Synchrony and Walgreens are teaming up to debut a card portfolio

• Synchrony Financial and Walgreens are launching a card portfolio.
• This move could reinvigorate the issuer’s business by tapping into a fast-growing retail sector.
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As part of a larger financial services push from Walgreens, the drugstore will team up with major private-label issuer Synchrony to debut a prepaid debit card, a store card, and a cobranded credit card set to run on the Mastercard network.

Synchrony Financial and Walgreens are launching a card portfolio. Insider Intelligence

Details remain scarce, but the cards, which are set to debut in H2 2021, will be tied to the chain’s new myWalgreens loyalty program and offer cash rewards, among other perks. The cobrand will also feature benefits on health and wellness spending specifically.

Partnering with Walgreens could help Synchrony reinvigorate growth by tapping into a strong and growing retail category.

• Walgreens offers Synchrony access to regular volume, even amid the pandemic. Though overall US consumer spending has been down, essential goods sales have been up across categories. And health, personal care, and beauty hit $544.64 billion in retail sales last year, up 4.7% annually—the second-highest growth rate of any category, per eMarketer estimates from Insider Intelligence. Gains in Walgreens’ key category—and the products’ primary rewards focus—might help Synchrony attract customers and bring in volume, especially if it can tap into frequent repeat drugstore visits from prescription holders to generate primary card status.
• And the Walgreens deal complements Synchrony’s ongoing partnership push as the issuer recovers from a rocky year. Synchrony has had a challenging few quarters after losing its Walmart partnership—a top-five portfolio—to Capital One and then facing further declines in spending amid the pandemic, although it has started to bounce back. To reinvigorate growth, the brand has entered into a slew of partnerships, including tie-ups with Verizon and Venmo. The Walgreens deal could complement these tie-ups and help the brand tap into a massive potential audience to bring in cardholders and, in turn, volume.

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