syf-20220331

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q


☒			QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022


☐			TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

001-36560

(Commission File Number)

SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware						51-0483352
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)						(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)


777 Long Ridge Road
Stamford,	Connecticut	06902
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) - (203) 585-2400

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.001 per share	SYF	New York Stock Exchange
Depositary Shares Each Representing a 1/40th Interest in a Share of 5.625% Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A	SYFPrA	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.


Large Accelerated Filer	☒	Accelerated Filer	☐

Non-Accelerated Filer	☐	Smaller Reporting Company	☐

		Emerging Growth Company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding as of April 18, 2022 was 501,488,808.

Synchrony Financial


PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION			Page
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			6

Item 1. Financial Statements:
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings – Three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021			29
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income – Three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021			30
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position – March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021			31
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity – Three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021			32
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows – Three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021			33
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements			34
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk			53
Item 4. Controls and Procedures			53

PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings			54
Item 1A. Risk Factors			54
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds			54
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities			54
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures			54
Item 5. Other Information			55
Item 6. Exhibits			56
Signatures			57

Certain Defined Terms

Except as the context may otherwise require in this report, references to:

•“we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” are to SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL and its subsidiaries;

•“Synchrony” are to SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL only;

•the “Bank” are to Synchrony Bank (a subsidiary of Synchrony);

•the “Board of Directors” or “Board” are to Synchrony's board of directors;

•“CECL” are to the impairment model known as the Current Expected Credit Loss model, which is based on expected credit losses; and

•“VantageScore” are to a credit score developed by the three major credit reporting agencies which is used as a means of evaluating the likelihood that credit users will pay their obligations.

We provide a range of credit products through programs we have established with a diverse group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations and healthcare service providers, which, in our business and in this report, we refer to as our “partners.” The terms of the programs all require cooperative efforts between us and our partners of varying natures and degrees to establish and operate the programs. Our use of the term “partners” to refer to these entities is not intended to, and does not, describe our legal relationship with them, imply that a legal partnership or other relationship exists between the parties or create any legal partnership or other relationship.

Unless otherwise indicated, references to “loan receivables” do not include loan receivables held for sale.

For a description of certain other terms we use, including “active account” and “purchase volume,” see the notes to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis—Results of Operations—Other Financial and Statistical Data” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (our “2021 Form 10-K”). There is no standard industry definition for many of these terms, and other companies may define them differently than we do.

“Synchrony” and its logos and other trademarks referred to in this report, including CareCredit®, Quickscreen®, Dual Card™, Synchrony Car Care™ and SyPI™, belong to us. Solely for convenience, we refer to our trademarks in this report without the ™ and ® symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights to our trademarks. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names referred to in this report are the property of their respective owners.

On our website at www.synchronyfinancial.com, we make available under the "Investors-SEC Filings" menu selection, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports or amendments are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information that we file electronically with the SEC.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Various statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may contain “forward-looking statements” as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “targets,” “outlook,” “estimates,” “will,” “should,” “may” or words of similar meaning, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual results could differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include global political, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors and risks, such as: the impact of macroeconomic conditions and whether industry trends we have identified develop as anticipated, including the future impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) outbreak and measures taken in response thereto for which future developments are highly uncertain and difficult to predict; retaining existing partners and attracting new partners, concentration of our revenue in a small number of partners, and promotion and support of our products by our partners; cyber-attacks or other security breaches; disruptions in the operations of our and our outsourced partners' computer systems and data centers; the financial performance of our partners; the sufficiency of our allowance for credit losses and the accuracy of the assumptions or estimates used in preparing our financial statements, including those related to the CECL accounting guidance; higher borrowing costs and adverse financial market conditions impacting our funding and liquidity, and any reduction in our credit ratings; our ability to grow our deposits in the future; damage to our reputation; our ability to securitize our loan receivables, occurrence of an early amortization of our securitization facilities, loss of the right to service or subservice our securitized loan receivables, and lower payment rates on our securitized loan receivables; changes in market interest rates and the impact of any margin compression; effectiveness of our risk management processes and procedures, reliance on models which may be inaccurate or misinterpreted, our ability to manage our credit risk; our ability to offset increases in our costs in retailer share arrangements; competition in the consumer finance industry; our concentration in the U.S. consumer credit market; our ability to successfully develop and commercialize new or enhanced products and services; our ability to realize the value of acquisitions and strategic investments; reductions in interchange fees; fraudulent activity; failure of third-parties to provide various services that are important to our operations; international risks and compliance and regulatory risks and costs associated with international operations; alleged infringement of intellectual property rights of others and our ability to protect our intellectual property; litigation and regulatory actions; our ability to attract, retain and motivate key officers and employees; tax legislation initiatives or challenges to our tax positions and/or interpretations, and state sales tax rules and regulations; regulation, supervision, examination and enforcement of our business by governmental authorities, the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and other legislative and regulatory developments and the impact of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (the “CFPB”) regulation of our business; impact of capital adequacy rules and liquidity requirements; restrictions that limit our ability to pay dividends and repurchase our common stock, and restrictions that limit the Bank’s ability to pay dividends to us; regulations relating to privacy, information security and data protection; use of third-party vendors and ongoing third-party business relationships; and failure to comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws.

For the reasons described above, we caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements, which should also be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included elsewhere in this report and in our public filings, including under the heading “Risk Factors Relating to Our Business” and “Risk Factors Relating to Regulation” in our 2021 Form 10-K. You should not consider any list of such factors to be an exhaustive statement of all of the risks, uncertainties, or potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause our current expectations or beliefs to change. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as otherwise may be required by law.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this quarterly report and in our 2021 Form 10-K. The discussion below contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Introduction and Business Overview

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We are a premier consumer financial services company delivering one of the industry's most complete, digitally-enabled product suites. Our experience, expertise and scale encompass a broad spectrum of industries including digital, health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, home, auto, powersports, pet and more. We have an established and diverse group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations and healthcare service providers, which we refer to as our “partners.” For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we financed $40.5 billion of purchase volume and had 70.1 million average active accounts, and at March 31, 2022, we had $78.9 billion of loan receivables.

We offer our credit products primarily through our wholly-owned subsidiary, the Bank. In addition, through the Bank, we offer, directly to retail, affinity relationships and commercial customers, a range of deposit products insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), money market accounts, savings accounts and sweep and affinity deposits. We also take deposits at the Bank through third-party securities brokerage firms that offer our FDIC-insured deposit products to their customers. We have significantly expanded our online direct banking operations in recent years and our deposit base serves as a source of stable and diversified low cost funding for our credit activities. At March 31, 2022, we had $63.6 billion in deposits, which represented 83% of our total funding sources.

Our Sales Platforms

_________________________________________________________________

We conduct our operations through a single business segment. Profitability and expenses, including funding costs, credit losses and operating expenses, are managed for the business as a whole. Substantially all of our revenue activities are within the United States. We primarily manage our credit products through five sales platforms (Home & Auto, Digital, Diversified & Value, Health & Wellness and Lifestyle). Those platforms are organized by the types of partners we work with, and are measured on interest and fees on loans, loan receivables, active accounts and other sales metrics.

Home & Auto

Our Home & Auto sales platform provides comprehensive payments and financing solutions with integrated in-store and digital experiences through a broad network of partners and merchants providing home and automotive merchandise and services, as well as our Synchrony Car Care network and Synchrony HOME credit card offering. Our Home & Auto sales platform partners include a wide range of key retailers in the home improvement, furniture, bedding, appliance and electronics industry, such as Ashley HomeStores LTD, Lowe's, and Mattress Firm, as well as automotive merchandise and services, such as Chevron and Discount Tire. In addition, we also have program agreements with buying groups, manufacturers and industry associations, such as Nationwide Marketing Group and the Home Furnishings Association.

