Synchrony CFO: Why Experience — Not Credit — Is the New Competitive Moat in Consumer Finance

For Synchrony Chief Financial Officer Brian Wenzel, the story of today’s consumer isn’t about inflation, credit tightening, or macro stress signals. It’s about expectation.

Throughout his Monday Conversation with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, a theme surfaced again and again: consumers are gravitating toward platforms, products, and ecosystems that make buying feel easier, faster, more personalized, and more in control. Experience is becoming a moat.

And Wenzel makes clear that this shift is transforming how consumers borrow, how merchants embed financial tools, and how artificial intelligence (AI) will mediate the next generation of commerce.

While headlines often paint a gloomy picture of U.S. household finances, Wenzel pushed back. “The narrative around the consumer that is one under tremendous stress, I think, is a little bit overplayed,” he said. He acknowledged affordability pressures, especially among middle-income households, but emphasized that Synchrony’s data shows discipline, rationality, and segmented behavior, not distress.

Transaction values and purchase frequency have increased for four consecutive quarters, a trend that continued into October. Wenzel underscored that this strength is especially notable among non-prime consumers.

“The biggest group was again non-prime,” he said, pointing out that these consumers are spending more frequently and with larger ticket sizes, but in a way that signals thoughtful behavior rather than overextension. “It really tells you that the consumer’s willing to spend, I think they’re very disciplined… especially with the affordability concerns, they’re being very rational.”

Even inflation is not dampening that willingness to spend, because wage growth is still functioning as a stabilizer. As Wenzel said, “Wage growth is still hanging in there. And that’s one of the bigger indicators.” From his perchm consumers aren’t retreating; they’re being more intentional.

Throughout the conversation, Wenzel made a subtle but profound point: consumers aren’t choosing financial products based solely on credit limits, interest rates, or fees. They are choosing experiences, and this shift explains why BNPL has gained such traction.

“It’s a great experience for the customer… That’s what differentiates itself,” he noted.

The same dynamic is behind the renewed strategic strength of private-label credit. When financial products are deeply integrated into merchant ecosystems, they do more than facilitate transactions. They create a unified, intuitive journey. This thinking underlies Synchrony’s renewed partnership with Walmart, now built inside the retailer’s One Pay app and anchored in a seamless omnichannel journey.

 “The value proposition… is much richer than it was back when we had [it] before,” Wenzel said, noting that most new sign-ups so far are Walmart+ members, who earn 5% back on Walmart purchases and 1.5% elsewhere, compared with 3% and 1.5% for non-members.

“In-store, Walmart shoppers can scan a QR code to digitally apply for credit and get an instant response. If approved, the card goes directly into the One Pay app or the Walmart app, as well as for online purchases,” he added.

This type of seamless experience isn’t a feature; it’s the new platform on which competition is being fought. For Walmart, it’s an increasingly common experience tailored for all of the 100 mllion consumers who walk through their doors every week in the US , including a more affluent buyer looking to make purchases beyond the grocery aisle.

If today’s differentiator is frictionless credit and embedded experiences, tomorrow’s will be AI orchestration. Wenzel sees both promise and prerequisites. Consumers are already signaling their willingness to outsource parts of the shopping journey to intelligent agents. But he emphasized that AI-powered purchasing won’t scale until core infrastructure challenges are resolved.

“It’s unclear who will win, who will lose, and who will adopt,” he said, pointing to interoperability issues, particularly around payment credentialing, that must be addressed to prevent unauthorized or disputed transactions.

Wenzel believes that private-label ecosystems tightly integrated with merchants may have an advantage because they can unify identity, credentials, and checkout experiences. AI will not replace human decision-making, Wenzel noted, but it will emerge as a convenience layer. Another way consumers choose experiences that lighten the cognitive burden of shopping.

Synchrony’s strategy is increasingly oriented around categories where experience matters even more: health, dental, home improvement, auto, the categories where decisions tend to be complex and often essential. The company’s acquisition of Versatile Credit reflects this strategic focus and deepens its reach into these essential life categories.

“It is a great capability we can bring to our partners… We were the largest lender inside of Versatile. So, we knew them very well,” Wenzel explained. Versatile’s waterfall technology doesn’t simply expand approval options; it creates a smoother, more confident consumer journey, particularly for mid-market merchants that once lacked access to comparable tools. Embedded finance, in this context, becomes less about origination alone and more about helping consumers make meaningful, often stressful, life purchases with clarity and choice.

Economic cycles come and go, but Wenzel’s message is that experience endures. Across categories, income tiers, and purchase types, the consumer is rewarding providers that simplify complexity, integrate seamlessly, reduce friction, personalize decisions and instill trust.

The firms that win the next chapter of retail finance, Wenzel suggested, will not be the ones that simply extend credit. They will be the ones that make buying feel effortless.

Whether through BNPL, embedded card programs, AI shopping agents, or waterfall lending, Wenzel said that Synchrony is positioning itself not as a credit provider but to be an experience infrastructure partner for their partners.

The post Synchrony CFO: Why Experience — Not Credit — Is the New Competitive Moat in Consumer Finance appeared first on PYMNTS.com.