Synchrony Financial is one of the largest consumer financial services companies in the U.S., known for private-label credit cards, co-branded credit products, and real-time financing solutions used across major retailers. Headquartered in Stamford, Conn., after starting in New York as GE Capital Retail Finance, Synchrony has grown its financial technology initiatives through deep partnerships with brands across wellness, automotive, retail, and small business sectors.

In healthcare, however, one Synchrony product stands above the rest: CareCredit, the company’s flagship revolving credit card designed for medical, dental, veterinary, vision, and aesthetic spending. While Synchrony Bank and synchrony.com offer a broad suite of financing products and credit solutions, CareCredit remains the most widely recognized option for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.

Despite its popularity, however, CareCredit comes with some drawbacks that have forced patients and practices to reevaluate their financing options. Deferred interest programs, hard credit checks, and lower approval rates among BNPL-first consumers are just a few. Today we cover some top alternatives to Synchrony’s CareCredit financing solution, comparing them in key areas like accessibility, underwriting, and profitability for practices.

How Synchrony Works in Healthcare

When a practice says they “use Synchrony,” they almost always mean CareCredit. While Synchrony Financial’s portfolio spans credit cards, capital solutions for retailers, and digital banking services through Synchrony Bank, CareCredit is the centerpiece of its healthcare footprint.

CareCredit functions as a revolving credit line, offering promotional financing through deferred interest and reduced APR plans. Approvals rely on a hard credit inquiry, traditional underwriting metrics, and credit history. Patients who qualify may access 6-24 month deferred-interest options or 24-60 month reduced APR plans, but missed payments or partial payoff during promotional windows can trigger interest charges retroactively, resulting in surprise debt that can balloon easily when combined with high APR.

Synchrony Pay Later adds a short-term BNPL layer to the company’s financing products, though adoption in healthcare remains modest compared to CareCredit’s legacy footprint.

As a financial solutions company, Synchrony’s performance, valuation, net income, and metrics are considered strong by analysts in the consumer finance markets. But on the ground — inside practices managing real patient experiences — many providers (and patients) now want simpler, more accessible, transparent payment solutions that mirror modern consumer behavior rather than traditional credit card structures.

The Best Synchrony Alternatives for Healthcare

1. Cherry Payment Plans: BNPL Built Specifically for Healthcare

Cherry has quickly become one of the most widely adopted BNPL fintech solutions in healthcare because it solves the largest pain points associated with traditional credit card financing. Unlike Synchrony, Cherry uses a soft credit check during the application process that never impacts credit score and instantly approves 80%+ of patients across diverse credit profiles — a transformative shift for practices that previously relied on hard-pull lenders.

Qualified borrowers can access financing up to $50,000, with a range of interest-free Pay in 4 options and installment plans up to 60 months, including true 0% APR (never deferred interest). This clarity resonates strongly with modern wellness consumers who want predictable financing without retroactive charges.

Cherry’s platform supports real-time decisioning, simple API integrations, automated payment reminders, and the lowest merchant fees in the industry. This combination of accessibility, profitability, and transparency makes Cherry a leading competitor to Synchrony Financial for medical, dental, veterinary, and aesthetic providers seeking elevated patient experiences and stronger cash flow.

Best for: Practices seeking a mix of accessibility and profitability from high approvals, modern BNPL user experience, larger loan amounts, true 0% APR financing for qualified borrowers, and the lowest merchant fees in the industry.

2. Affirm: Transparent, No-Fee Installments

Affirm is one of the most recognized consumer financial services companies in the BNPL market, partnering with retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Apple. Its healthcare footprint continues to grow due to a clean user interface, predictable interest terms, and soft credit checks that never affect credit score.

Affirm offers Pay in 4 and longer installment options up to 36 months. While its loan maximums (commonly up to ~$17,500) are lower than Cherry or Proceed Finance, Affirm’s clarity and consumer familiarity drive high conversion, especially among Gen Z and millennial patients.

Affirm reports to credit bureaus for certain loans, does not charge late fees, and is widely perceived as a trustworthy fintech brand — attributes that enhance consumer confidence inside healthcare environments.

Best for: Practices with younger patient populations or mid-size treatment costs.