Digital

Our Digital sales platform provides comprehensive payments and financing solutions with integrated digital experiences through partners and merchants who primarily engage with their consumers through digital channels. Our Digital sales platform includes key partners delivering digital payment solutions, such as PayPal, including our Venmo program, online marketplaces, such as Amazon and eBay, and digital-first brands and merchants, such as Verizon, the Qurate brands, and Fanatics.

Diversified & Value

Our Diversified & Value sales platform provides comprehensive payments and financing solutions with integrated in-store and digital experiences through large retail partners who deliver everyday value to consumers shopping for daily needs or important life moments. Our Diversified & Value sales platform is comprised of five large retail partners: Belk, Fleet Farm, JCPenney, Sam's Club and TJX Companies, Inc.

Health & Wellness

Our Health & Wellness sales platform provides comprehensive healthcare payments and financing solutions, through a network of providers and health systems, for those seeking health and wellness care for themselves, their families and their pets, and includes key brands such as CareCredit and Pets Best, as well as partners such as Walgreens.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle provides comprehensive payments and financing solutions with integrated in-store and digital experiences through partners and merchants who offer merchandise in power sports, outdoor power equipment, and other industries such as sporting goods, apparel, jewelry and music. Our Lifestyle sales platform partners includes a wide range of key retailers in the apparel, specialty retail, outdoor, music and luxury industry, such as

American Eagle, Dick's Sporting Goods, Guitar Center, Polaris and Pandora.

Corp, Other

Corp, Other includes activity and balances related to certain program agreements with retail partners and merchants that will not be renewed beyond their current expiry date and certain programs that were previously terminated, which are not managed within the five sales platforms discussed above, and primarily includes amounts associated with our program agreements with Gap Inc. and BP which are scheduled to expire in the second quarter of 2022. Corp, Other also includes amounts related to changes in the fair value of equity investments and realized gains or losses associated with the sale of investments.

Our Credit Products

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Through our sales platforms, we offer three principal types of credit products: credit cards, commercial credit products and consumer installment loans. We also offer a debt cancellation product.

The following table sets forth each credit product by type and indicates the percentage of our total loan receivables that are under standard terms only or pursuant to a promotional financing offer at March 31, 2022.


			Promotional Offer
Credit Product	Standard Terms Only		Deferred Interest		Other Promotional		Total
Credit cards	57.5	%	20.6	%	16.4	%	94.5	%
Commercial credit products	1.9		—		—		1.9
Consumer installment loans	0.1		0.1		3.3		3.5
Other	0.1		—		—		0.1
Total	59.6	%	20.7	%	19.7	%	100.0	%

Credit Cards

We offer the following principal types of credit cards:

•Private Label Credit Cards. Private label credit cards are partner-branded credit cards (e.g., Lowe’s or Amazon) or program-branded credit cards (e.g., Synchrony Car Care or CareCredit) that are used primarily for the purchase of goods and services from the partner or within the program network. In addition, in some cases, cardholders may be permitted to access their credit card accounts for cash advances. Credit under our private label credit cards typically is extended either on standard terms only or pursuant to a promotional financing offer.

•Dual Cards and General Purpose Co-Branded Cards. Our patented Dual Cards are credit cards that function as private label credit cards when used to purchase goods and services from our partners, and as general purpose credit cards when used to make purchases from other retailers wherever cards from those card networks are accepted or for cash advance transactions. We also offer general purpose co-branded credit cards that do not function as private label credit cards, as well as a Synchrony-branded general purpose credit card. Dual Cards and general purpose co-branded credit cards are offered across all of our sales platforms and credit is typically extended on standard terms only. We offer either Dual Cards or general purpose co-branded credit cards through 21 credit partners, of which the majority are Dual Cards, as well as our CareCredit Dual Card. Consumer Dual Cards and Co-Branded cards totaled 25% of our total loan receivables portfolio, including held for sale, at March 31, 2022.

Commercial Credit Products

We offer private label cards and Dual Cards for commercial customers that are similar to our consumer offerings. We also offer a commercial pay-in-full accounts receivable product to a wide range of business customers.

Installment Loans

We originate installment loans to consumers (and a limited number of commercial customers) in the United States, primarily in the power products market (motorcycles, ATVs and lawn and garden), as well as through our various SetPay installment products (such as our SetPay Pay in 4 product for short-term loans). Installment loans are closed-end credit accounts where the customer pays down the outstanding balance in installments. Installment loans are generally assessed periodic finance charges using fixed interest rates.

Business Trends and Conditions

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We believe our business and results of operations will be impacted in the future by various trends and conditions. For a discussion of certain trends and conditions, see “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Business Trends and Conditions” in our 2021 Form 10-K. For a discussion of how certain trends and conditions impacted the three months ended March 31, 2022, see “—Results of Operations.”

Seasonality

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We experience fluctuations in transaction volumes and the level of loan receivables as a result of higher seasonal consumer spending and payment patterns that typically result in an increase of loan receivables from August through a peak in late December, with reductions in loan receivables occurring over the first and second quarters of the following year as customers pay their balances down.

The seasonal impact to transaction volumes and the loan receivables balance typically results in fluctuations in our results of operations, delinquency metrics and the allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loan receivables between quarterly periods.

In addition to the seasonal variance in loan receivables discussed above, we also typically experience a seasonal increase in delinquency rates and delinquent loan receivables balances during the third and fourth quarters of each year due to lower customer payment rates resulting in higher net charge-off rates in the first and second quarters. Our delinquency rates and delinquent loan receivables balances typically decrease during the subsequent first and second quarters as customers begin to pay down their loan balances and return to current status resulting in lower net charge-off rates in the third and fourth quarters. Because customers who were delinquent during the fourth quarter of a calendar year have a higher probability of returning to current status when compared to customers who are delinquent at the end of each of our interim reporting periods, we expect that a higher proportion of delinquent accounts outstanding at an interim period end will result in charge-offs, as compared to delinquent accounts outstanding at a year end. Consistent with this historical experience, we generally experience a higher allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loan receivables at the end of an interim period, as compared to the end of a calendar year. In addition, despite improving credit metrics such as declining past due amounts, we may experience an increase in our allowance for credit losses at an interim period end compared to the prior year end, reflecting these same seasonal trends.

The seasonal trends discussed above are most evident between the fourth quarter and the first quarter of the following year. In addition to these seasonal trends, we continue to experience improvements in customer payment behavior, which include the effects of governmental stimulus actions, industry-wide forbearance measures and elevated consumer savings. Customer payments as a percentage of beginning-of-period loan receivables for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were approximately 45 basis points higher than the prior year period, and are significantly elevated compared to historical averages.

Loan receivables decreased by $1.8 billion, or 2.3% to $78.9 billion at March 31, 2022 compared to $80.7 billion at December 31, 2021, and our allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loan receivables increased to 10.96% at March 31, 2022, from 10.76% at December 31, 2021, reflecting the seasonal trends discussed above. Past due balances increased to $2.2 billion at March 31, 2022 from $2.1 billion at December 31, 2021 as the effects from some moderation in elevated payment rates exceeded the impact of the seasonal trends we experienced.

Results of Operations

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Highlights for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

Below are highlights of our performance for the three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2021, as applicable, except as otherwise noted.

•Net earnings decreased to $932 million from $1.0 billion. The decrease in the three months ended March 31, 2022 was primarily driven by increases in provision for credit losses, retailer share arrangements and other expense, partially offset by higher net interest income.

