Synchrony, a consumer finance company, announced an enterprise partnership with OpenAI, allowing users to shop and check out directly in ChatGPT using exclusive credit cards from brands such as Amazon and Walmart. As one of the first attempts by a U.S. consumer credit institution to bring loans, payments, and reward mechanisms directly into an AI chatbot, this deal also brings OpenAI another step closer to its goal of turning ChatGPT into an online business platform.

The "Agent E-commerce" Model Stuck at the Last Step

Although the concept of "agent e-commerce" is popular, consumers are still usually redirected to brand websites to complete payments after selecting products in AI. To make this process seamless, OpenAI has previously partnered with Visa and Stripe. Synchrony's Chief Strategy Officer stated that the current transaction cannot yet run smoothly on the OpenAI platform, and the company needs to ensure that its credit card can be loaded in the right place and that the business can actually be completed.

The vision is good, but implementation is difficult. Executives estimate that it will take 6 to 12 months for general credit cards to be integrated with ChatGPT, and even longer for branded credit cards. Consumers remain cautious about sharing their card information and authorizing AI to pay on their behalf, and the division of transaction fees remains unresolved. Synchrony is also discussing integration with Claude and Gemini, while simultaneously launching a ChatGPT plugin to allow users to browse deals and accelerate the development of OpenAI's new models.