3. Afterpay (U.S. Healthcare Use Restricted to Med Spa/Aesthetic Retail)

Afterpay is one of the most prominent BNPL providers globally, but U.S. regulatory and partnership constraints limit its healthcare use to aesthetic, cosmetic, and med spa categories only. It cannot be used for medical, dental, veterinary, or wellness-medical procedures.

For practices with significant aesthetic retail sales — skincare, injectables, laser treatments, and beauty-adjacent services — Afterpay provides frictionless Pay in 4 financing with no interest, no hard credit check, fast approvals, and high brand recognition.

Its smooth checkout flow mirrors how patients already shop with retailers such as Sephora or Ulta. This makes a natural fit for cosmetic businesses that prioritize consumer-driven spending behavior, while other alternatives are better-suited to general healthcare.

Best for: Med spas and aesthetic practices with retail-like purchasing patterns.

4. Klarna: Flexible BNPL With Expanding Wellness Applications

Klarna is one of the largest global fintech lenders and a recurring name on consumer finance watchlists covering top competitors in the BNPL sector. While Klarna is primarily associated with retail and small business marketplaces, it is increasingly used across elective wellness categories including med spa, cosmetic procedures, dermatology, and some vision services.

Klarna offers Pay in 4, Pay in 30, and installment plans up to 24 months. Approval decisions use a soft inquiry (but may require hard pulls for longer-term plans), aligning with modern consumer expectations. Klarna’s strength lies in its brand ubiquity, smooth app-based repayment system, and loyalty features that improve ongoing patient spending behavior.

Because Klarna is not built specifically for healthcare, its underwriting, APIs, and workflows may not always map directly to clinical needs — but for retail-forward wellness brands, it offers a familiar and frictionless alternative to Synchrony.

Best for: Wellness, med spa, and elective-care businesses serving BNPL-native consumers.

5. Proceed Finance: Long-Term Installment Loans for High-Ticket Cases

Proceed Finance specializes in high-ticket healthcare installment loans, making it an essential alternative for procedures costing up to $75,000 — far above typical BNPL limitations. Its underwriting uses traditional metrics, including hard credit checks, and offers structured terms from 24 to 96 months, supporting affordability for major dental, surgical, and specialty treatment plans.

Proceed Finance often partners with practices delivering implant dentistry, orthodontics, bariatric surgery, or other major procedures requiring predictable long-term financing. Practices benefit from upfront payment, stable cash flow, and the ability to offer premium treatments without requiring in-house plans.

Proceed Finance is a natural complement — not a replacement — for BNPL tools like Cherry or Affirm, offering broad coverage for both small and large cases in a multi-lender strategy.

Best for: High-ticket providers wanting long-term loan options outside the credit card model.

Synchrony vs. Its Alternatives: Key Differences

Synchrony’s healthcare financing is built on a traditional credit card foundation, emphasizing revolving credit, deferred interest programs, and long-standing relationships with financial institutions that shape credit-industry trends. While this legacy structure contributes to Synchrony’s scale and profitability, it also makes the product less flexible than modern fintech competitors using real-time decisioning and lightweight APIs.

The alternatives — particularly Cherry, Affirm, and Klarna — prioritize transparency, accessibility, and digital-native experiences. These lenders reflect consumer financial services industry trends emphasizing frictionless onboarding, immediate approvals, soft inquiries, and predictable installment terms.

Which Synchrony Alternative Is Best for Your Practice?

The right solution depends on your specialty, patient demographics, and revenue model:

• Cherry is a strong healthcare-specific replacement with high approval rates, large loan amounts, true 0% APR options for qualified borrowers, and the lowest merchant fees in the industry.
  
• Affirm works best for practices with younger patients and mid-size treatment plans.
  
• Afterpay is excellent for med spa retail transactions but cannot be used for medical procedures.
  
• Klarna is ideal for wellness and cosmetic practices with strong retail or elective-care demand.
  
• Proceed Finance is unmatched for high-ticket procedures requiring long-term affordability.

Many practices implement a two-lender strategy — Cherry plus Proceed Finance, for example — to maximize approvals across all case sizes and patient credit profiles.

FAQs: Synchrony Alternatives, Consumer Finance, and Healthcare Trends

What services can these Synchrony alternatives be used for?

Most Synchrony competitors can be used across a wide range of out-of-pocket healthcare services, but each lender has its own restrictions. Cherry and Affirm support general healthcare spending across medical, dental, vision, dermatology, vet, wellness, med spa, and elective care categories.

