296: [Jonathan Wainberg] CareCredit: Financial Strategies for Pet Care
In this thought-provoking episode of About That Wallet, host Anthony Weaver engages in a heartfelt conversation with Jonathan Wainberg, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pet and Co-Brand Business at Synchrony. They delve into the financial challenges faced by pet owners, particularly the Sandwich Generation, who must balance the emotional and financial responsibilities of caring for both their pets and their families.
Jonathan shares insights from a recent study highlighting that nearly 28% of pet-owning households face barriers to veterinary care, with financial constraints being the most common hurdle. As a pet owner himself, Jonathan discusses the importance of being financially prepared for unexpected veterinary expenses and the emotional toll of pet ownership.
Listeners will gain valuable tips on budgeting for pet care, understanding the benefits of CareCredit, and navigating the complexities of pet ownership without compromising their financial stability. Jonathan emphasizes the need for open communication with veterinarians to create a personalized care plan that fits individual budgets and needs.
💬 Question of the Day:
How do you manage the financial responsibilities of pet ownership while ensuring your furry family members receive the care they deserve? Share your thoughts in the comments!
🔗 Connect with Jonathan Wainberg:
Website: carecredit.com
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=|| 📚 Chapters ||=
(00:00) Welcome and Introduction
(02:30) Understanding Financial Barriers to Veterinary Care
(10:15) The Emotional Impact of Pet Ownership
(18:00) Budgeting Tips for Pet Care
(25:45) Exploring CareCredit for Pet Expenses
(32:30) The Importance of Communication with Veterinarians
(40:00) Preparing for Unexpected Veterinary Costs
(48:15) Jonathan's Personal Pet Care Experience
(55:00) Final Thoughts and Resources
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⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional when needed.
#AboutThatWallet #PetCare #FinancialLiteracy #CareCredit #SandwichGeneration #VeterinaryCosts #PetOwnership
Episode 296
Transcript
>> Anthony Weaver: This episode is sponsored by Synchrony
Speaker:CareCredit.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Just having that ready to come out of my
Speaker:wallet or putting on a credit card wasn't
Speaker:having it didn't have that money in the bank. So this was able to
Speaker:give me the time to pay it over time or move things
Speaker:around and be able to satisfy it through
Speaker:different sources of funds that I had. So I used that
Speaker:card multiple times that year because you don't only.
Speaker:It's not just a one and done, it's a revolving credit
Speaker:card in many cases at this time. I, you
Speaker:know, at that time I probably had four or five visits where I had
Speaker:different bills. It wasn't one 8,000, uh, dollars bill. It's like a
Speaker:$1,200 bill here, a $2,000 bill here, a
Speaker:$500 bill. Because you, you keep going back and all
Speaker:those promotions are, you know, running concurrent.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Welcome everybody back to another exciting show of, uh, the
Speaker:about that Water podcast where we help the sandwich generation build
Speaker:strong financial habits so that they can spend money, talk
Speaker:about money and en
Speaker:confidence. And today I want to talk about
Speaker:really just enjoying a pet because some of you
Speaker:are actually pet owners and some of you might not
Speaker:be, but come across a recent
Speaker:article that said a recent
Speaker:nationwide study by pet
Speaker:healthequity.org found that, uh, 28% of
Speaker:households with pets experience barriers to
Speaker:veterinary care, with finances being the
Speaker:most common reason in low income households.
Speaker:And researchers found financial
Speaker:and housing equity can increase the
Speaker:risk of animals that will not
Speaker:receive care that they need. Sociologist,
Speaker:um, Arnold
Speaker:Aluke, author of
Speaker:Underdogs Pets People in Poverty, estimates that
Speaker:66% of the pets in poverty have never
Speaker:seen a vet at all. So I'm bringing on a
Speaker:specialist, uh, his name is
Speaker:Jonathan Weinberg, who brings
Speaker:nearly 20 years of financial services
Speaker:expertise and leaderships to the role of the
Speaker:senior vice president and general manager of the
Speaker:pet and co brand business at
Speaker:Synchrony, one of the nation's premier
Speaker:customer financial services companies.
Speaker:Jonathan is responsible for business development,
Speaker:commercial ingenuity, market expansion
Speaker:and revenue growth as part of the health and
Speaker:wellness platform comprised of more
Speaker:than 260,000
Speaker:health providers nationwide.
Speaker:He offers like he oversees
Speaker:the health and wellness co brand portfolio,
Speaker:including Walgreens. How are you doing today, Jonathan?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on, Anthony.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Thanks, uh, for, uh, you know, being patient with me
Speaker:with your intro because, I mean, you did so many great things and
Speaker:this is amazing.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Listen, I didn't realize I did half of those, so
Speaker:I'm glad it's written there. So. Thank you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: You're welcome.
Speaker:Now one of the top questions that I have right now
Speaker:is that, um, I've seen this going around
Speaker:online and they say like, if you can't afford your vet
Speaker:bills, should you even have a pet?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, listen, that's a very tough question,
Speaker:right? I'm not
Speaker:one to ah, dictate to
Speaker:someone how they spend their money. Um, so it's a, it's
Speaker:a very personal decision. What I can say is
Speaker:you should, um, you know, you're
Speaker:bringing a living being into your, into your household, right.
Speaker:And that you're, you're going to be caring for.
