Synchrony Financial at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So Brian, let's kick it off. Despite a lot of noise in the macro, it's been another successful year for the company. You renewed over 40 partners, including bringing back Walmart. Credit continues to be strong, returned a lot of capital. So given that backdrop, maybe just talk about how you think the position is positioned into '26. And really what are the key things that you're focused on?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So speaking of the consumer, let's spend a minute or 2 talking about the health of the consumer. You talked about loan growth has been slow, but it sounds like there's signs that it could improve. Spend volume turned positive in 3Q due to both average transaction volume and frequency, both have been improving. Maybe just talk about what you're seeing from the consumer and maybe just talk a little bit about the difference between the prime and subprime cohorts.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Maybe just narrowing on the near term. Maybe as a follow-up, maybe talk about what you're seeing in terms of spend in 4Q. Any noticeable trends that are noticing in terms of spend patterns around the holidays?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : And maybe while we're talking about near-term dynamics, you released your 8-K this morning, which I was in the office for and showed credit trends continuing to outperform seasonality. And I think on a positive note, loan growth is showing signs of improving, which I think was very encouraging. So maybe just talk a little bit about what you released this morning. Maybe any other pieces of 4Q guidance that you wanted to comment on as we sit here today.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Maybe to shift gears a little bit, talk a little bit about the platforms and loan growth, Brian, you touched upon these in your opening remarks. Maybe just spend a little time digging a little deeper in terms of where you're seeing strength. You talked about Digital, Health & Wellness. What type of transactions are still underperforming? And how do you think this positions the business into next year?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So you brought up Walmart a couple of times. I guess in the second quarter, you announced that you'd agreed to bring them back as a partner. Maybe just talk about why this made sense for you, what you're doing differently? And what is the path to this becoming a top 5 to top 10 partner that you've talked about?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : And maybe just one quick follow-up. I think you noted several times that this is the strongest launch ever. What should we be watching to assure that things are on track with this partner? LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 09, 2025 / 1:00PM, SYF.N - Synchrony Financial at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So you talked a little bit before about the credit actions that has been taken. I believe recently, you talked about unwinding some, I think, about 30% with a focus on Health & Wellness and Digital. Talk a little bit about the changes you've made? And then second, I think you talked about unwinding in 3 phases over the next period of time around two years. What will be the next 2 phases entail? And what are you watching to determine whether or not you could actually move those up?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So sort of to bring together all the comments on loan growth, it feels like unwinding the curtailment, the strength of Walmart, a relatively stable economy, it feels like we're pretty poised to have improving growth over the medium term. I think you made a comment just now that you see us heading back to the long-term framework. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 09, 2025 / 1:00PM, SYF.N - Synchrony Financial at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Maybe just talk about -- I know we'll get guidance in January, how you're thinking broad strokes about '26. And over the medium term, what will it take us to get back to that, call it, 7% to 10% growth that you guys historically targeted?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So Brian, I wanted to spend a minute on the organic pipeline. So you highlighted Walmart. You won a portion of Lowe's, SOS Pay later at Amazon, a handful of others. Maybe just talk about what the environment looks like for new business wins, whether it's startups or portfolios from competitors and talk a little bit about where the pipeline is skewed towards.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : And speaking of competition, you could see it in the stats. I think many of your largest partners are renewed until 2030, '22 of '25 through '27 or later, 97% of balances, not a lot of risk of losing partners. But maybe just speak about recent trends in renewals, where is the pendulum swinging? And how do things like PPPCs factor in?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : I guess maybe just as a follow-up to that, maybe for Brian Wenzel. There was a couple of tweaks to the PPPCs. I think it was you mentioned last quarter. How are you thinking about these over the longer term? Do you expect them to be competed away or spread around the partners and consumers over time? What is sort of the long-term trajectory of these?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Let's -- we touched upon it earlier, but let's talk a little bit about credit. You guys have performed in line or better than most peers in terms of credit performance. Brian wants me to say better than everybody. I guess, first.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Try to be modest. First, maybe just talk about what has driven this outperformance. And then second, again, I'm sure we'll get guidance in January, but you've been running at sort of the low end of your targeted range. You've obviously been in a restrictive credit stance in the past few years. What do you think all this means for credit over the medium term?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : And then sort of as a follow-up, because of the strong credit performance, we've obviously seen the allowance come down. I think you mentioned it's likely to continue to have a downward bias. I know a big part of this is mechanical, but how do you balance bringing down the reserve to reflect improved credit, but obviously, there continues to be uncertainty in the macro?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Let's spend just a minute or so talking about the net interest margin. You had a ton of success this year, bringing the margin up driven by a handful of things, PPPCs lower liquidity. You did a great job optimizing the funding. And it feels like the rate environment is becoming more conducive for your balance sheet. So maybe just talk about the path back to at or above 16% margin? And what are sort of the key drivers to getting there?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Two last questions to get through here in the last 2 minutes. So first, let's just shift to talk about capital. CET1 stands at over 13.5%. You recently upped the buyback by $1 billion to $3.5 billion. If my calculus is correct, when you finish this allotment, you should still have about 13% CET1, obviously, that's subject to the pace of loan growth, and that's still well in excess of your 11% target. Maybe just talk about the path and time frame to getting closer to the 11%. And can we continue to see this pace of buyback even with improving loan growth?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : So Brian, I think for the last couple of years we've always ended on the same question. Last year we sat there, I said it was the best performing stock in the coverage, and this year I had another outstanding, year of performance. I guess when you look ahead, obviously stock has done much better. What do you think is still left for investors here?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sach - Analyst : Awesome. Well, with that, please join me in thanking the team.