By PYMNTS | October 20, 2026
Consumer financing company Synchrony saw record third-quarter purchase volume, with both discretionary and non-discretionary out-of-partner spend on its consumer co-branded cards growing by double digits, Synchrony President and CEO Brian Doubles said Tuesday (Oct. 20) during an earnings call.
The purchase volume increased 8% year over year to reach $49.7 billion, the highest third-quarter level ever seen by Synchrony, according to a Tuesday press release.
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“Strength in discretionary spend came from categories like electronics and entertainment, while in non-discretionary, gas station and discount store spend grew fastest,” Doubles said.
The purchase volume was broad-based, as Synchrony saw increases across all five of its sales platforms, Doubles said. Compared to the same quarter last year, purchase volume was up 13% in Diversified & Value, 9% in Home & Auto, 6% in Lifestyle, 5% in Digital and 3% in Health & Wellness, according to a financial results presentation released Tuesday.
Doubles attributed the growth in part to higher gas prices in the Diversified & Value platform, the performance of select furniture retailers and the impact of higher gas prices in Home & Auto, strength in apparel and luxury in Lifestyle, strong customer engagement across partners in Digital, and growth in the pet category in Health & Wellness.
Doubles also pointed to the impact of new partners and new programs.
During the third quarter, Synchrony added or renewed 10 partners, including La-Z-Boy and Fender; embedded its CareCredit flexible financing into Vetspire’s veterinary practice management platform; refreshed the Venmo credit card to offer more cash back for splitting purchases with friends; introduced the CareCredit Pay Later installment loan product; integrated with Stripe to make it easier for providers and health and wellness retailers to offer CareCredit financing in their online checkout; partnered with OpenAI on agentic commerce and enterprise AI access; and joined the Personal Agent Protocol (Poppy) initiative that aims to define an open standard for agentic commerce, according to the press release.
“Our products and experiences resonate across generations and spend categories amid a dynamic consumer landscape because we are constantly investing in innovation and evolving with our customers and partners,” Doubles said during the call.