•Loan receivables increased to $78.9 billion at March 31, 2022 compared to $76.9 billion at March 31, 2021, driven by strong purchase volume growth, partially offset by the reclassification of loan receivables associated with the Gap Inc and BP portfolios to loan receivables held for sale. Loan receivables held for sale at March 31, 2022 were $4.0 billion. Excluding the impact of the reclassifications of these portfolios to loan receivables held for sale, loan receivables increased 7.9% reflecting strong purchase volume growth of 16.5%, partially offset by elevated customer payment rates.

•Net interest income increased 10.2% to $3.8 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Interest and fees on loans increased by $276 million, or 7.4%, driven by growth in average loan receivables and interest expense decreased by $70 million, or 23.1%, primarily attributed to lower benchmark rates and lower funding liabilities.

•Retailer share arrangements increased 11.6% to $1.1 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to continued strong program performance.

•Over-30 day loan delinquencies as a percentage of period-end loan receivables decreased 5 basis points to 2.78% at March 31, 2022. Excluding amounts related to the held for sale portfolios, the decrease compared to the prior year was approximately 15 basis points. The net charge-off rate decreased 89 basis points to 2.73% for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

•Provision for credit losses increased by $187 million, or 56.0% for the three months ended March 31, 2022 primarily driven by a lower reserve release compared to prior year, partially offset by lower net charge-offs. The reduction in reserves for credit losses in the current year included a $29 million reserve reduction related to the held for sale portfolios. Our allowance coverage ratio (allowance for credit losses as a percent of period-end loan receivables) decreased to 10.96% at March 31, 2022, as compared to 12.88% at March 31, 2021.

•Other expense increased by $107 million, or 11.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by higher employee, marketing and business development and technology costs.

•At March 31, 2022, deposits represented 83% of our total funding sources. Total deposits increased by 2.1% to $63.6 billion at March 31, 2022, compared to December 31, 2021.

•During the three months ended March 31, 2022, we declared and paid cash dividends on our Series A 5.625% non-cumulative preferred stock of $14.06 per share, or $10 million.

•In April 2022, we announced that our Board approved an incremental share repurchase authorization of $2.8 billion through June 2023 and plans to increase our quarterly dividend by 5% to $0.23 per common share commencing in the third quarter of 2022. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, we repurchased $967 million of our outstanding common stock, and declared and paid cash dividends of $0.22 per share, or $114 million. Inclusive of the $251 million of remaining authorized share repurchase capacity at March 31, 2022 we have a total share repurchase authorization of $3.1 billion. For more information, see “Capital—Dividend and Share Repurchases.”

2022 Partner Agreements

During the quarter ended March 31, 2022, we continued to expand and diversify our portfolio with the addition or renewal of more than 15 partners, which included the following:

•In our Home & Auto sales platform, we announced our new partnership with Furnitureland South and extended our agreements with Cardi's, Generac Power Systems, Mattress Warehouse, NAPA AutoCare and New South Window Solutions.

•In our Health & Wellness sales platform, we expanded our network through our new partnerships with Buffalo Veterinary Group and Service Corporation International and extended our agreements with Encore Vet Group.

•In our Lifestyle sales platform, we extended our program agreements with Guitar Center and Reeds.

Summary Earnings

The following table sets forth our results of operations for the periods indicated.


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Interest income	$	4,022	$	3,742
Interest expense	233		303
Net interest income	3,789		3,439
Retailer share arrangements	(1,104)		(989)

Provision for credit losses	521		334
Net interest income, after retailer share arrangements and provision for credit losses	2,164		2,116
Other income	108		131
Other expense	1,039		932
Earnings before provision for income taxes	1,233		1,315
Provision for income taxes	301		290
Net earnings	$	932	$	1,025
Net earnings available to common stockholders	$	922	$	1,014

Other Financial and Statistical Data

The following table sets forth certain other financial and statistical data for the periods indicated.


	At and for the
	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022			2021
Financial Position Data (Average):
Loan receivables, including held for sale	$	82,747		$	78,358
Total assets	$	95,556		$	96,455
Deposits	$	62,688		$	63,070
Borrowings	$	14,046		$	15,659
Total equity	$	13,731		$	13,071
Selected Performance Metrics:
Purchase volume(1)(2)	$	40,490		$	34,749
Home & Auto	$	10,260		$	9,337
Digital	$	11,196		$	9,340
Diversified & Value	$	11,558		$	9,220
Health & Wellness	$	3,107		$	2,648
Lifestyle	$	1,195		$	1,154
Corp, Other	$	3,174		$	3,050
Average active accounts (in thousands)(2)(3)	70,127			66,280
Net interest margin(4)	15.80		%	13.98		%
Net charge-offs	$	558		$	699
Net charge-offs as a % of average loan receivables, including held for sale	2.73		%	3.62		%
Allowance coverage ratio(5)	10.96		%	12.88		%
Return on assets(6)	4.0		%	4.3		%
Return on equity(7)	27.5		%	31.8		%
Equity to assets(8)	14.37		%	13.55		%
Other expense as a % of average loan receivables, including held for sale	5.09		%	4.82		%
Efficiency ratio(9)	37.2		%	36.1		%
Effective income tax rate	24.4		%	22.1		%
Selected Period-End Data:
Loan receivables	$	78,916		$	76,858
Allowance for credit losses	$	8,651		$	9,901
30+ days past due as a % of period-end loan receivables(10)	2.78		%	2.83		%
90+ days past due as a % of period-end loan receivables(10)	1.30		%	1.52		%
Total active accounts (in thousands)(2)(3)	69,122			65,219

______________________

(1)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.

(2)Includes activity and accounts associated with loan receivables 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.

(4)Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets.

(5)Allowance coverage ratio represents allowance for credit losses divided by total period-end loan receivables.

(6)Return on assets represents net earnings as a percentage of average total assets.

(7)Return on equity represents net earnings as a percentage of average total equity.

(8)Equity to assets represents average total equity as a percentage of average total assets.

(9)Efficiency ratio represents (i) other expense, divided by (ii) sum of net interest income, plus other income, less retailer share arrangements.

(10)Based on customer statement-end balances extrapolated to the respective period-end date.

Average Balance Sheet

The following tables set forth information for the periods indicated regarding average balance sheet data, which are used in the discussion of interest income, interest expense and net interest income that follows.


	2022						2021
Three months ended March 31 ($ in millions)	Average Balance		Interest Income / Expense		Average Yield / Rate(1)		Average Balance		Interest Income/ Expense		Average Yield / Rate(1)
Assets
Interest-earning assets:
Interest-earning cash and equivalents(2)	$	8,976	$	5	0.23	%	$	14,610	$	4	0.11	%
Securities available for sale	5,513		9		0.66	%	6,772		6		0.36	%
Loan receivables, including held for sale(3):
Credit cards	78,564		3,913		20.20	%	74,865		3,657		19.81	%
Consumer installment loans	2,682		66		9.98	%	2,219		53		9.69	%
Commercial credit products	1,434		28		7.92	%	1,231		21		6.92	%
Other	67		1		NM		43		1		NM
Total loan receivables, including held for sale	82,747		4,008		19.64	%	78,358		3,732		19.32	%
Total interest-earning assets	97,236		4,022		16.78	%	99,740		3,742		15.22	%
Non-interest-earning assets:
Cash and due from banks	1,626						1,635
Allowance for credit losses	(8,675)						(10,225)
Other assets	5,369						5,305
Total non-interest-earning assets	(1,680)						(3,285)
Total assets	$	95,556					$	96,455
Liabilities
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Interest-bearing deposit accounts	$	62,314	$	127	0.83	%	$	62,724	$	170	1.10	%
Borrowings of consolidated securitization entities	6,827		33		1.96	%	7,694		51		2.69	%

Senior unsecured notes	7,219		73		4.10	%	7,965		82		4.18	%

Total interest-bearing liabilities	76,360		233		1.24	%	78,383		303		1.57	%
Non-interest-bearing liabilities:
Non-interest-bearing deposit accounts	374						346
Other liabilities	5,091						4,655
Total non-interest-bearing liabilities	5,465						5,001
Total liabilities	81,825						83,384
Equity
Total equity	13,731						13,071
Total liabilities and equity	$	95,556					$	96,455
Interest rate spread(4)					15.54	%					13.65	%
Net interest income			$	3,789					$	3,439
Net interest margin(5)					15.80	%					13.98	%

_______________________

(1)Average yields/rates are based on total interest income/expense over average balances.

