The news: Synchrony renewed its partnership with Sam’s Club’s private label and co-brand card portfolio, per a press release.
Why it matters: Sam’s Club is one of Synchrony’s five largest retail partners.
Losing Sam’s Club when the contract expired could have debilitated its volume growth. Synchrony’s purchase volume totaled $45 billion in Q3 2024, growing 4% YoY.
The bigger picture: Sam’s Club’s parent company, Walmart, is in the midst of transforming its own co-brand and private label portfolio.
After ending its relationship with Capital One last year, Walmart will reportedly relaunch its card program with its majority-owned fintech, One, this year. But it hasn’t yet identified a banking partner program.
Our take: Given Sam’s Club’s successful 30-year partnership with Synchrony, the issuer could be in the running to issue Walmart’s new card program. Synchrony issued Walmart’s old portfolio until 2018, when the retailer left for Capital One after a legal dispute.
While Walmart and One work with Coastal Community Bank for the fintech’s installment offering, the retailer will likely need a larger issuer like Synchrony to restart what will likely be a massive card program.
But Synchrony might not be interested given how its relationship with Walmart ended. It also depends on the extent of One’s involvement with the program: The economics of a dual partnership may not make sense for the issuer.
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