Speaker:So it's best to understand some of the commitments that
Speaker:come with that and whether you can afford
Speaker:them now or if you can,
Speaker:you know, work with family members or build
Speaker:a savings account, um, for that,
Speaker:I think you're going to be uh, I think you're going to be better
Speaker:off, uh, because, you know, a
Speaker:lot of the research shows that financial
Speaker:strains are a, uh,
Speaker:you know, in the bed industry or pet
Speaker:parents is, uh, is real. Right. And
Speaker:um, you might be better off um, not
Speaker:having that pet if you think about all the other
Speaker:expenses you have. With that said, uh, you
Speaker:know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a
Speaker:personal decision. There's different levels of
Speaker:care that you can, um, give to
Speaker:uh, certain, certain animals. Um,
Speaker:and, and each, you know, breed has a different
Speaker:kind of, um, you know, lifestyle
Speaker:and cost to it. So I would say,
Speaker:ah, for me personally, I would, you know, not feel
Speaker:comfortable having, you know, a living being and not being able
Speaker:to provide and care for it. But I think there are
Speaker:ways to um, to think
Speaker:about it and budget for it so that pet ownership, uh,
Speaker:is not beyond the reach of, of,
Speaker:of a lot of people.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, that is tough because I see people who
Speaker:have pets and they just, to me, I'm only seeing a
Speaker:dollar behind it. Like, okay, you want to get them a collar, you want to
Speaker:brush their teeth, you got to m. Make sure you get to the vet. Like
Speaker:so many different things. Like are there any like, common
Speaker:financial pitfalls that pet parents encounter
Speaker:when trying to plan for that pet care?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Well, yeah, and before I kind of answer that, I think, you
Speaker:know, the other element to it is that there's
Speaker:incredible human benefits, right, for
Speaker:having a pet in your life. And you know, it's not, you know,
Speaker:like you said, you see the dollars behind and that's a very important thing
Speaker:we got to talk about. But you know, there's an incredible amount of studies
Speaker:that show, you know, you have, um, better
Speaker:health outcomes, you know, reduced depression
Speaker:by having a pet. People are more mobile if they're
Speaker:walking their, you know, dogs. And, and
Speaker:it helps, um, with loneliness
Speaker:and a bunch of other stuff. So it's not just the dollar
Speaker:part of it. There's a lot of human benefits which can then,
Speaker:uh, improve other outcomes that people are
Speaker:going through. Um, to answer
Speaker:your direct question on
Speaker:are there certain pitfalls that, uh, pet
Speaker:parents, uh, fall into is.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that the major one is not being prepared.
Speaker:Right. I think it's hard. Um,
Speaker:you can plan as much as you can. Right.
Speaker:For eventualities. And I think
Speaker:pet parents are decent at that. Where they
Speaker:kind of fall behind, is expecting the unexpected.
Speaker:And you're talking about a pet here. Right. And so
Speaker:we know that, uh,
Speaker:in a pet's lifetime, right.
Speaker:Uh, we know that four to five
Speaker:pets are going to have. Will experience a pet emergency.
Speaker:Right. So. And you know, it's hard to say you got to expect
Speaker:the unexpected, but that's the truth. So you,
Speaker:you. One of the things that people should always be prepared
Speaker:for is. Is,
Speaker:um, something, uh, in case.
Speaker:And because again, it becomes an incredibly stressful
Speaker:time and you're, you know, trying to think about,
Speaker:um, the care of your pet and the
Speaker:life and death perhaps in some cases,
Speaker:and then the stress of how are you going to afford this? And you want to be
Speaker:able to think clearly as you go through those decisions.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And I think most of the pet deaths happen because
Speaker:people can't afford their insurance just to kind of get
Speaker:them taken care of. Because, I mean, I know when I was
Speaker:growing up, we had a dog and it was like, well,
Speaker:as we were moving around, it's just kind of like the dog
Speaker:was just too big for the place and so
Speaker:we had to, quote, unquote, put them down
Speaker:or just give them to the vet and just be like, hey, we
Speaker:can't. We don't want them anymore. Um, um. Or just
Speaker:because it couldn't fit their household.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Um, um.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And it's emotional strain, just not on the parents,
Speaker:but also the kids and. Cause you're talking about
Speaker:more than just the finances. It's about the. The
Speaker:caring feet of it. So.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Absolutely. I think, listen, there's a
Speaker:lot of shelters that will take, uh, back,
Speaker:um, you know, pets, you know, and
Speaker:we like to partner with, um, you know,
Speaker:no kill shelters. So ones that, you know,
Speaker:work to find, um, you know, that pet, if it
Speaker:has to be surrendered a household, uh,
Speaker:that will, that will care for it. And won't put
Speaker:them down. Um, but it's, it's, it
Speaker:is the largest factor of
Speaker:when people are unable to keep their, um,
Speaker:to keep their pet and their family is financial, where they have to give
Speaker:it to a shelter. Right. There's other reasons also. There's
Speaker:behavioral reasons with the pet. There's like you said, even
Speaker:living conditions. You move from, you know, a
Speaker:house to an apartment and maybe the apartment doesn't allow pets.
Speaker:Right. Or you going into a, you know, a different
Speaker:geography and uh, you know,
Speaker:things just don't work. You switch jobs, you can't take them
Speaker:for walks and stuff like that. But the number
Speaker:one, you know, reason for surrendering of, of
Speaker:pets is uh, unfortunately financial.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Um, and you're a pet owner yourself, right?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: I am indeed. Uh, may I introduce you?
