Latest News CareCredit Marks 30 Years, Asks Cardholders to Submit Stories in New Contest By Staff Friday, January 20, 2017 12:18 AM COSTA MESA, Calif.—CareCredit, which offers a flexible payment option for at more than 200,000 locations across the U.S., is marking its 30th anniversary this year. The CareCredit cards are available at dental and vision practices as well as hearing health, veterinary, cosmetic as well as health-focused retailers such as LensCrafters, Rite-Aid and Bowflex.A spokesperson told VMail that the current total locations offering CareCredit include over 16,000 enrolled providers in the optical market. He also noted that the average out-of-pocket sale for a patient opening a CareCredit credit card inside an optical practice is $531. And, that, according to Path to Purchase health care study, 69 percent of optical patients researched costs and financing. And nearly one-third of survey respondents said they were very likely to apply for or use a CareCredit credit card if the optical purchase were to cost $200. CareCredit noted that a total of $70 billion of care has been financed since 1987, when the company originated to provide patients financial assistance for dental care. More than 24 million accounts opened since inception, according to the company, which also noted that more than 12,000 people apply for a CareCredit card nearly every day to help pay for care. A new cardholder is approved, on average, every 14 seconds and, on average, more than 822,000 card acceptance locator searches take place on carecredit.com every month via desktop and mobile.More than two-thirds of all dental practices and more than 7 out of 10 veterinary practices in the nation accept CareCredit.“We started so we could help patients move forward with care,” said Dave Fasoli, CEO, CareCredit. “It’s still what keeps us moving forward after 30 years. We’re proud of the fact that we’ve continued to reliably serve health care providers and their patients and clients through many changes in the health care environment. We help thousands of people every day and millions of people every year. Our focus remains offering our cardholders more ways to use the card, in more places, for more things.” As part of its 30th anniversary, CareCredit is inviting cardholders to enter the My Best 30 Sweepstakes now through March 31, 2017 by visiting carecredit.com/mybest30. Official Rules for the sweepstakes can be found at carecredit.com/mybest30/rules. Eligible cardholders 18 years of age or older and residents of the U.S. or its territories as of Jan. 14, 2017 will be invited to submit their story of how CareCredit has helped them, their families or their pets. To celebrate CareCredit’s 30th anniversary, 30 lucky cardholders will be randomly selected from among all eligible entries to win $1,000. CareCredit is a part of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF).