Synchrony’s Wenzel Talks Consumers, Workforce, AI

Synchrony Chief Financial Officer Brian Wenzel says American consumers are holding up better than the news suggests, and that artificial intelligence should be used to improve productivity rather than shrink headcount.

Wenzel spoke with Jeff Rossi of CBIZ at the sold-out Oct. 29 2026 Connecticut CFO Summit, a collaboration between Vision Search Partners, the CFO Knowledge Network, and CBIA.

The wide-ranging conversation covered consumer credit, AI investment, workplace culture, and capital allocation.

Synchrony is one of the nation’s largest credit card issuers, with about 100 million customers and roughly 70 million active each month.

The company has a rare view across the credit spectrum, underwriting borrowers below 600 and above 840 scores.

Consumer Health

Wenzel said investors constantly ask him about the health of the consumer, and he thinks many are reacting to isolated data points.

“People are grabbing onto pieces of a puzzle without looking at a mosaic,” he said.

Wenzel says the earliest warning signs of stress show up in payment behavior and spending patterns.

He pointed to customers splitting one large fill-up into several smaller purchases, or shifting to smaller grocery baskets.

Synchrony isn’t seeing those shifts, and payment patterns have actually strengthened slightly.

The company recorded its highest-ever volume in each of the first three quarters, on roughly $200 billion in annual purchase volume.

Wenzel said the “K-shaped economy” talk was more visible two years ago and is less pronounced today, though he acknowledged some households, particularly those earning $100,000 to $125,000, are feeling pressure from limited wage growth.

He also said consumers are pulling back on big-ticket discretionary purchases such as furniture, power equipment, and elective cosmetic procedures.

Combined with tighter credit standards, that has shifted Synchrony’s portfolio toward higher-credit-quality customers and fewer promotional-financing balances.

Wenzel said inflation likely won’t return to 2% until late 2029. He cited ongoing geopolitical conflicts and higher gas prices as factors that affect consumer sentiment more than spending.

AI: Reskilling First

Asked how AI has changed hiring on his finance team, Wenzel said Synchrony hasn’t yet changed its screening process.

He still prizes professional curiosity and skepticism. The company has rolled out tools such as Microsoft Copilot and GitHub, but he stressed that employees need training in prompting, data inputs, and coding assistance.

“You can’t just roll the ball out and say, ‘Here you go, good luck playing with Copilot,'” he said.

“They can’t figure it out by themselves. So we’re spending more time right now reskilling.”

On investment, Wenzel said AI doesn’t fit traditional return calculations. Transformational projects have longer, riskier cash flows, and it is hard to value the extra capacity AI creates.

His advice was to buy commodity capabilities in areas like HR, finance, and sourcing from established vendors, and invest in-house where the company has a competitive advantage, such as credit and customer service.

Synchrony’s goal, Wenzel noted, is operating leverage.

Wenzel also urged finance leaders to watch token costs and require fully vetted business cases.

He offered two examples of AI at work. A junior analyst built a model that forecasts losses by partner channel in about 10 seconds, a process that used to take the credit team two to three weeks, and it back-tested within about two basis points.

Wenzel also described using Microsoft Copilot to prepare for analyst questions after earnings in seconds.

He pushed back on the idea that AI is driving large layoffs, saying some companies announcing AI-related cuts were simply overstaffed.

Synchrony’s goal, he noted, is operating leverage: increasing productivity without growing headcount. He also asked outside vendors touting AI to show the savings in their fees.

“How do you drive that type of efficiency, and then you get more?” he asked. “So we’re going to do it through the employee line again.”

Culture, Talent

Wenzel credited Synchrony’s workplace reputation—proudly noting its Fortune Magazine top workplace rankings—to several choices.

He highlighted the company’s transition away from traditional numerical rating systems toward succinct, frequent feedback sessions four times a year and concentrating bonus differentiation on the top 15% of performers.

It also moved to a hybrid work model—with employees going to the office one or two days a week—shed about 80% of its real estate, and redesigned remaining offices with more open layouts.

“We have half the attrition rate we had pre-pandemic.”

Brian Wenzel

For instance, the Stamford office features a gym, a nurse practitioner, a therapist, and a pickleball court.

“We have half the attrition rate we had pre-pandemic, and we have probably 40% more applications for any job that we put out,” Wenzel said.

“So we get inundated. It kind of pays for itself. Not every company can do it. It’s got to be it’s got to be really bought into by the leadership team.

“And you’re not counting how many days, how many days. Everything is contact with the purpose.”

Capital Allocation, Growth

Wenzel said Synchrony’s first priority is growth at attractive returns.

He said “lending is the easiest business to grow” because credit can be loosened at any time, so discipline matters.

After growth comes margin, the dividend, and then buybacks, which he said “engineer” value rather than create it.

Wenzel added that acquisition prices often don’t make sense and leaders should resist overreaching.

Wenzel added that acquisition prices often don’t make sense.

On partnerships, he said Synchrony looks for businesses with loyal, installed customer bases, such as Verizon, Walgreens, and Venmo, rather than competing for general-purpose card spending.

He identified Stripe, Shopify, and social commerce platforms like TikTok as signs of where commerce is heading.

“When you look inside your business and we look inside our business, what are those next future ones?” he asked.

“Now Amazon’s not going to go away, but there are different generations behind us, or you know, one or two behind us, they’re going to do things differently.”

Leadership

Wenzel credited former Synchrony CEO Margaret Keane as his “number one” mentor.

“We had very very similar backgrounds,” he said. “My father died when I was young. Her father died when I was young. Her father was in the NYPD. My father was in the NYFD.

“We both grew up with nothing. Kind of fought our way through that.”

Wenzel also credited Keane with showing him how to be an empathetic leader.

He said Keane pushed him to learn operations, collections, and technology rather than stay in a finance lane.

Wenzel also credited Keane with showing him how to be an empathetic leader “and to lead with grace and authenticity.”

“She was she was someone who, and this is important as leaders, could put an arm around you and say ‘you didn’t do great today, and here’s how you do better,'” he said.

“She would also put her arm around you and tell you when you did great. She was just a tremendous person that I that I greatly admire.”