(2)Includes average restricted cash balances of $614 million and $423 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

(3)Interest income on loan receivables includes fees on loans of $652 million and $514 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

(4)Interest rate spread represents the difference between the yield on total interest-earning assets and the rate on total interest-bearing liabilities.

(5)Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by average total interest-earning assets.

For a summary description of the composition of our key line items included in our Statements of Earnings, see Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2021 Form 10-K.

Interest Income

Interest income increased by $280 million, or 7.5%. The increase in the three months ended March 31, 2022 was primarily driven by increases in interest and fees on loans attributed to growth in average loan receivables, including held for sale.

Average interest-earning assets


Three months ended March 31 ($ in millions)	2022		%		2021		%
Loan receivables, including held for sale	$	82,747	85.1	%	$	78,358	78.6	%
Liquidity portfolio and other	14,489		14.9	%	21,382		21.4	%
Total average interest-earning assets	$	97,236	100.0	%	$	99,740	100.0	%

Average loan receivables, including held for sale, increased by 5.6% for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by growth in purchase volume of 16.5%, partially offset by improvement in customer payment behavior. Customer payments as a percentage of beginning-of-period loan receivables for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were approximately 45 basis points higher than the prior year period.

Yield on average interest-earning assets

The yield on average interest-earning assets increased for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to an increase in the percentage of interest-earning assets attributable to loan receivables, as well as an increase in the yield on average loan receivables. The increase in loan receivable yield was 32 basis points to 19.6% for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Interest Expense

Interest expense decreased by $70 million, or 23.1%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily attributed to lower benchmark interest rates and lower funding liabilities. Our cost of funds decreased to 1.24% for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to 1.57% for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Average interest-bearing liabilities


Three months ended March 31 ($ in millions)	2022		%		2021		%
Interest-bearing deposit accounts	$	62,314	81.6	%	$	62,724	80.0	%
Borrowings of consolidated securitization entities	6,827		8.9	%	7,694		9.8	%
Senior unsecured notes	7,219		9.5	%	7,965		10.2	%

Total average interest-bearing liabilities	$	76,360	100.0	%	$	78,383	100.0	%

Net Interest Income

Net interest income increased by $350 million, or 10.2%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, resulting from the changes in interest income and interest expense discussed above.

Retailer Share Arrangements

Retailer share arrangements increased by $115 million, or 11.6%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to continued strong program performance.

Provision for Credit Losses

Provision for credit losses increased by $187 million, or 56.0%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by a lower reserve release in the current year, partially offset by lower net charge-offs. The reductions in reserves for credit losses for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were $37 million, including a $29 million reserve reduction related to the held for sale portfolios.

Other Income


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Interchange revenue	$	230	$	171
Debt cancellation fees	89		69
Loyalty programs	(258)		(179)
Other	47		70
Total other income	$	108	$	131

Other income decreased by $23 million, or 17.6%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022 primarily driven by higher loyalty program costs associated with purchase volume growth, and lower investment gains.

Other Expense


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Employee costs	$	402	$	364
Professional fees	210		190
Marketing and business development	116		95
Information processing	145		131
Other	166		152
Total other expense	$	1,039	$	932

Other expense increased by $107 million, or 11.5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by increases in employee costs, marketing and business development, professional fees and information processing.

The increase in employee costs was primarily attributable to increase in non-exempt headcount driven by growth and insourcing, higher hourly wages and other compensation adjustments. The increase in marketing and business development was primarily driven by higher contractual and discretionary marketing investments. The increase in professional fees and information processing costs was primarily due to higher technology investments and purchase volume.

Provision for Income Taxes


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022			2021
Effective tax rate	24.4		%	22.1		%
Provision for income taxes	$	301		$	290

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2022 increased compared to the same period in the prior year primarily due to the resolution of certain tax matters in the prior period. For both periods presented, the effective tax rate differs from the applicable U.S. federal statutory tax rate primarily due to state income taxes.

Platform Analysis

As discussed above under “—Our Sales Platforms,” we offer our credit products primarily through five sales platforms (Home & Auto, Digital, Diversified & Value, Health & Wellness and Lifestyle), which management measures based on their revenue-generating activities. The following is a discussion of certain supplemental information for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for each of our five sales platforms and Corp, Other.

Home & Auto


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	10,260	$	9,337
Period-end loan receivables	$	26,532	$	24,942
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	26,406	$	25,273
Average active accounts (in thousands)	17,473		17,149

Interest and fees on loans	$	1,088	$	1,036
Other income	$	21	$	17

Home & Auto interest and fees on loans increased by $52 million, or 5.0%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022 primarily driven by growth in average loan receivables. The growth in average loan receivables reflected purchase volume growth of 9.9%, partially offset by elevated customer payment rates.

Digital


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	11,196	$	9,340
Period-end loan receivables	$	21,075	$	18,907
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	21,160	$	19,437
Average active accounts (in thousands)	19,000		17,318

Interest and fees on loans	$	1,022	$	903
Other income	$	(12)	$	(12)

Digital interest and fees on loans increased by $119 million, or 13.2%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by growth in average loan receivables. The growth in average loan receivables reflected purchase volume growth of 19.9% and average active account growth of 9.7%, partially offset by elevated customer payment rates.

Diversified & Value


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	11,558	$	9,220
Period-end loan receivables	$	15,166	$	14,217
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	15,128	$	14,574
Average active accounts (in thousands)	19,201		17,457

Interest and fees on loans	$	826	$	789
Other income	$	(9)	$	5

Diversified & Value interest and fees on loans increased by $37 million, or 4.7%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by growth in average loan receivables. The growth in average loan receivables reflected purchase volume growth of 25.4% and average active account growth of 10.0%, partially offset by elevated customer payment rates.

Other income decreased by $14 million, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by higher program loyalty costs.

Health & Wellness


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	3,107	$	2,648
Period-end loan receivables	$	10,407	$	9,317
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	10,251	$	9,442
Average active accounts (in thousands)	6,027		5,706

Interest and fees on loans	$	616	$	558
Other income	$	53	$	40

Health & Wellness interest and fees on loans increased by $58 million, or 10.4%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by growth in average loan receivables. The growth in average loan receivables reflected strength across the network, particularly in Dental as patient volume increased compared to prior year. Purchase volume increased 17.3% and average active accounts increased 5.6%. The impacts from these increases were partially offset by elevated payment rates.

Other income increased by $13 million, or 32.5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to commission fees earned by Pets Best.

Lifestyle


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	1,195	$	1,154
Period-end loan receivables	$	5,381	$	4,988
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	5,379	$	5,003
Average active accounts (in thousands)	2,582		2,573

Interest and fees on loans	$	191	$	181
Other income	$	6	$	5

Lifestyle interest and fees on loans increased by $10 million, or 5.5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily driven by growth in average loan receivables. The growth in average loan receivables reflected purchase volume growth of 3.6% which was driven by strength in our Music and Specialty retail partners, partially offset by comparison to strong growth in Power in the prior year.

Corp, Other


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021
Purchase volume	$	3,174	$	3,050
Period-end loan receivables	$	355	$	4,487
Average loan receivables, including held for sale	$	4,423	$	4,629
Average active accounts (in thousands)	5,844		6,077

Interest and fees on loans	$	265	$	265
Other income	$	49	$	76

Corp, Other interest and fees on loans remained flat for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Other income decreased by $27.0 million, or 35.5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to lower investment gains.

