Virginia Tech, University of Missouri and Oregon State University Latest to Select CareCredit as Financing Solution of Choice for Pet Care

CareCredit Accepted by 28 of the Nation’s 29 Public Veterinary University Hospitals for General Practice, Specialty and Emergency Care

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 13, 2023 – Synchrony (NYSE: SYF), a leading consumer finance company, today announced partnerships with Virginia Tech, the University of Missouri and Oregon State University, making the company’s CareCredit health and wellness credit card a financing option for the schools’ veterinary university hospitals. This expands on Synchrony’s commitment to educating, empowering, and supporting the nation’s veterinary universities by providing access to care for pets and horse owners through flexible financial solutions.

“For decades, veterinary university programs and hospitals have been an invaluable resource for pet owners,” said Jonathan Wainberg, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Pet, Synchrony. “By partnering with veterinary universities, we’re both expanding access to simple, flexible financing options for pet parents to pay for veterinary care and connecting veterinarians with the education and resources they need to thrive in today’s workforce.”

Synchrony partners with veterinary universities for a few key reasons. To enable pet parents to pay for the care their animals need and to support aspiring veterinarians and help grow the veterinary profession by providing access to essential resources and tools. The company collaborates with veterinary teaching hospitals and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) candidates, as outlined below.

#1: Widening access to CareCredit’s suite of financial solutions and resources to grow hospitals and help ensure a lifetime of care for all pets

Today, Synchrony’s CareCredit solution is accepted at 28 of the nation’s 29 universities with public veterinary hospitals serving their pet communities. As a leader in financing, CareCredit is currently available at more than 25,000 veterinary providers. With the expansion to university hospitals, pet and horse owners can access flexible financing for the specialized and complex care provided through universities.

Veterinarians routinely refer their clients to these hospitals that serve a vital role in lifetime care, and knowing budget-friendly solutions are available can reduce barriers due to cost.

“Our hope is that with CareCredit, more of our clients will be able to move forward with the treatments their pets need,” said Drema Foster, Director of Clinical Business Operations, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech. “When we get a referral for specialty treatment, our client care coordinators call the pet parent to give an estimate for an initial appointment. Some of them say, ‘No, we can't come, we just simply can't afford it.’ I think we can help more pet parents and their pets because they have a flexible payment option.”

For more than 30 years, CareCredit has been a valuable financing option for all types of veterinary services, treatments, and diagnostics, giving pet parents peace of mind that they are ready to care for their pets throughout their lifetime.

The financial experience is fast and frictionless for the clients and veterinary teams as well. Pet parents looking for a flexible way to pay for their animal's care can quickly see if they prequalify for the CareCredit credit card in real time, with no impact to their credit score, and apply on any smart device, at any participating veterinary university hospital, or over the phone. If approved, a pet parent can use their account to pay for their service immediately. Depending on purchase amount, short-term and long-term promotional financing options are available, including deferred interest if paid in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months and reduced APR with fixed monthly payments for 24, 36, 48 or 60 months.

#2: Educating veterinary students on financial literacy for business and the role of financing in empowering access to care

Synchrony continues to offer a suite of educational assets, resources and programs to veterinary university programs to help support aspiring veterinary students, including:

• Mental health and wellness techniques for veterinary team management
• Financial literacy and management
• Research and curriculum lessons on “Language of Care”/”Lifetime of Care” to ensure seamless client and vet team communications 

Additionally, Synchrony serves as a national sponsor of the Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA), a student-driven organization dedicated to advancing the profession through increasing business knowledge, creating networking opportunities, and empowering students to achieve their personal and professional goals.

#3: Expanding pathways for increased diverse representation in the veterinary industry

The Synchrony Foundation continues to partner with the Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine (TUCVM) to grow educational and training opportunities for Tuskegee veterinary students and support the goal of attaining greater diversity in the veterinary industry.

Through the multi-year partnership, the Synchrony Foundation funds scholarships and emergency assistance grants and offers mentorship program for students interested in developing professional skills like communication, collaboration, and innovation; financial education on banking, financial wellness, credit, and managing debt; and an educational forum called CareCredit Vet University for first to third year students to learn from CareCredit, Pets Best, the professional veterinary community, and key opinion leaders in the vet space. 

Since 2021, the Synchrony Foundation has made grants to the College, including eight $20,000 scholarships.

About Synchrony

Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company delivering one of the industry's most complete digitally enabled product suites. Our experience, expertise and scale encompass a broad spectrum of industries including digital, health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, home, auto, outdoor, pet and more. We have an established and diverse group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations and healthcare service providers, which we refer to as our "partners." We connect our partners and consumers through our dynamic financial ecosystem and provide them with a diverse set of financing solutions and innovative digital capabilities to address their specific needs and deliver seamless, omnichannel experiences. We offer the right financing products to customers in their channel of choice.

For more information, visit www.synchrony.com and Twitter: @Synchrony.

Contact:

Lauren Devilbiss
Synchrony
Lauren.Devilbiss@syf.com
240-814-5825