Synchrony Financial, which issues store cards for major retailers including Amazon and Walmart, is partnering with OpenAI to allow shoppers to use these cards to complete purchases directly within ChatGPT chat windows, bypassing traditional retailer websites.
- Synchrony collaborates with OpenAI for in-chat purchases using store cards
- General-purpose card support targeted within 6 to 12 months; store cards take longer
- Payment fee splits and regulatory issues remain unresolved
What happened
Synchrony Financial, the issuer behind store credit cards for Amazon, Walmart, and Lowe’s, is working closely with OpenAI to enable shoppers to make purchases using these cards inside the ChatGPT interface. This development intends to allow consumers to complete transactions within the chat window, rather than being redirected to the retailer’s website to finish payment.
According to Synchrony’s chief strategy officer, Maran Nalluswami, integrating general-purpose cards into ChatGPT will take approximately six to twelve months, while enabling private label store cards will take longer due to the need to negotiate and onboard each retailer separately. Synchrony is also exploring similar partnerships with other AI platforms such as Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.
Why it matters
Embedding payment options like Synchrony’s store cards directly into conversational AI platforms like ChatGPT represents a major step toward agent-driven commerce, where AI agents can complete transactions autonomously on behalf of users. This could transform how consumers shop online, potentially streamlining the buyer journey and enhancing convenience.
However, the initiative faces significant obstacles including unresolved commercial arrangements around how transaction fees are split among issuers, retailers, and AI providers. Additionally, consumer trust and regulatory compliance present hurdles, especially in regions like Europe where strong customer authentication rules were designed for human-approved payments, complicating the adoption of AI-initiated purchases.
What to watch next
The next 6 to 12 months will be critical in observing how Synchrony and OpenAI progress from pilot phases to live in-chat payments with general-purpose cards, followed by the longer process of rolling out retailer-specific store cards. Tracking adoption levels and how consumers respond to using credit cards inside AI chat platforms will reveal the market’s readiness for agentic commerce.