Loan Receivables

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Loan receivables are our largest category of assets and represent our primary source of revenue. The following discussion provides supplemental information regarding our loan receivables portfolio. See Note 2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 4. Loan Receivables and Allowance for Credit Losses to our condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information related to our loan receivables, including troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”).

The following table sets forth the composition of our loan receivables portfolio by product type at the dates indicated.


($ in millions)	At March 31, 2022		(%)		At December 31, 2021		(%)
Loans
Credit cards	$	74,596	94.5	%	$	76,628	94.9	%
Consumer installment loans	2,719		3.5	%	2,675		3.4
Commercial credit products	1,530		1.9	%	1,372		1.7
Other	71		0.1	%	65		—
Total loans	$	78,916	100.0	%	$	80,740	100.0	%

Loan receivables decreased 2.3% to $78.9 billion at March 31, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021, primarily driven by the seasonality of our business, partially offset by strong purchase volume growth and some moderation in customer payment rates.

Loan receivables increased 2.7% to $78.9 billion at March 31, 2022 compared to $76.9 billion at March 31, 2021, primarily due to strong purchase volume growth, partially offset by the reclassification of loan receivables associated with the Gap Inc. and BP portfolios to loan receivables held for sale. Loan receivables held for sale totaled $4.0 billion at March 31, 2022, and we expect conveyance of both portfolios to occur, subject to customary closing conditions, in the second quarter of 2022. Excluding the impact of the reclassification of these portfolios to loan receivables held for sale, loan receivables increased 7.9% reflecting strong purchase volume growth, partially offset by elevated customer payment rates.

Our loan receivables portfolio had the following geographic concentration at March 31, 2022.


($ in millions)	Loan Receivables Outstanding		% of Total Loan Receivables Outstanding
State
Texas	$	8,490	10.8	%
California	$	8,172	10.4	%
Florida	$	7,198	9.1	%
New York	$	4,030	5.1	%
North Carolina	$	3,256	4.1	%

Delinquencies

Over-30 day loan delinquencies as a percentage of period-end loan receivables decreased to 2.78% at March 31, 2022 from 2.83% at March 31, 2021, and increased from 2.62% at December 31, 2021. The decrease compared to the prior year period was primarily driven by improvements in customer payment behavior, partially offset by the effects of the reclassification of loan receivables related to the Gap Inc. and BP portfolios to loan receivables held for sale. When excluding amounts related to held for sale portfolios from both current year and prior year periods, over-30 day loan delinquencies at March 31, 2022 declined approximately 15 basis points compared to March 31, 2021. The current quarter increase as compared to December 31, 2021 was primarily driven by some moderation in customer payment rates, partially offset by the seasonality of our business.

Net Charge-Offs

Net charge-offs consist of the unpaid principal balance of loans held for investment that we determine are uncollectible, net of recovered amounts. We exclude accrued and unpaid finance charges and fees and third-party fraud losses from charge-offs. Charged-off and recovered finance charges and fees are included in interest and fees on loans while third-party fraud losses are included in other expense. Charge-offs are recorded as a reduction to the allowance for credit losses and subsequent recoveries of previously charged-off amounts are credited to the allowance for credit losses. Costs incurred to recover charged-off loans are recorded as collection expense and included in other expense in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

The table below sets forth the net charge-offs and ratio of net charge-offs to average loan receivables, including held for sale, (“net charge-off rate”) for the periods indicated.


	Three months ended March 31,				Three months ended March 31,
	2022				2021
($ in millions)	Amount		Rate		Amount		Rate
Credit cards	$	530	2.74	%	$	682	3.69	%
Consumer installment loans	17		2.57	%	10		1.83	%
Commercial credit products	11		3.11	%	7		2.64	%
Other	—		—	%	—		—	%
Total net charge-offs	$	558	2.73	%	$	699	3.62	%

Allowance for Credit Losses

The allowance for credit losses totaled $8.7 billion at March 31, 2022, compared to $8.7 billion at December 31, 2021 and $9.9 billion at March 31, 2021, and reflects our estimate of expected credit losses for the life of the loan receivables on our consolidated statement of financial position. Our allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loan receivables increased to 10.96% at March 31, 2022, from 10.76% at December 31, 2021 and decreased from 12.88% at March 31, 2021.

The decrease compared to March 31, 2021 is primarily driven by improvements in customer payment behavior, which resulted in a reduction in our estimate of expected credit losses. The allowance for credit losses remained relatively flat compared to December 31, 2021 reflecting recent trends in customer payment behavior, partially offset by an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Funding, Liquidity and Capital Resources

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We maintain a strong focus on liquidity and capital. Our funding, liquidity and capital policies are designed to ensure that our business has the liquidity and capital resources to support our daily operations, our business growth, our credit ratings and our regulatory and policy requirements, in a cost effective and prudent manner through expected and unexpected market environments.

Funding Sources

Our primary funding sources include cash from operations, deposits (direct and brokered deposits), securitized financings and senior unsecured notes.

The following table summarizes information concerning our funding sources during the periods indicated:


	2022						2021
Three months ended March 31 ($ in millions)	Average Balance		%		Average Rate		Average Balance		%		Average Rate
Deposits(1)	$	62,314	81.6	%	0.8	%	$	62,724	80.0	%	1.1	%
Securitized financings	6,827		8.9		2.0		7,694		9.8		2.7
Senior unsecured notes	7,219		9.5		4.1		7,965		10.2		4.2

Total	$	76,360	100.0	%	1.2	%	$	78,383	100.0	%	1.6	%

______________________

(1)Excludes $374 million and $346 million average balance of non-interest-bearing deposits for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Non-interest-bearing deposits comprise less than 10% of total deposits for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021.

Deposits

We obtain deposits directly from retail, affinity relationships and commercial customers (“direct deposits”) or through third-party brokerage firms that offer our deposits to their customers (“brokered deposits”). At March 31, 2022, we had $52.5 billion in direct deposits and $11.1 billion in deposits originated through brokerage firms (including network deposit sweeps procured through a program arranger that channels brokerage account deposits to us). A key part of our liquidity plan and funding strategy is to continue to utilize our direct deposits base as a source of stable and diversified low-cost funding.

Our direct deposits include a range of FDIC-insured deposit products, including certificates of deposit, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, sweep and affinity deposits.

Brokered deposits are primarily from retail customers of large brokerage firms. We have relationships with 10 brokers that offer our deposits through their networks. Our brokered deposits consist primarily of certificates of deposit that bear interest at a fixed rate. These deposits generally are not subject to early withdrawal.

Our ability to attract deposits is sensitive to, among other things, the interest rates we pay, and therefore, we bear funding risk if we fail to pay higher rates, or interest rate risk if we are required to pay higher rates, to retain existing deposits or attract new deposits. To mitigate these risks, our funding strategy includes a range of deposit products, and we seek to maintain access to multiple other funding sources, including securitized financings (including our undrawn committed capacity) and unsecured debt.

In December 2020, the FDIC issued a final rule to revise and clarify its framework for classifying deposits as brokered deposits, with full compliance with this rule required by January 1, 2022. In accordance with this final rule, deposits generated through certain sweep deposit relationships were reclassified from brokered to direct deposits in the first quarter of 2022.