Speaker:Yeah, get over here. There she is.
Speaker:There's the beautiful Maddie. She is. Oh,
Speaker:look at her. She's. Yes, uh, she is a,
Speaker:uh, she's hopefully going to be turning
Speaker:15 in human years,
Speaker:um, in, in June. So she's a miniature
Speaker:poodle. Put her back down.
Speaker:She's ah, she's feeding me all the info to answer these questions, just
Speaker:so you know. And uh, she's been with us, she's lived all
Speaker:over the world with us actually. And she's been a great uh, part of
Speaker:her family and um, we're, we're blessed to have
Speaker:her. But she
Speaker:um, especially as pets get older, she has more health
Speaker:issues. Right. 15 year old is a
Speaker:senior pet and she has a couple of
Speaker:uh, chronic conditions. One of them is called Cushing's disease, which
Speaker:is common in poodles. And ah, it's
Speaker:an adrenal gland, um, issue that she
Speaker:has uh, problem with
Speaker:cortisol levels. And so she's on
Speaker:medication for that and she has to get her levels tested two to three times
Speaker:a year. She has ah, a heart condition, a
Speaker:mitral valve deficiency. So the blood that goes into
Speaker:uh, one of her um, chambers in the heart has
Speaker:like a, like a murmur. Like it goes back, it doesn't
Speaker:close. So she's on um, she's on
Speaker:heart medicine and she has to get uh, you know, a doggy
Speaker:EKG about twice a year to make sure that that is
Speaker:uh, that is
Speaker:um, being um, you know, kind of maintained
Speaker:properly. Right. Um, and not
Speaker:deteriorating. Um, with that comes an expense.
Speaker:I'm, I'm fort. Uh that I have
Speaker:the uh, means and the tools to pay
Speaker:for it. One of them is, you know, the business that I work for,
Speaker:CareCredit, where I'm able to uh, you know, put
Speaker:my uh, bills, pay ah, my bill with my
Speaker:CareCredit card and get um, a deferred
Speaker:promotional finance product that
Speaker:um, allows me to um, defer
Speaker:interest for you know, from six months to 18 months depending
Speaker:on the size of the bill.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Bill, yeah. So one of the things is
Speaker:understanding is when you have the
Speaker:pet, but as the pet ages, going back to
Speaker:being able to afford that care, which
Speaker:goes back to if you can't afford the
Speaker:bills, should you even have a pet? Um,
Speaker:because I could see like, yes. And then it was like,
Speaker:all right, well it's a part of the family
Speaker:now. It's more than the finances. Let's do
Speaker:whatever we need to do to make sure that we
Speaker:um, take care of this pet, this our family member,
Speaker:um, and really make sure that they're taken care of.
Speaker:Um, but for some people who feel like they are
Speaker:struggling right now to whether or not, hey, do
Speaker:we pay this vet bill or do we
Speaker:take care of the food on the
Speaker:table for the rest of the family. Um, and you
Speaker:mentioned credit care. How can credit care kind of help out
Speaker:with that process?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh, CareCredit.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: So. Yes, no, no, no problem. So CareCredit is
Speaker:uh, you know, it's, it's, it's of
Speaker:synchrony and I'm responsible for a pet business and it's basically the
Speaker:largest elective, uh, health care
Speaker:credit card um, in the United States.
Speaker:And um,
Speaker:um, it's accepted at around
Speaker:280,000 uh, healthcare
Speaker:providers in the United States, including
Speaker:about 28,000 of them, uh, veterinarians.
Speaker:So we have about 85% of veterinarians in the US
Speaker:accept CareCredit. And it's also accepted
Speaker:in the dental space and the vision and um,
Speaker:cosmetic space, audiology, etc.
Speaker:But in the vet space, uh, what it can do for
Speaker:you is um, if you apply and
Speaker:you get approved for that CareCredit card and you get a
Speaker:bill for, let's call it just, let's just make it easy math,
Speaker:$1,200 bill, right? Which is, you
Speaker:know, a large bill, um, you can then
Speaker:um, use that credit card that care, the
Speaker:care credit card at the vet and depending
Speaker:on which promotions that offers.
Speaker:But I would think they would put you on a 12 month promotion
Speaker:where as long as you can pay
Speaker:$100 a month for 12 months to
Speaker:pay off your bill and not accrue interest so long as you're making those
Speaker:payments and that gives the pet parents
Speaker:um, the ability to pay that over
Speaker:time without having to hopefully borrow
Speaker:money, without hopefully having to accrue interest.
Speaker:And because we know people don't have
Speaker:$1,200 just lying around, um,
Speaker:or too many people don't have that. And so this
Speaker:is uh, a product that helps uh, manage that and put it
Speaker:into um, you know, it's called bite sized
Speaker:pieces if you will, in that bill.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Now how does one go about even
Speaker:applying for the CareCredit?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, you can go to CareCredit.com and
Speaker:apply uh, right there. Um, so
Speaker:www.carecredit.com and you'll see there might be a
Speaker:dropdown box for which industry you want. But the truth
Speaker:is is once you have the card it can be used across
Speaker:the network. So if you have some dental work
Speaker:um, that you need done, or if you need to get a hearing
Speaker:aid or stuff like that, or you need something for your pet,
Speaker:it could be used across that network. Um, you can
Speaker:also um, get it at the,
Speaker:at the veterinarian. Right. So if you're there and you're, you know,
Speaker:you get a bill that um,
Speaker:you're a little bit taken aback um, at
Speaker:the cost because you weren't prepared for that. Um, it's very
Speaker:easy to apply in the veterinarian's practice as
Speaker:well. It's obviously better to
Speaker:get it before in case. That's what we recommend.
