discussions at its 
meetings throughout the year, including regular updates  
and feedback on the company’s progress on the strategic 
plan. In addition, the Board regularly discussed and  
reviewed feedback on strategy from internal and external 
experts and advisors to ensure the strategy reflects the  
latest competitive landscape. 

Strong risk management is at the core of our business 
strategy, so risk oversight is one of the Board’s highest 
priorities. The Board and the Risk Committee oversee the 
company’s enterprise-wide risk management program to 
ensure that all relevant risks, including credit risk, market 
risk, liquidity risk, operational risk (including cybersecurity 
and compliance), strategic risk and reputational risk are 
appropriately identified and controlled.

ESG: A Board-level Commitment

The Board also continued its oversight of human capital 
and other ESG priorities. Since Synchrony’s IPO in 2014, 
the company has believed that caring for the business, 
customers, partners, employees, communities and the 
environment creates sustainable, long-term shareholder 
value and reduces risk.   

For this reason, all Board committees oversee matters  
that impact our ESG strategy and performance. ESG is  
a quarterly agenda item for the Nominating and Corporate 
Governance Committee (NCGC), including a joint meeting 
with the Management Development and Compensation 
Committee (MDCC), to focus on ESG; diversity, equity 
and inclusion (DEI); and community. The Audit and Risk 
Committees oversee compliance matters, and the Risk 
Committee oversees cybersecurity risks associated with 
information security and data privacy. 

Culture Is Core to Business

Synchrony’s business performance, commitment to 
important social issues and identity as an enterprise derive 
from a single place: the company’s strong culture.   

Differentiating Synchrony from other businesses, our 
culture enables the company to be flexible, agile and 
innovative. To exceed partner and customer expectations — 
while attracting and retaining the best employee talent. 
Synchrony’s employees are honest, passionate, caring, 
responsible, bold and driven — and we see them live 
those values every day in the business and human-capital 
decisions they make.

07 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTIn 2022, the Board and management partnered to support 
culture with several initiatives, from ensuring pay equity and 
increasing diversity in our company to expanding financial 
education and investing in skills in the wider community. We 
also included culture, such as DEI goals, as a component 
in calculating the annual incentive plan offered to 
approximately 70% of salaried employees. 

Our directors personally engaged with employees and 
external constituencies regarding our DEI strategic 
imperative throughout the year. For example, all directors 
are proud to have participated in various activities 
associated with the company’s annual Synchrony 
Diversity Experience, where employees engage in dynamic 
conversations on DEI issues and activities with Synchrony 
leadership, external speakers and colleagues from around 
the globe. We have also participated in multiple employee 
panel discussions throughout the year hosted by our 
Synchrony Diversity Networks. 

Managing Through a Successful 
Planned Transition

On April 1 of this year, the Board and its NCGC completed 
the successful transition of leadership from Margaret 
Keane, Executive Chair of the Board of Directors, to Jeffrey 
Naylor, who has served on Synchrony’s Board since 2014 
and has been Synchrony’s Lead Independent Director since 
April 2021.

With this change, we return to having an independent 
director as the non-executive Chair of the Board, with a 
focus on the organization and effectiveness of the Board, 
while the CEO focuses on executing strategy and managing 
operations, performance and risks.

In addition, we managed the leadership transition of the 
NCGC from longtime Chair Olympia J. Snowe to new Chair 
Fernando Aguirre. Ms. Snowe retired from the Board in 2022.

In addition, we have represented Synchrony with a range 
of important external organizations, including OneTen, 
a coalition of leading companies that is committed to 
creating a more inclusive corporate America by hiring  
and promoting 1 million Black individuals into family-
sustaining jobs over the next decade; the Latinx Executive 
Alliance, a coalition of business leaders dedicated to 
collectively helping Latinx employees advance in corporate 
America; the Synchrony Skills Academy, which hosts 
training programs in software engineering; the Black 
Corporate Directors Conference; and Women Corporate 
Directors events.

A final note: During her career, Margaret Keane has 
embodied all the traits that make Synchrony a special 
company. The Board wishes her the best in her  
well-deserved retirement and thanks her for all she has 
done for Synchrony and its people, partners, shareholders 
and customers.

We are pleased with Synchrony’s strong financial 
performance in 2022 and the company’s approach to 
innovation and serving all stakeholders. We are confident 
in Synchrony’s long-term strategy and resilient, disciplined 
business model. 