The following table summarizes certain information regarding our interest-bearing deposits by type (all of which constitute U.S. deposits) for the periods indicated:


Three months ended March 31 ($ in millions)	2022						2021
	Average Balance		%		Average Rate		Average Balance		%		Average Rate
Direct deposits:
Certificates of deposit (including IRA certificates of deposit)	$	20,226	32.5	%	1.0	%	$	25,291	40.3	%	1.5	%
Savings, money market, and demand accounts	31,097		49.9		0.5		26,806		42.8		0.5
Brokered deposits	10,991		17.6		1.3		10,627		16.9		1.5
Total interest-bearing deposits	$	62,314	100.0	%	0.8	%	$	62,724	100.0	%	1.1	%

Our deposit liabilities provide funding with maturities ranging from one day to ten years. At March 31, 2022, the weighted average maturity of our interest-bearing time deposits was 1.0 years. See Note 7. Deposits to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information on the maturities of our time deposits.

The following table summarizes deposits by contractual maturity at March 31, 2022:


($ in millions)	3 Months or Less		Over 3 Months but within 6 Months		Over 6 Months but within 12 Months		Over 12 Months		Total
U.S. deposits (less than FDIC insurance limit)(1)(2)	$	31,177	$	2,829	$	6,280	$	9,278	$	49,564
U.S. deposits (in excess of FDIC insurance limit)(2)
Direct deposits:
Certificates of deposit (including IRA certificates of deposit)	1,065		757		1,685		1,737		5,244
Savings, money market, and demand accounts	8,767		—		—		—		8,767


Total	$	41,009	$	3,586	$	7,965	$	11,015	$	63,575

______________________

(1)Includes brokered certificates of deposit for which underlying individual deposit balances are assumed to be less than $250,000.

(2)The standard deposit insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, for each account ownership category. Deposits in excess of FDIC insurance limit presented above include partially uninsured accounts.

Securitized Financings

We access the asset-backed securitization market using the Synchrony Credit Card Master Note Trust (“SYNCT”) and the Synchrony Card Issuance Trust (“SYNIT”) through which we may issue asset-backed securities through both public transactions and private transactions funded by financial institutions and commercial paper conduits. In addition, we issue asset-backed securities in private transactions through the Synchrony Sales Finance Master Trust (“SFT”).

The following table summarizes expected contractual maturities of the investors’ interests in securitized financings, excluding debt premiums, discounts and issuance costs at March 31, 2022.


($ in millions)	Less Than One Year		One Year Through Three Years		Four Years Through Five Years		After Five Years		Total
Scheduled maturities of long-term borrowings—owed to securitization investors:
SYNCT(1)	$	2,608	$	1,382	$	—	$	—	$	3,990
SFT	500		800		—		—		1,300
SYNIT(1)	850		—		—		—		850
Total long-term borrowings—owed to securitization investors	$	3,958	$	2,182	$	—	$	—	$	6,140

______________________

(1)Excludes any subordinated classes of SYNCT notes and SYNIT notes that we owned at March 31, 2022.

We retain exposure to the performance of trust assets through: (i) in the case of SYNCT, SFT and SYNIT, subordinated retained interests in the loan receivables transferred to the trust in excess of the principal amount of the notes for a given series that provide credit enhancement for a particular series, as well as a pari passu seller’s interest in each trust and (ii) in the case of SYNCT and SYNIT, any subordinated classes of notes that we own.

All of our securitized financings include early repayment triggers, referred to as early amortization events, including events related to material breaches of representations, warranties or covenants, inability or failure of the Bank to transfer loan receivables to the trusts as required under the securitization documents, failure to make required payments or deposits pursuant to the securitization documents, and certain insolvency-related events with respect to the related securitization depositor, Synchrony (solely with respect to SYNCT) or the Bank. In addition, an early amortization event will occur with respect to a series if the excess spread as it relates to a particular series or for the trust, as applicable, falls below zero. Following an early amortization event, principal collections on the loan receivables in the applicable trust are applied to repay principal of the trust's asset-backed securities rather than being available on a revolving basis to fund the origination activities of our business. The occurrence of an early amortization event also would limit or terminate our ability to issue future series out of the trust in which the early amortization event occurred. No early amortization event has occurred with respect to any of the securitized financings in SYNCT, SFT or SYNIT.

The following table summarizes for each of our trusts the three-month rolling average excess spread at March 31, 2022.


	Note Principal Balance ($ in millions)		# of Series Outstanding	Three-Month Rolling Average Excess Spread(1)
SYNCT	$	4,152	7	~18.0% to 20.4%
SFT	$	1,300	5	20.3	%
SYNIT	$	850	1	15.2	%

______________________

(1)Represents the excess spread (generally calculated as interest income collected from the applicable pool of loan receivables less applicable net charge-offs, interest expense and servicing costs, divided by the aggregate principal amount of loan receivables in the applicable pool) for SFT or, in the case of SYNCT, a range of the excess spreads relating to the particular series issued within such trust or, in the case of SYNIT, the excess spread relating to the one outstanding series issued within such trust, in all cases omitting any series that have not been outstanding for at least three full monthly periods and calculated in accordance with the applicable trust or series documentation, for the three securitization monthly periods ended March 31, 2022.

Senior Unsecured Notes

The following table provides a summary of our outstanding fixed rate senior unsecured notes at March 31, 2022.


Issuance Date	Interest Rate(1)	Maturity	Principal Amount Outstanding(2)
($ in millions)
Fixed rate senior unsecured notes:
Synchrony Financial
August 2014	4.250%	August 2024	1,250
July 2015	4.500%	July 2025	1,000
August 2016	3.700%	August 2026	500
December 2017	3.950%	December 2027	1,000
March 2019	4.375%	March 2024	600
March 2019	5.150%	March 2029	650
July 2019	2.850%	July 2022	750
October 2021	2.875%	October 2031	750
Synchrony Bank
June 2017	3.000%	June 2022	750
Total fixed rate senior unsecured notes			$	7,250

______________________

(1)Weighted average interest rate of all senior unsecured notes at March 31, 2022 was 3.88%.

(2)The amounts shown exclude unamortized debt discounts, premiums and issuance costs.

Short-Term Borrowings

Except as described above, there were no material short-term borrowings for the periods presented.

Other

At March 31, 2022, we had more than $25.0 billion of unencumbered assets in the Bank available to be used to generate additional liquidity through secured borrowings or asset sales or to be pledged to the Federal Reserve Board for credit at the discount window.

Covenants

The indenture pursuant to which our senior unsecured notes have been issued includes various covenants. If we do not satisfy any of these covenants, the maturity of amounts outstanding thereunder may be accelerated and become payable. We were in compliance with all of these covenants at March 31, 2022.

At March 31, 2022, we were not in default under any of our credit facilities.

Credit Ratings

Our borrowing costs and capacity in certain funding markets, including securitizations and senior and subordinated debt, may be affected by the credit ratings of the Company, the Bank and the ratings of our asset-backed securities.

The table below reflects our current credit ratings and outlooks:


	S&P	Fitch Ratings
Synchrony Financial
Senior unsecured debt	BBB-	BBB-
Preferred stock	BB-	B+
Outlook for Synchrony Financial senior unsecured debt	Stable	Stable
Synchrony Bank
Senior unsecured debt	BBB	BBB-
Outlook for Synchrony Bank senior unsecured debt	Stable	Stable

In addition, certain of the asset-backed securities issued by SYNCT and SYNIT are rated by Fitch, S&P and/or Moody’s. A credit rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities, may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating organization, and each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. Downgrades in these credit ratings could materially increase the cost of our funding from, and restrict our access to, the capital markets.

Liquidity

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We seek to ensure that we have adequate liquidity to sustain business operations, fund asset growth, satisfy debt obligations and to meet regulatory expectations under normal and stress conditions.

We maintain policies outlining the overall framework and general principles for managing liquidity risk across our business, which is the responsibility of our Asset and Liability Management Committee, a subcommittee of the Risk Committee of our Board of Directors. We employ a variety of metrics to monitor and manage liquidity. We perform regular liquidity stress testing and contingency planning as part of our liquidity management process. We evaluate a range of stress scenarios including Company specific and systemic events that could impact funding sources and our ability to meet liquidity needs.