Speaker:It's good to have something just in case. And if you
Speaker:have a pet, the odds are you're going to have an unexpected
Speaker:expense. So you may as well be prepared. But we're there ah, at the
Speaker:point of care as well.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Do you need to have good credit for it?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: You need to have some level of credit history?
Speaker:Um, it's, you know, good credit is
Speaker:uh, not something for me. You know, I
Speaker:don't have a grading on what's good and what's bad
Speaker:because we underwrite um, at synchrony,
Speaker:um, you know, very
Speaker:um, deliberately with a lot of different data
Speaker:sources. So I can't pinpoint, hey, if you're FICO scores this,
Speaker:you're going to get it or not? Because we built in so
Speaker:many different factors into um,
Speaker:our approval underwriting, uh,
Speaker:mechanism. So what I can say is that we,
Speaker:because this is a network card and it is used
Speaker:just within um, this space and for
Speaker:certain um, procedures and uh, with
Speaker:certain uh, providers we are able to underwrite
Speaker:deeper than you would for a general purpose credit
Speaker:card. So I think you, you have a better chance
Speaker:of uh, of getting approved um, for us because of
Speaker:uh, some of those behaviors that, that we See and
Speaker:uh, we try to approve as as many people as
Speaker:possible, um, in particular in this space.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. Because just thinking about the,
Speaker:the disparities of even access to credit in
Speaker:certain areas and you know it's really good that the
Speaker:underwriting is there to help out even the people in
Speaker:the, the tightest of budgets. So let's say.
Speaker:And so going through that process,
Speaker:understanding like okay, now that we got this card
Speaker:we have all the things, um, can
Speaker:you just do like a quick. I know you just did one far as like you got a
Speaker:bill um, at twelve hundred dollars and it goes through that
Speaker:way.
Speaker:Now is there anything like an annual fee
Speaker:that's going on along with this process or is it just
Speaker:only as you use it?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, there's no annual fee so. And um,
Speaker:it's free to apply as well. Um,
Speaker:also I would add that um, our application
Speaker:process is um, you can get pre qualified.
Speaker:So if for some reason you're not going to get approved, it's not going to
Speaker:hit your credit bureau. So you won't, that won't um,
Speaker:that won't hurt your, you know, it won't look like
Speaker:someone's requesting it. So that's good. So we try to you
Speaker:know, protect the uh, consumer that way. And then you'll
Speaker:get through the pre qualification stage. It'll say okay, yes, ah, you
Speaker:know, you pre qualified finish the application. So we're able
Speaker:to help uh, the consumer out that way.
Speaker:But other than that there, there's no annual fee. The way that
Speaker:it works is you know we're able to give interest free
Speaker:um, promotions
Speaker:out or deferred interest promotions I should say, so long
Speaker:as you're making those payments. Right. So uh, if,
Speaker:give that example, if you have that twelve hundred dollar
Speaker:bill and you got a twelve month promotion, as long as you make
Speaker:that, that payment every month of $100,
Speaker:you will not accrue um, interest and,
Speaker:or any fees. Um, you can also
Speaker:catch up. Ah, right. So if you miss a month or two and as
Speaker:long as you pay the full 1200 before the end, you
Speaker:also will not have um, uh any
Speaker:fees or accrue any interest in that as well.
Speaker:So as long as you pay it off within that promotional period,
Speaker:each vet, uh, depending on the
Speaker:uh, size of the procedure, ah,
Speaker:and based on talking to the uh,
Speaker:pet parents or the pet owner,
Speaker:uh, will determine the length of that promotion. Everyone
Speaker:offers a six month, um, some people offer the
Speaker:12 month. Also um, quite a few
Speaker:offer 12 month, some offer an 18 month, there's a
Speaker:24 month. It really varies, depends on the
Speaker:size of the ticket and um, what's
Speaker:manageable, uh, for the, uh, per
Speaker:the counterparties in the transaction.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Now, for your pet, um, what was
Speaker:like the biggest expense that you had to deal with in
Speaker:CareCredit? Really just kind of like, I'm so
Speaker:glad that I got this.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, I think it was, um, it was a few
Speaker:years ago when we, um, kind of
Speaker:discovered that she had this,
Speaker:um, you know, this Cushing's thing. Uh. Right.
Speaker:There was a lot of different blood works we had to get done. She's
Speaker:quite small and so, um, we had to
Speaker:calibrate the right dosage.
Speaker:Right. And we kept having to go back a month here, a.
Speaker:M. Month there, a month there. I think, um,
Speaker:in that year, between that and the heart condition, which
Speaker:both happened in the same year, I think her out of pocket costs,
Speaker:uh, at the veterinarian that year was, um,
Speaker:over $8,000. And yeah,
Speaker:that's significant. And just having that
Speaker:ready to come out of my wallet
Speaker:or putting on a credit card wasn't,
Speaker:uh, or having it didn't have that money in the bank.
