Synchrony card placed
Merchant / network squeeze
The OpenAI pivot: from owning checkout to enabling it keeps issuers on the rails
Sep 2025 · owning checkout
Mar 2026 · enabling checkout
card placement · the new battleground
OpenAI builds no issuer-bypassing payments stack
ChatGPT agent
Instant Checkout
in-chat · Stripe rails
take rate model
trust gate
tiny conversion
Mar 2026 · pivot
drops in-chat checkout
drops the fee model
ChatGPT agent
discovery + cart-building
merchant checkout
system of record
redirect / in-app delegate
to card placement
Synchrony
plugin + store-card pilots
surface the card at checkout
targets placement
card placement
which card is surfaced
issuer on the rails
card placed · value shared
value capture shrinks
issuer loses placement
if merchant / network consolidates checkout