We maintain a liquidity portfolio, which at March 31, 2022 had $14.7 billion of liquid assets, primarily consisting of cash and equivalents and short-term obligations of the U.S. Treasury, less cash in transit which is not considered to be liquid, compared to $13.0 billion of liquid assets at December 31, 2021. The increase in liquid assets was primarily due to the excess cash flows from operations and the seasonality of our business. We believe our liquidity position at March 31, 2022 remains strong as we continue to operate in a period of uncertain economic conditions and we will continue to closely monitor our liquidity as economic conditions change.

As additional sources of liquidity, at March 31, 2022, we had an aggregate of $2.6 billion of undrawn committed capacity on our securitized financings, subject to customary borrowing conditions, from private lenders under our securitization programs and $0.5 billion of undrawn committed capacity under our unsecured revolving credit facility with private lenders, and we had more than $25.0 billion of unencumbered assets in the Bank available to be used to generate additional liquidity through secured borrowings or asset sales or to be pledged to the Federal Reserve Board for credit at the discount window.

As a general matter, investments included in our liquidity portfolio are expected to be highly liquid, giving us the ability to readily convert them to cash. The level and composition of our liquidity portfolio may fluctuate based upon the level of expected maturities of our funding sources as well as operational requirements and market conditions.

We rely significantly on dividends and other distributions and payments from the Bank for liquidity; however, bank regulations, contractual restrictions and other factors limit the amount of dividends and other distributions and payments that the Bank may pay to us. For a discussion of regulatory restrictions on the Bank’s ability to pay dividends, see “Regulation—Risk Factors Relating to Regulation—We are subject to restrictions that limit our ability to pay dividends and repurchase our common stock; the Bank is subject to restrictions that limit its ability to pay dividends to us, which could limit our ability to pay dividends, repurchase our common stock or make payments on our indebtedness” and “Regulation—Regulation Relating to Our Business—Savings Association Regulation—Dividends and Stock Repurchases” in our 2021 Form 10-K.

Capital

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Our primary sources of capital have been earnings generated by our business and existing equity capital. We seek to manage capital to a level and composition sufficient to support the risks of our business, meet regulatory requirements, adhere to rating agency targets and support future business growth. The level, composition and utilization of capital are influenced by changes in the economic environment, strategic initiatives and legislative and regulatory developments. Within these constraints, we are focused on deploying capital in a manner that will provide attractive returns to our stockholders.

Synchrony is not currently required to conduct stress tests. See “Regulation—Regulation Relating to Our Business—Recent Legislative and Regulatory Developments” in our 2021 Form 10-K. In addition, while we have not been subject to the Federal Reserve Board's formal capital plan submission requirements to-date, we submitted a capital plan to the Federal Reserve Board in 2022. While not required, our capital plan process does include certain internal stress testing.

Dividend and Share Repurchases


Common Stock Cash Dividends Declared	Month of Payment	Amount per Common Share		Amount
($ in millions, except per share data)
Three months ended March 31, 2022	February 2022	$	0.22	$	114


Total dividends declared		$	0.22	$	114


Preferred Stock Cash Dividends Declared	Month of Payment	Amount per Preferred Share		Amount
($ in millions, except per share data)
Three months ended March 31, 2022	February 2022	$	14.06	$	10


Total dividends declared		$	14.06	$	10

In April 2022, we announced that our Board approved plans to increase our quarterly common stock dividend by 5% to $0.23 per common share commencing in the third quarter of 2022. The declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our common and preferred stock will be at the discretion of the Board and will depend on many factors. For a discussion of regulatory and other restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and repurchase stock, see “Regulation—Risk Factors Relating to Regulation—We are subject to restrictions that limit our ability to pay dividends and repurchase our common stock; the Bank is subject to restrictions that limit its ability to pay dividends to us, which could limit our ability to pay dividends, repurchase our common stock or make payments on our indebtedness” in our 2021 Form 10-K.


Common Shares Repurchased Under Publicly Announced Programs	Total Number of Shares Purchased	Dollar Value of Shares Purchased
($ and shares in millions)
Three months ended March 31, 2022	22.0	$	967


Total	22.0	$	967

During the first quarter of 2022, we repurchased $967 million of common stock as part of the share repurchase programs announced in 2021, with remaining authorized share repurchase capacity of $251 million under the 2021 program.

In addition, in April 2022, we announced that our Board approved an incremental share repurchase authorization of $2.8 billion through June 2023, resulting in total share repurchase authorization of $3.1 billion. In all instances, the share repurchase programs are subject to market conditions and other factors, including legal and regulatory restrictions and required approvals.

Regulatory Capital Requirements - Synchrony Financial

As a savings and loan holding company, we are required to maintain minimum capital ratios, under the applicable U.S. Basel III capital rules. For more information, see “Regulation—Savings and Loan Holding Company Regulation” in our 2021 Form 10-K.

For Synchrony Financial to be a well-capitalized savings and loan holding company, Synchrony Bank must be well-capitalized and Synchrony Financial must not be subject to any written agreement, order, capital directive, or prompt corrective action directive issued by the Federal Reserve Board to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure. At March 31, 2022, Synchrony Financial met all the requirements to be deemed well-capitalized.

The following table sets forth the composition of our capital ratios for the Company calculated under the Basel III Standardized Approach rules at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.


	Basel III
	At March 31, 2022				At December 31, 2021
($ in millions)	Amount		Ratio(1)		Amount		Ratio(1)
Total risk-based capital	$	14,360	17.2	%	$	15,122	17.8	%
Tier 1 risk-based capital	$	13,254	15.9	%	$	14,003	16.5	%
Tier 1 leverage	$	13,254	13.9	%	$	14,003	14.7	%
Common equity Tier 1 capital	$	12,520	15.0	%	$	13,269	15.6	%
Risk-weighted assets	$	83,251			$	84,950

______________________

(1)Tier 1 leverage ratio represents total Tier 1 capital as a percentage of total average assets, after certain adjustments. All other ratios presented above represent the applicable capital measure as a percentage of risk-weighted assets.

The Company elected to adopt the option provided by the interim final rule issued by joint federal bank regulatory agencies, which largely delayed the effects of CECL on our regulatory capital through December 31, 2021. Beginning in the first quarter of 2022, the effects are now being phased-in over a three-year transitional period through 2024, collectively the “CECL regulatory capital transition adjustment”. The effects of CECL on our regulatory capital will be fully phased-in beginning in the first quarter of 2025. For more information, see “Capital—Regulatory Capital Requirements - Synchrony Financial” in our 2021 Form 10-K.

Capital amounts and ratios in the above table all reflect the applicable CECL regulatory capital transition adjustment for each period. The decrease in our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio compared to December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the first year phase-in of the impact of CECL on our regulatory capital, which reduced our CET1 ratio by approximately 60 basis points.

Regulatory Capital Requirements - Synchrony Bank

At March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Bank met all applicable requirements to be deemed well-capitalized pursuant to OCC regulations and for purposes of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. The following table sets forth the composition of the Bank’s capital ratios calculated under the Basel III Standardized Approach rules at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, and also reflects the applicable CECL regulatory capital transition adjustment for each period.