Speaker:So this was able to give me the time to pay it over time
Speaker:or move things around and be able to
Speaker:satisfy it through, uh, different sources
Speaker:of funds that I had. So I used that card,
Speaker:um, multiple times that year because you don't only.
Speaker:It's not just a one and done. It's a revolving credit
Speaker:card. So in many cases, you know, this time
Speaker:I, you know, at that time I probably had four or five
Speaker:visits where I had different bills. It wasn't one $8,000 bill.
Speaker:It was like a $1200 bill here, like a $2,000 bill here, a
Speaker:$500 bill because you, you keep going back and all
Speaker:those promotions are running concurrently.
Speaker:And you know, I set it, uh, up for auto pay. Right.
Speaker:So we have that feature so that people, you know, hopefully,
Speaker:you know, it reminds them to pay it and so that they don't
Speaker:accrue the interest. So you have that feature also where it pays
Speaker:it every month as well.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Okay. It's starting to sound like that I should get,
Speaker:um, a life insurance policy out for the
Speaker:pet just in case. Well, when the pet dies,
Speaker:it's like, all right, let's go down to pay your bills right quick.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah. Ah, well, listen, there is, um,
Speaker:pet insurance is another tool to help,
Speaker:uh, manage, um, the costs,
Speaker:uh, and the unexpected costs of pet
Speaker:ownership. Not on the life insurance side, but on the pet health
Speaker:insurance side. Right. And we're, you know, I'M involved
Speaker:in that, um, as well, uh,
Speaker:synchrony. I used to own Pets Best. We had bought it
Speaker:and grew it and recently sold it. But
Speaker:that was the um, third largest pet
Speaker:insurer, uh, in North America I
Speaker:believe, um, when we sold it, um,
Speaker:but we're still invested in it and a parent company
Speaker:which owns a lot of other insurance brands. And so
Speaker:insurance, uh, is a good way also to
Speaker:uh, help budget and manage uh, expenses.
Speaker:It's not for everyone,
Speaker:but it is a valuable tool together with
Speaker:CareCredit to be able to uh,
Speaker:manage uh, those unexpected expenses and also
Speaker:make sure that you got a little bit of
Speaker:compliance to some of the medical care that you want with uh, some of
Speaker:the wellness plans that come along with that. And there's different types of
Speaker:insurance that you could um, toggle
Speaker:and build a plan that makes sense for
Speaker:you. So it's um,
Speaker:um, quite
Speaker:adjustable to the individual's needs.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: To remind people that this is just for educational purposes
Speaker:only. So make sure you select what is best for
Speaker:you, uh, and your family and including
Speaker:your pet into that family arena.
Speaker:So just want to throw that out there.
Speaker:Um, so we're going to go into the future. This is the,
Speaker:the growth side of it. And I
Speaker:want to get your thoughts because you've been in this industry for a
Speaker:long time and what are your thoughts on the future
Speaker:of just pet health care?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Well, we've seen
Speaker:the cost of care rise,
Speaker:you know, not insignificantly over the last several years,
Speaker:certainly since, you know, Covid and with some of the inflation
Speaker:in the market and um, you know,
Speaker:inflation in the veterinary
Speaker:space and the pet space has outpaced, uh,
Speaker:that of the general market. So it's
Speaker:rising faster. There are several
Speaker:reasons for that. But one of the
Speaker:reasons which I think, um,
Speaker:unfortunately doesn't get as much,
Speaker:um, news is that outcomes are better.
Speaker:Right. People, the
Speaker:veterinary, the veterinarians are
Speaker:better, um, than they have been in the
Speaker:past. The information that they get, the testing
Speaker:of that stuff, the drugs, um,
Speaker:the specialties, we're seeing so much better outcomes. And with
Speaker:that, um, you're seeing some rising
Speaker:of price because there's a lot of specialized medicines,
Speaker:uh, that in Iraq, uh, hadn't been able to be done before.
Speaker:Surgeries, which hadn't been able to be done before. Right.
Speaker:And so I think you're going to see, just like in human healthcare,
Speaker:um, really a lot of advancements, uh,
Speaker:which is exciting right now. Some of them are going to
Speaker:come at a, at a very high and
Speaker:specialized price. And some people aren't going to be able to, you
Speaker:know, afford that. And some people aren't. And I think that's,
Speaker:that's just the way life is, you know, sometimes. But
Speaker:I think what you're, what you're seeing
Speaker:certainly, um,
Speaker:you know, in a large proportion of the population
Speaker:is people are willing to spend more on their pets than
Speaker:they ever were in the past also. Right. I think
Speaker:you look, um, you
Speaker:look at pet ownership and it's on the rise, but it's not just on the
Speaker:rise. Um, it's also
Speaker:the place that the pet uh, has
Speaker:in the family. Right. And so people are
Speaker:either, you know, getting married later, having kids later,
Speaker:not having kids at all. Right.
