2 min read February 2023 — Consumer financial services company Synchrony sees many growth opportunities despite the economic downturn amid increasing interest in wellness and new insurance products for pets. “I expect customers to continue to make sure that they have financing options available to take care of things that are associated with their health and wellness,” Ron Everett, the company’s Eastern United States servicing and global bank operations leader, told Invest:.
What have been the key highlights or milestones for Synchrony over the last 12 months?
We continue to be very strong in our platform performance. We have multiple platforms — digital, home and auto, health and wellness and others — and we’ve been very strong across all of them. That has been impressive. We also continue to be a great place to work as indicated by our employees through our pulse surveys, town halls and listening sessions. A key part of that is the flexibility and choice our employees have to work at home (full or part-time) or go to the office when they need and want to.
In 2022, Synchrony also made investments to support U.S. hourly associates and address the impact of inflation, funding its performance plus bonus program at its highest ever amount. This is a great recognition of the contribution of our frontline associates in delivering for our business, our partners and customers.
The consumer was very strong in 2022. That’s how I look at the past year as well as our efforts around diversity and being in the community. We continue to be very visible in those areas.
How is the company preparing for a possible economic downturn?
It’s one of those things that’s kind of a black box. We know we’re in a rising rate environment aimed at staving off some of the inflationary pressures that we’ve been seeing. Because of that, we’re focused on making sure that we remain very targeted in our approach around how we hire and where we grow and making sure that the plans that we put in place for 2023 are plans that are responsible and enable us to manage the business well through cycles. We’re well positioned to grow even in an economy that has a little bit of inflationary pressure and we are looking at growing specific segments.
From an inflationary standpoint, we want to make sure that we have the right reserves in place. But we also feel very confident and bullish about consumers. They were resilient throughout 2022 and we expect that to continue throughout 2023. We feel like we’re positioned to not only grow but to grow in the credit space.
The other factor is that because of some of the rate pressures, housing has started to slow down a little bit. We expect to see people start to navigate toward other places to put their money. Instead of buying a home, maybe they’ll improve upon the home that they already have. We offer products that are going to help with that.
What are the business segments that you see driving growth into the future?
During the height of the pandemic, people went out and became pet parents to dogs, cats and all types of animals. I don’t see a lot of buyer’s remorse at this point. As those animals continue to get integrated into those families, they’re going to look to make sure those pets are secured and covered with insurance products like our Pets Best insurance. We also offer several products from our Care Credit platform where our customers can get financing through dental offices or local doctors. I don’t expect those things to slow down. I expect customers to continue to make sure that they have financing options available to take care of things that are associated with their health and wellness.
What are the characteristics that make Charlotte a good place for Synchrony?
When you think about Charlotte, it has everything. It has several corporate offices that are housed here. That attracts talent, and it’s not hard to get talent to move here because it’s a good city. We have a lot of major bank players here and we sit in the financial space, so the talent is already here.
The environment itself is great. The weather is not too extreme on one end or the other. Those things work very well. The cost of living also is not as high as some of those other major cities, and even if you wanted to be in an area outside of Charlotte, you’re able to be in those areas and enjoy an even lower cost of living while still being able to take advantage of the conveniences of Charlotte.
What are your outlook and top priorities for the next three to five years?
We are going to keep our finger on the pulse of the economy and what’s going to happen with inflation and any other rate pressures that are associated with that. We will continue to do that and make sure that we pivot if we need to for our customers and our partners. That’s one of our priorities.
We also want to continue to make sure that our employees are feeling supported, regardless of where the economy goes and that they continue to enjoy the flexibility and choice that we offer both from a work environment standpoint, and also a mental health and wellness standpoint. Another priority is to ensure that we perform throughout the rest of the year for our investors, our clients, our partners, our employees, and our customers and make sure that people still have access to credit when they need it.
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