The news: Synchrony spent $137 million in marketing and business development in Q3 2026, a 14% increase YoY. Coupled with big portfolio acquisitions like Walmart/OnePay and a refreshed Venmo Credit Card, Synchrony should be celebrating impressive cardholder acquisitions.

Instead, average active accounts have fallen for nearly three years.

After a high of 71.5 million cardholders in Q4 2023, accounts dropped to 70.3 million by the end of 2024, 69.3 million by the end of 2025, and now 68.3 million as of Q3 2026.

How we got here: Synchrony joined most other banks in tightening underwriting after the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in 2022 and delinquencies surged. After hitting a post-pandemic low of 2.11% in 2021, Synchrony’s early delinquency rate more than doubled to 4.74% by 2024.

But delinquencies have since stabilized—sitting at 4.34% in Q3—and other banks have touted strong cardholder acquisition. Bank of America, for example, opened more than 1 million credit card accounts in Q3.

So why hasn’t Synchrony?

It could be that Synchrony actually is ramping up acquisitions—while just as rapidly culling riskier accounts. That could explain why net charge-offs dropped 9% QoQ and 20% YoY this quarter.

That might justify nominally flat growth in the absence of other changes. But it doesn’t bode well for an issuer that recently reclaimed a co-brand partnership once estimated to hold $9 billion in receivables. True, Synchrony is starting from scratch; Capital One lost the Walmart co-brand but retained the cardholders. Even so, Synchrony is either reluctant to loosen its underwriting standards enough to drive growth, or the OnePay CashRewards doesn’t have the same appeal as the old Walmart cards.

Implications for issuers: Issuers are in a bind.

Delinquencies have stabilized, but they’re still well above where they were before the pandemic. So are interest rates—and there are signs the Federal Reserve may keep rates “higher for longer” for even longer than we thought.

That’s not a good acquisition environment.

On the other hand, consumers have repeatedly demonstrated their resilience. Retail spending beat expectations in September, and credit card utilization rates have barely budged in three years, per VantageScore’s CreditGauge. Anxieties around the cost of living also make credit cards an attractive prospect.

Sound underwriting is one thing, but issuers that are too cautious about opening new accounts while the economy holds steady will lose out on key acquisitions and customer relationships.