Speaker:Um, and so, and more people have grown up with
Speaker:pets than they did in the past. Right. And so they're,
Speaker:they're, you know, you want to call it the humanization of pets or
Speaker:what have you, but people are certainly
Speaker:spending more and are happy to, you know, kind of put them at the
Speaker:center of the household. And, and with that I think you're seeing
Speaker:people wanting to spend more on their pets, whether it be on
Speaker:uh, uh, some more high end
Speaker:treats, uh, uh, maybe
Speaker:some nice Halloween costumes also or things
Speaker:like that, but also in the care
Speaker:that they get. You're seeing a lot of um,
Speaker:specialized foods for specialized diets
Speaker:happening and great advances there. And
Speaker:you're seeing um, hopefully um,
Speaker:you know, better compliance of care for those
Speaker:uh, frozen uh, family members that,
Speaker:that we bring in.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. One of my clients was just talking about they have
Speaker:a birthday for their dog coming up. And
Speaker:it was like, hey, I gotta make sure I get them ice cream
Speaker:and I gotta make sure that they don't have this particular
Speaker:peanut uh, butter with all this extra stuff in it. I was like, well, why
Speaker:don't you just use natural peanut butter where it's just roasted
Speaker:peanuts and, and it was like, well,
Speaker:I need to make sure I get it from this particular place. I don't want to try
Speaker:anything else. And I was like, but it's just peanuts.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Okay, Well I am,
Speaker:what I am not is a, uh, is a vet diet specialist.
Speaker:I can tell you. You know, we try to adhere to
Speaker:um, you know, her recommend
Speaker:recommendations from the vet. But I'd be uh,
Speaker:disingenuous of me to say that a piece of chicken
Speaker:hasn't fallen off uh, the table from time to time,
Speaker:uh, or, or, or some steak. When she's looking at me
Speaker:like that, why does her food smell better than mine? So,
Speaker:um, I, I, I, I don't think I'd be Useful in that
Speaker:discussion?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: No, it's fair because it goes back to, you
Speaker:know, how do we make sure that these pets
Speaker:are getting the same care and love that
Speaker:we want to have for ourselves as humans? And
Speaker:um, you know, granted, they are. Their
Speaker:stomachs are different, their eating habits are definitely going to be
Speaker:different.
Speaker:Um, but also because this is
Speaker:Small Business Month, it kind of behooves me
Speaker:not to talk about how could CareCredit really benefit,
Speaker:uh, the small business or even the
Speaker:veterinarian practices out there. So,
Speaker:um, how could actually Care Credit help
Speaker:them?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Well, let me start off by saying that, um, about
Speaker:60% of the vets,
Speaker:um, that CareCredit is accepted
Speaker:in are independent, uh,
Speaker:and independent vets or small business,
Speaker:that's not, you know, the large chains, we also are accepting
Speaker:both, but we're, you know, more accept, you know,
Speaker:there's more independents, um, and small business ones
Speaker:that we partner with. Um, and we think
Speaker:independent, um, bed ownership is very important.
Speaker:And uh, small business, um, especially
Speaker:in America, is an engine which is so
Speaker:important for the economy. Um, so we Talked about
Speaker:how CareCredit can help, um,
Speaker:the pet parent or the pet owner. Right. By
Speaker:giving them the time to pay and,
Speaker:um, the flexibility and having that
Speaker:peace of mind knowing that you have that card in case something
Speaker:happens. Well, how it works for
Speaker:the veterinarian is
Speaker:we enable them to get
Speaker:paid the small business owner, um, in a timely
Speaker:manner. Right. And so if, if not for something they care
Speaker:credit, they would have to, you know, put it on their own account.
Speaker:Right. And have to chase after, um,
Speaker:you know, um, you know, clients, um, which is not,
Speaker:you know, something that's good. So we're able to, um,
Speaker:send um, them the, uh, money
Speaker:for the treatment. If it's used on the
Speaker:CareCredit card within. Within two days, there's
Speaker:very, very limited recourse to them. So they're
Speaker:gonna. They don't have to, uh, chase after
Speaker:the uh, uh, the
Speaker:client and remove that. It helps them with accounting
Speaker:and helps them with cash flow. Right. So I think, um, that's
Speaker:part of it. I think also as a company, uh, Synchrony is
Speaker:very much invested in, uh, you know, small and
Speaker:medium business community. And so we do
Speaker:educational, um, just in
Speaker:CareCredit, we train, um,
Speaker:our partners in that space on how to use credit,
Speaker:um, when it makes sense, how to make it
Speaker:easier for your practice to run more efficiently
Speaker:with it and all the tools. There's also an incredible
Speaker:amount of data, ah, through our,
Speaker:um, dashboards that we share and how to maximize
Speaker:revenue through using credit as well and
Speaker:sharing with the best practices. So those are some of the things we
Speaker:do. We, we help them with some of the marketing,
Speaker:uh, campaigns that they can do and how best
Speaker:display and best practice sharing. So I think those are
Speaker:things that we do and synchrony as a company, as
Speaker:a larger bank does that, um, across the board,
Speaker:not just in the health and wellness space, but in
Speaker:the home and auto space and some of the, um,
Speaker:diversified, um, portfolios, whether they be
Speaker:in jewelry, uh, or
Speaker:sewing or travel and other stuff that, that we
Speaker:uh, that we participated.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: It sounds like a whole nother episode because I would like to dive more
Speaker:into that piece of it. It's like uh,
Speaker:from the business perspective of, you know, how to
Speaker:maximize the use of incorporating
Speaker:such a, a big bank into your
Speaker:everyday practice.