Jeffrey Naylor

Fernando Aguirre

Paget Alves

Kamila Chytil

Arthur Coiello Jr.

Brian Doubles

Roy Guthrie

Bill Parker

Laurel Richie

Ellen Zane

08 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTExecutive Leadership Team

Brian Doubles
President & CEO

Max Axler
EVP, Chief Credit Officer

Michael Bopp
EVP, Chief Growth 
Officer

Alberto “Beto”  
Casellas
EVP & CEO, Health & 
Wellness

DJ Casto
EVP, Chief Human 
Resources Officer

Curtis Howse
EVP & CEO, Home & 
Auto

Carol Juel
EVP, Chief Technology & 
Operating Officer

Trish Mosconi
EVP, Chief Strategy 
Officer & Corporate 
Development Leader

Jonathan Mothner
EVP, General Counsel & 
Secretary

Maran Nalluswami
EVP & CEO, Diversified & 
Value and Lifestyle  
Platforms

Dana Randell
EVP, Chief Audit 
Executive

Bart Schaller
EVP & CEO, Digital

Brian J. Wenzel Sr.
EVP, Chief Financial 
Officer

Paul Whynott
EVP, Chief Risk Officer

09 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTBoard of Directors

Jeffrey Naylor
Chair of the Board of 
Synchrony; Former 
Senior EVP, CFO 
and CAO of the TJX 
Companies, Inc.

Fernando Aguirre
Former Chairman, 
President & CEO 
of Chiquita Brands 
International, Inc.

Paget Alves
Former Chief Sales 
Officer of Sprint 
Corporation

Kamila Chytil
Chief Operating Officer 
of DentaQuest, LLC

Arthur Coviello Jr.
Former EVP of EMC 
Corporation; Former 
Executive Chairman of 
RSA Security, Inc.

Brian Doubles
President & CEO of 
Synchrony

Roy Guthrie
Former CEO of Renovate 
America, Inc.; Former 
EVP & CFO of Discover 
Financial Services, Inc.

Bill Parker
Former Vice Chairman 
and Chief Risk Officer of 
U.S. Bancorp

Laurel Richie
Former President of 
the Women’s National 
Basketball Association, 
LLC

Ellen Zane
Former President and 
CEO of Tufts Medical 
Center and Tufts 
Children’s Hospital

10 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORTFinancial Highlights

For the years ended, and at, December 31
(in millions unless otherwise stated except for per share data and ratios)

Financial Highlights

Net interest income

Interest and fees on loans

Net earnings

Diluted earnings per share

Shares outstanding1

Period End

Total assets

Loan receivables

Deposits

Common equity Tier 1 capital ratio

Performance Metrics

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

2022

15,625

16,881

3,016

6.15

483.4

104,564

92,470

71,735

12.8%

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

2021

14,239

15,228

4,221

7.34

569.3

95,748

80,740

62,270

15.6%

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

2020

14,402

15,950

1,385

2.27

590.8

95,948

81,867

62,782

15.9%

Purchase volume (in billions)2

$

180.2

$

165.9

$

139.1

Period-end active accounts (in thousands)3

Average active accounts (in thousands)3

Net interest margin4

Net charge-off rate5

30+ delinquency rate6

Efficiency ratio7

Return on assets8

70,763

68,627

15.63%

3.00%

3.65%

37.2%

3.1%

72,420

67,334

14.74%

2.92%

2.62%

38.9%

4.5%

68,540

67,131

14.29%

4.58%

3.07%

36.3%

1.4%

 1  Diluted weighted average common shares 

outstanding.

 2  Purchase volume, or net credit sales, represents 
the aggregate amount of charges incurred on 
credit cards or other credit product accounts 
less returns during the period. Purchase volume 
includes activity related to our portfolios 
classified as held for sale.

 3  Active accounts represent credit card or 

installment loan accounts on which there has 

been a purchase, payment or outstanding 
balance in the current month. Includes activity 
and accounts associated with loan receivables 
held for sale. 

 4  Net interest margin represents net interest 

income divided by average interest-earning 
assets.

 5  Net charge-off rate represents net charge-offs 
as a percentage of average loan receivables, 
including those held for sale.

 6  Based on customer statement-end balances 

extrapolated to the respective period-end date.  

 7  Efficiency ratio represents (i) other expense, 
divided by (ii) net interest income, plus other 
income, less retailer share agreements.

 8  Return on assets represents net earnings as a 

percentage of average total assets.

11 

/ 2022 ANNUAL REPORT