	At March 31, 2022				At December 31, 2021				Minimum to be Well-Capitalized under Prompt Corrective Action Provisions
($ in millions)	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio		Ratio
Total risk-based capital	$	13,703	18.0	%	$	14,091	18.3	%	10.0%
Tier 1 risk-based capital	$	12,692	16.7	%	$	13,075	16.9	%	8.0%
Tier 1 leverage	$	12,692	14.6	%	$	13,075	15.1	%	5.0%
Common equity Tier 1 capital	$	12,692	16.7	%	$	13,075	16.9	%	6.5%

Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can result in the initiation of certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could limit our business activities and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. See “Regulation—Risk Factors Relating to Regulation—Failure by Synchrony and the Bank to meet applicable capital adequacy and liquidity requirements could have a material adverse effect on us” in our 2021 Form 10-K.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Unfunded Lending Commitments

____________________________________________________________________________________________

We do not have any material off-balance sheet arrangements, including guarantees of third-party obligations. Guarantees are contracts or indemnification agreements that contingently require us to make a guaranteed payment or perform an obligation to a third-party based on certain trigger events. At March 31, 2022, we had not recorded any contingent liabilities in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position related to any guarantees. See Note 5 - Variable Interest Entities to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information on our investment commitments for unconsolidated variable interest entity (“VIE's”).

We extend credit, primarily arising from agreements with customers for unused lines of credit on our credit cards, in the ordinary course of business. Each unused credit card line is unconditionally cancellable by us. See Note 4 - Loan Receivables and Allowance for Credit Losses to our condensed consolidated financial statements for more information on our unfunded lending commitments.

Critical Accounting Estimates

____________________________________________________________________________________________

In preparing our condensed consolidated financial statements, we have identified certain accounting estimates and assumptions that we consider to be the most critical to an understanding of our financial statements because they involve significant judgments and uncertainties. The critical accounting estimates we have identified relate to allowance for credit losses and fair value measurements. These estimates reflect our best judgment about current, and for some estimates future, economic and market conditions and their effects based on information available as of the date of these financial statements. If these conditions change from those expected, it is reasonably possible that these judgments and estimates could change, which may result in incremental losses on loan receivables, or material changes to our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, among other effects. See “Management's Discussion and Analysis—Critical Accounting Estimates” in our 2021 Form 10-K, for a detailed discussion of these critical accounting estimates.

Regulation and Supervision

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Our business, including our relationships with our customers, is subject to regulation, supervision and examination under U.S. federal, state and foreign laws and regulations. These laws and regulations cover all aspects of our business, including lending and collection practices, treatment of our customers, safeguarding deposits, customer privacy and information security, capital structure, liquidity, dividends and other capital distributions, transactions with affiliates, and conduct and qualifications of personnel. Such laws and regulations directly and indirectly affect key drivers of our profitability, including, for example, capital and liquidity, product offerings, risk management, and costs of compliance.

As a savings and loan holding company and a financial holding company, Synchrony is subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve Board. As a large provider of consumer financial services, we are also subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the CFPB.

The Bank is a federally chartered savings association. As such, the Bank is subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the OCC, which is its primary regulator, and by the CFPB. In addition, the Bank, as an insured depository institution, is supervised by the FDIC.

See “Regulation” in our 2021 Form 10-K for additional information on regulations that are currently applicable to us. See also “—Capital” above, for discussion of the impact of regulations and supervision on our capital and liquidity, including our ability to pay dividends and repurchase stock.

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Synchrony Financial and subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings (Unaudited)

____________________________________________________________________________________________


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions, except per share data)	2022		2021
Interest income:
Interest and fees on loans (Note 4)	$	4,008	$	3,732
Interest on cash and debt securities	14		10
Total interest income	4,022		3,742
Interest expense:
Interest on deposits	127		170
Interest on borrowings of consolidated securitization entities	33		51
Interest on senior unsecured notes	73		82

Total interest expense	233		303
Net interest income	3,789		3,439
Retailer share arrangements	(1,104)		(989)

Provision for credit losses (Note 4)	521		334
Net interest income, after retailer share arrangements and provision for credit losses	2,164		2,116
Other income:
Interchange revenue	230		171
Debt cancellation fees	89		69
Loyalty programs	(258)		(179)
Other	47		70
Total other income	108		131
Other expense:
Employee costs	402		364
Professional fees	210		190
Marketing and business development	116		95
Information processing	145		131
Other	166		152
Total other expense	1,039		932
Earnings before provision for income taxes	1,233		1,315
Provision for income taxes (Note 12)	301		290
Net earnings	$	932	$	1,025
Net earnings available to common stockholders	$	922	$	1,014

Earnings per share
Basic	$	1.79	$	1.74
Diluted	$	1.77	$	1.73

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Synchrony Financial and subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

____________________________________________________________________________________________


	Three months ended March 31,
($ in millions)	2022		2021

Net earnings	$	932	$	1,025

Other comprehensive income (loss)
Debt securities	(50)		(6)
Currency translation adjustments	(2)		2
Employee benefit plans	—		(1)
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(52)		(5)

Comprehensive income	$	880	$	1,020

Amounts presented net of taxes.

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Synchrony Financial and subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (Unaudited)

____________________________________________________________________________________________


($ in millions)	At March 31, 2022		At December 31, 2021
Assets
Cash and equivalents	$	10,541	$	8,337
Debt securities (Note 3)	4,677		5,283
Loan receivables: (Notes 4 and 5)
Unsecuritized loans held for investment	59,643		60,211
Restricted loans of consolidated securitization entities	19,273		20,529
Total loan receivables	78,916		80,740
Less: Allowance for credit losses	(8,651)		(8,688)
Loan receivables, net	70,265		72,052
Loan receivables held for sale (Note 4)	4,046		4,361
Goodwill	1,105		1,105
Intangible assets, net (Note 6)	1,149		1,168
Other assets	3,484		3,442
Total assets	$	95,267	$	95,748

Liabilities and Equity
Deposits: (Note 7)
Interest-bearing deposit accounts	$	63,180	$	61,911
Non-interest-bearing deposit accounts	395		359
Total deposits	63,575		62,270
Borrowings: (Notes 5 and 8)
Borrowings of consolidated securitization entities	6,139		7,288

Senior unsecured notes	7,221		7,219
Total borrowings	13,360		14,507
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	4,914		5,316
Total liabilities	$	81,849	$	82,093

Equity:
Preferred stock, par share value $0.001 per share; 750,000 shares authorized; 750,000 shares issued and outstanding at both March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and aggregate liquidation preference of $750 at both March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021	$	734	$	734
Common Stock, par share value $0.001 per share; 4,000,000,000 shares authorized; 833,984,684 shares issued at both March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021; 506,223,095 and 526,830,205 shares outstanding at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively	1		1
Additional paid-in capital	9,643		9,669
Retained earnings	15,003		14,245
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):
Debt securities	(46)		4
Currency translation adjustments	(28)		(26)
Employee benefit plans	(47)		(47)
Treasury stock, at cost; 327,761,589 and 307,154,479 shares at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively	(11,842)		(10,925)

Total equity	13,418		13,655
Total liabilities and equity	$	95,267	$	95,748

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Synchrony Financial and subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity (Unaudited)

____________________________________________________________________________________________


	Preferred Stock			Common Stock
($ in millions, shares in thousands)	Shares Issued	Amount		Shares Issued	Amount		Additional Paid-in Capital		Retained Earnings		Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)		Treasury Stock		Total Equity

Balance at January 1, 2021	750	$	734	833,985	$	1	$	9,570	$	10,621	$	(51)	$	(8,174)	$	12,701



Net earnings	—	—		—	—		—		1,025		—		—		1,025
Other comprehensive income	—	—		—	—		—		—		(5)		—		(5)

Purchases of treasury stock	—	—		—	—		—		—		—		(200)		(200)
Stock-based compensation	—	—		—	—		22		(37)		—		72		57
Dividends - preferred stock ($14.06 per share)	—	—		—	—		—		(11)		—		—		(11)
Dividends - common stock ($0.22 per share)	—	—		—	—		—		(128)		—		—		(128)

Balance at March 31, 2021	750	$	734	833,985	$	1	$	9,592	$	11,470	$	(56)	$	(8,302)	$	13,439