Speaker:And with that, just thinking about the futures one
Speaker:more time with the veterinarian. So
Speaker:say if I'm going to a veterinarian and I
Speaker:realize that they don't have um,
Speaker:CareCredit, what can I do to kind
Speaker:of pitch them as a user? Be like, hey,
Speaker:um, I notice you guys don't offer this, um,
Speaker:here's a number or here's a website to kind of check them out so we can
Speaker:offer it here at this particular event as well.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: I'm happy to say that CareCredit is
Speaker:quite widely accepted. Right. So we're accepted in 85% of
Speaker:vets in the U.S. right. And if
Speaker:you factor in a lot of, you know, we offer
Speaker:promotional financing starting at $200. There's a lot of
Speaker:vets that typically, you know,
Speaker:if it's just a, uh, vaccine or a quicker clinic that
Speaker:you only need $100, they don't accept. So I
Speaker:like to think we're not everywhere. We love to be
Speaker:accepted in everyone. Um, and we're working
Speaker:on that so that you could tell them, you know,
Speaker:if someone went and didn't have it, you should really accept CareCare,
Speaker:have a CareCredit card. It's a great product to help
Speaker:us, uh, as pet parents or pet owners
Speaker:manage that expense. Uh, the other thing you could do if you go
Speaker:to carecredit.com uh, we have a,
Speaker:um, partner locator, a provider
Speaker:locator. So before going to a
Speaker:vet or choosing a vet, you can see who actually accepts
Speaker:CareCredit already. And so that you're going into someone that
Speaker:has that um, service provide, which
Speaker:we believe. And certainly I, in my,
Speaker:not just in my professional role, but in my, in my
Speaker:personal experience is something that is
Speaker:fundamental to helping pet Parents,
Speaker:you know, manage. Manage the cost of care for that, for
Speaker:that family member.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Man, that's awesome. And thank you for making it
Speaker:so easy to kind of enroll to make that happen.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Thank you so much.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So I have one last question before we get to the final four questions,
Speaker:which is if you could share one message with pet
Speaker:parents who are feeling overwhelmed by veterinarian
Speaker:costs, what would it be?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Well, first of all, I'd say you're not alone. Right. I think, um,
Speaker:I think we've seen, um, you
Speaker:know, a large rise in costs. We've talked about why
Speaker:some of it has happened. Some of it also was that, you know,
Speaker:veterinarians had to make a living wage also. And a
Speaker:lot of the people in their, uh, in their practices,
Speaker:you know, labor costs, uh, had gone
Speaker:up. And it doesn't mean it was wrong. I don't
Speaker:think they're raising price for the sake of raising price. You're
Speaker:seeing some of the supplies and inputs going up.
Speaker:So I would say, um,
Speaker:don't take it out on the veterinarian.
Speaker:It's just something that is going through the system
Speaker:and working its way through the economy. I'd say
Speaker:you should talk to your veterinarian and
Speaker:come together with a plan also. They're the experts. They're going
Speaker:to know what this pet
Speaker:could cost, um, over the lifetime and how you should
Speaker:budget for it. And then there's something called the spectrum of
Speaker:care. Right. And what might be right for me as a pet
Speaker:parent might not be right for someone else.
Speaker:Right. And so kind of talk to them and think
Speaker:about, okay, what kind of level of care makes
Speaker:sense and works with your budget
Speaker:and your financial situation. And I think that's a very
Speaker:useful conversation to have when you're starting off, uh,
Speaker:in that relationship, um, with. With that, uh,
Speaker:veterinarian. Right. People are. Tend to be quite loyal
Speaker:to their veterinarian. Right. It's. Which makes sense.
Speaker:And, you know, they're the experts in that field. So that's one
Speaker:of that. That's one thing I would say, you know, start off, have a, have
Speaker:a conversation, say, hey, how much. How often is this?
Speaker:Do you think I'm going to have to bring in? I have, let's say this, let's say
Speaker:when Maddie was a puppy, this miniature poodle, how often do you think she's going
Speaker:to come in? Once a year, twice a year? What else do you
Speaker:recommend is, you know, how much is that going to be
Speaker:costing? You know, this much over this. And, you know, together,
Speaker:work with them on a plan and I think, um,
Speaker:um, information is power. Right? And, uh,
Speaker:knowing all that stuff up front is going to make you less
Speaker:stressed about it. There's always going to be some sort of, you
Speaker:know, financial stress at some point,
Speaker:uh, no matter what. Because like we said, you know,
Speaker:um, we tend
Speaker:to also sometimes bring your
Speaker:pet, sometimes unnecessarily to the vet
Speaker:because they don't speak. Right. And so they're your, you
Speaker:know, your little protected child. You're like, oh, this person, it is an
Speaker:acne and it could just, you know, could just not be feeling well if it doesn't
Speaker:need to go to the vet. Right. And so, uh, there's going to be
Speaker:times where you're going to. Where you're going to be emotional about it. And so
Speaker:being prepared and talking with the vet through all that stuff is
Speaker:great. There's some, um,
Speaker:there's incredible amount of information online also.
