Sam's Club Credit Card SCRA: Synchrony's 28.15% APR Capped at 6%

At the Sam’s Club Credit Card’s 28.15% purchase rate, $3,000 you owed before your orders costs about $845 a year. At 6% it costs $180. About $665 a year is forgiven. On the Sam’s Club Mastercard’s lower tier, 20.15%, the same balance costs about $605 and the cap is worth about $425. (Illustration: simple interest, balance unchanged for a year. Synchrony adds daily interest into the balance, so real charges are a little higher.)

APRs as printed “as of January 1, 2026” in the 3/2026 agreements, checked October 19, 2026.

Those printed rates use the prime rate from the start of 2026. Prime was 7.00% by late September 2026, according to Citi’s and Goldman Sachs’s pricing tables, so the same formula now lands a quarter point higher. Your statement shows the rate you are paying.

Two cards, one Synchrony agreement pattern

Both Sam’s Club consumer cards are Synchrony Bank accounts. The agreement names “Synchrony Bank, 170 Election Road, Suite 125, Draper, UT 84020.” When you apply, Synchrony’s Sam’s Club page says, you are considered for the Mastercard first and the Credit Card second. The Mastercard is priced in two tiers set at opening, and its cash advances run prime plus 18.40% or 24.40%, with a fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater.

Neither agreement lists a penalty APR. A late payment costs $29, rising to $40 after a missed minimum within the last six billing cycles. Any billing cycle with interest carries at least $2 of it. Synchrony’s general SCRA history, including class-action allegations about post-separation clawbacks, is on our Synchrony guide; this page sticks to what the Sam’s Club contract says.

”No Interest for” versus “No Interest if Paid in Full”

The Sam’s Club agreement describes two promotion families, each offered at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 or 48 months. They read almost the same and behave very differently.

Plan names from the 3/2026 Sam’s Club Personal Credit Card agreement.

The second family is the deferred one. Illustration: a $1,800 freezer and generator on a 12-month “Paid in Full” promo, never paid down, would post about $507 of interest at 28.15% in the month it expires (simple interest on the full price). Two more lines in that section matter. The promotional balance includes “any related optional credit insurance/debt cancellation charges,” so a coverage fee can keep a promo from reaching zero. And Synchrony may route part of the minimum payment tied to a promo to your other balances, so minimums alone may not clear it.

For a deferred promo bought before service, we read § 3937 to cover the deferred interest accruing on your service days at no more than 6%, while the days before your orders keep the contract rate. Synchrony publishes no position, so ask in writing and, if you can, pay the promo off first.

Membership rides on the card

Sam’s Club’s Synchrony page says each card “doubles as your membership card.” The agreement goes further: membership fees “will be charged annually to your Account,” you must be a member to have the account, and a suspended or cancelled membership means you “will not be able to use this Account.” The line that matters on deployment: if the card is “90 days or more past due,” Sam’s Club may suspend or cancel the membership.

On our reading, a renewal fee charged to the card during service is a new purchase, outside the cap. The fix is practical: autopay from a bank account you can reach while away, and a smaller required payment once the 6% is applied.

Opened the card on active duty: the notice and the 36% rule

A Sam’s Club account opened during qualifying active duty, yours or your dependent’s, is a Military Lending Act account. The 6% cap does not reach it; the Act’s 36% Military APR limit governs it. Synchrony’s Section IV notice tells a covered borrower that the section titled “Resolving a Dispute with Arbitration” is off, and that any clause “inconsistent with the Military Lending Act” drops out as well. It gives 1-855-367-4541 for spoken disclosures.

Where you read the notice matters. It appears in the application copies Synchrony posts at apply.syf.com (REV 1/2026). Both 3/2026 copies at synchronybankterms.com leave it out and say Section IV “is not required to be provided as part of the credit card agreement posted online.” Everyone else can reject arbitration only by a signed letter mailed within 45 days to Synchrony Bank, P.O. Box 71734, Philadelphia, PA 19176-1734. The rule at 32 CFR 232.8(c) bars requiring arbitration of a covered borrower in the first place; the arbitration guide explains the rest.

Sam's Club card: steps before you file

1. Find which card and tier you hold and the date the account opened, then set that date against your orders with the eligibility checker.
2. Sort your promos into the two families and note each end date. Pay the “Paid in Full” ones first.
3. Turn on autopay so a missed payment cannot reach 90 days and cost you the membership.
4. Call Synchrony’s SCRA line, 1-866-694-6580, to confirm where orders go.
5. Mail a signed request with your orders; the letter generator writes it. Ask for the rate, its start date, and how each deferred promo will be treated.
6. Compare the credit Synchrony posts with the refund calculator, and keep the confirmation for after you separate.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937

Six percent cap for debts that predate service: read the statute , or read § 3937 in plain English, with its enforcement record .