Proceed Finance is used primarily for high-ticket procedures such as implant dentistry, oral surgery, cosmetic surgery, and other specialty treatments that require longer-term installment loans.

Klarna, by contrast, is much more limited in healthcare; it is generally used only for cosmetic, aesthetic, med-spa, skincare, and wellness-retail categories, not medical or dental procedures.

Afterpay is the most restricted of all — it is approved only for med-spa retail and beauty-adjacent purchases in the U.S., and cannot be used for medical, dental, surgical, or veterinary services.

This means that while Cherry, Affirm, and Proceed Finance can support the majority of healthcare use cases where patients pay out of pocket, Klarna and Afterpay are best suited for cosmetic and retail-style wellness environments.

Does using Synchrony alternatives affect patient credit?

BNPL tools like Cherry, Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay use soft credit checks for their applications. Some report repayment behavior, but none perform hard inquiries at checkout. Proceed Finance and other traditional lenders may allow patients to prequalify with a soft credit check, but they generally require a hard credit check to submit a full application.

How soon can patients get their funds?

BNPL platforms do not disburse funds directly to patients. Instead, financing is approved in real time at checkout, and the patient can use it immediately for their procedure. Cherry, Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay provide instant decisions, and the financing is applied at the point of purchase without any waiting period.

Traditional installment lenders like Proceed Finance typically offer instant prequalification as well, though final approval may require longer documentation review for larger loan amounts. Even in those cases, the loan proceeds go directly to the practice, not the patient, allowing treatment to proceed as soon as the financing is finalized.

How fast do practices get paid?

Most BNPL alternatives pay providers upfront within one to two business days, protecting cash flow and minimizing administrative burden. More traditional providers of personal and medical loans may.

What payment methods are compatible with BNPL solutions?

Most BNPL platforms allow patients to make their installment payments using debit cards, credit cards, or direct withdrawal from checking or savings accounts. Many also support digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay and offer the option to manage payments directly inside the lender’s mobile app. These methods vary slightly by provider, but in general, patients have multiple, flexible ways to make their repayments.

Why are practices seeking alternatives to Synchrony?

Many patients are moving away from traditional credit products offered by major financial institutions like Wells Fargo, Ally Financial, Citibank, and American Express, favoring BNPL tools that provide clearer terms and real-time approvals. This shift in consumer expectations places additional pressure on legacy credit card models and deferred interest structures like Synchrony’s.

• Hard Credit Checks Reduce Approvals: Younger patients and thin-file borrowers often fail to qualify, reducing treatment acceptance and revenue potential.
  
• Deferred Interest Creates Confusion: Even financially savvy consumers misunderstand retroactive interest, leading to frustration, negative reviews, and unexpected balances.
  
• BNPL is Now Industry Standard: Patients already use real-time BNPL tools from fintech players like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay across retail and small business checkouts, making traditional revolving credit feel outdated.
  
• Practices Want Faster, Simpler APIs and Integrations: Modern financing platforms offer real-time approvals, transparent terms, instant payouts, and API-driven workflows that align with how healthcare software is evolving.
  
• Diversification Reduces Dependency: Many practices now use more than one lender — Synchrony plus a BNPL tool, for example — so they can support wider patient demographics and improve cash flow reliability.

These industry trends have elevated several Synchrony Financial competitors that deliver flexible, transparent consumer finance experiences without the legacy credit-card complexities.

Final Thoughts: Modernizing Your Patient Financing Strategy

Synchrony Financial, through CareCredit and Synchrony Pay Later, has helped shape the consumer finance landscape in healthcare. But as patient expectations evolve and fintech companies transform how people pay for everyday purchases, practices are adopting more flexible payment solutions that increase approvals, reduce friction, and support long-term wellness engagement.

Cherry leads this shift with its healthcare-first model, soft-check underwriting, transparent installment plans from 6 weeks to 60 months, and instant approval decisions on loans up to $50,000 — with true 0% APR for qualified borrowers.

For practices wanting a financing partner that reflects today’s consumer financial behavior —  and one that supports profitability with an 80%+ approval rate, upfront payment, and the industry’s lowest merchant fees — Cherry provides a more intuitive alternative to traditional credit card financing.

More than 50,000 healthcare providers already use Cherry to increase treatment acceptance and grow annual revenue. Find out why. Schedule a personalized demo today.