STAMFORD, Conn. — Synchrony Financial is working with OpenAI to allow consumers to make purchases directly within ChatGPT using Synchrony-issued credit cards, including store cards tied to major retailers.
The agreement represents one of the first significant moves by a U.S. consumer lender to integrate financing, payments and rewards directly into an artificial intelligence chatbot, according to CNBC.
Synchrony issues credit cards for retailers and brands including Amazon, Walmart and Lowe’s.
The effort is aimed at advancing what has become known as “agentic commerce,” in which consumers use AI assistants not only to search for and compare products but potentially to complete transactions without leaving the chatbot.
Directly Within App
Currently, consumers who discover products through an AI platform are generally redirected to a retailer’s website to complete their purchases. OpenAI has been working with payments companies, including Visa and Stripe, to enable more transactions to take place directly within ChatGPT, CNBC reported.
“What happens today is the transaction doesn’t cleanly happen yet at the provider like OpenAI,” Maran Nalluswami, Synchrony’s chief strategy officer, told CNBC. “We want to ensure that if a transaction’s going to happen in that ecosystem, our cards are loaded up in the right spots to ensure that that transaction finishes.”
The technology is not expected to become available immediately.
Six-to-12-Month Timeframe
Nalluswami said integrating Synchrony’s general-purpose credit cards into ChatGPT will probably take six to 12 months. Adding private-label cards that can be used only at specific retailers could take longer because Synchrony will need to coordinate with its retail partners.
Several other issues also remain unresolved as AI companies, retailers and financial institutions move toward in-chat purchasing.
Consumers have shown caution about providing credit card information to AI platforms or allowing AI agents to complete purchases on their behalf, CNBC reported. Companies also must determine how fees associated with transactions completed within ChatGPT will be divided.
Nalluswami said those economics will have to be negotiated among Synchrony, OpenAI and retailers.
Additional Discussions
Synchrony is not limiting its efforts to ChatGPT. The company is also in discussions with other AI platforms, including Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, about embedding Synchrony cards within their chatbots, Nalluswami told CNBC.
Plugin Being Released
Separately, Synchrony is launching a ChatGPT plugin that will allow consumers to browse marketplace deals, promotional financing and offers from its partners, according to CNBC.
Synchrony also is deploying OpenAI’s latest AI models internally in an effort to accelerate product development.
The initiatives come as OpenAI seeks to expand ChatGPT beyond answering questions and generating content into a broader platform for online commerce. CNBC reported the moves also come as OpenAI prepares for a potential initial public offering.