Speaker:And, um, just different
Speaker:networks and different community groups for
Speaker:those pets and even those pets in these
Speaker:certain geographies that you can get a lot of information from as
Speaker:well.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I like that. And thank you for bringing that up
Speaker:far as. Because we both not, uh,
Speaker:pet experts, because each species has its own
Speaker:thing, like you mentioned that early on, and they have their
Speaker:own care and feed. So we gotta.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Absolutely. Right. There's certain things which, and there's certain,
Speaker:um, breeds which, you know,
Speaker:are gonna have respiratory issues or certain breeds that you
Speaker:could be getting based on your, number one, your
Speaker:lifestyle, the amount of time you're gonna be able to walk it. And so if
Speaker:you're not gonna be able to take that dog on, get
Speaker:that dog that amount of exercise, it might not
Speaker:fit in the lifestyle that you need, which could result in,
Speaker:um, adverse health, uh, kind of
Speaker:situations. Uh. Right. If it's not getting the right amount of exercise
Speaker:or if it isn't, it might behave, uh,
Speaker:you know, it may have behavioral issues because of that.
Speaker:So really study up before you, you get your
Speaker:pet and what the right matches for
Speaker:what you're trying to get out of that relationship and what you can
Speaker:provide it. Awesome.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Uh, all right, ready for the final four question,
Speaker:Johnson?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh, okay, I'm ready. I don't, you know.
Speaker:You'll tell me if I did well after
Speaker:you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Got it.
Speaker:All right, question one. What does
Speaker:wealth mean to you?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh,
Speaker:health. Yeah, I
Speaker:think your, your, your health is your wealth. Right. I think you can
Speaker:have as much, um, money as.
Speaker:As you want, but if you're not able to enjoy it, if you're
Speaker:not able to,
Speaker:uh, enjoy life,
Speaker:spend time with your family, your, your loved ones,
Speaker:then, then it does no good. So really
Speaker:having in health is, is around the center
Speaker:of that. So you know, your,
Speaker:your health is. Your wealth is an expression which I'm sure you've heard
Speaker:before, but it's certainly something that is, that
Speaker:is very true.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yes sir.
Speaker:Number two, what was your worst mistake
Speaker:as a pet owner?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh, that
Speaker:is a good one.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Um.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: I would say my worst mistake
Speaker:as a pet owner,
Speaker:um, was.
Speaker:That's a tough one. That's a good question. I wasn't ready for that
Speaker:one. My worst mistake as a pet owner.
Speaker:Well, I think
Speaker:we had a little bit of a hard time
Speaker:when um, I have a seven year old son. Maddie
Speaker:is going to be 15. She was about seven when we had
Speaker:uh, had him. And so um,
Speaker:I think I could have done a better job of
Speaker:getting her prepared for bringing another living
Speaker:being in the family. So he had a, his fingers
Speaker:got nipped a little bit, uh, and
Speaker:we could have probably had a smoother transition plan for the two of
Speaker:them. We tried our best but still there were some uh,
Speaker:uh, some incidents. So getting her a little bit, maybe more
Speaker:socialized. She's not a dog that, that bites. But you know,
Speaker:children go and they pull and you know, they do stuff
Speaker:and so just uh, making sure that
Speaker:uh, we were ready for, for uh, the human
Speaker:coming into the house.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Those darn kids. Right.
Speaker:Uh, number three, is there a
Speaker:book that inspired your journey or change your perspective.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: On pet parenting or just
Speaker:in uh, just in life?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I usually go with life, but you can go with that.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: No, no, no, I don't, I don't. I. That, that makes it
Speaker:um, that makes it uh, easier for
Speaker:me. Is, is uh, is that
Speaker:um. I think, you know,
Speaker:the book that I would say, you know,
Speaker:really influenced me and it's a book I read when I was young.
Speaker:Um, but it was just uh,
Speaker:it just taught me a lot about how the world works and
Speaker:people and it ah, actually has a, an affiliation
Speaker:to pets of sunscreen. It was. Is Animal
Speaker:Farm by George Orwell. Yeah, you
Speaker:know. Yeah, it starts off, um, you see how people and
Speaker:power can change things and uh, how
Speaker:people are treated differently and how
Speaker:corruption, you know, works and um, just really,
Speaker:you know, it sticks to me, you know, to this day. Well, I probably read
Speaker:it and you know, the eighth grade or something like that and I try
Speaker:to reread it once in a while. It just, you know, kind of freshens
Speaker:things up, you know.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Not an exciting one like the Art of War. I'm not dead or,
Speaker:you know, Machiavelli, you know, the prince. I'm not that
Speaker:calculated.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: No. This Animal Farm was a great book.
Speaker:Great storytelling, um, in using
Speaker:personification in the animals. It was perfect book, I
Speaker:think.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah. That's a good match, right? Yeah.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Uh, number four, what is
Speaker:your favorite dish to make?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh, well, anything that's
Speaker:not going to kill my family because I am not a good cook.
Speaker:So, um, I,
Speaker:uh. Yeah, that's
Speaker:a good. I am not great, uh, at
Speaker:cooking. My son says I make the best
Speaker:macaroni and cheese, but I'll concede it
Speaker:comes out of a box. I think he just is, you know, is. Is.
Speaker:Is being nice. They have this good brand now. I think
Speaker:it's called Good Olds. It's like a, uh, like a
Speaker:healthier, you know, boxed,
Speaker:uh, Mac and cheese. Um,
Speaker:I think, uh, you know what? Okay, here's what
Speaker:I. I got something for you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Okay.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: I. I learned how to make pizza, uh, during COVID
Speaker:and so, uh, during COVID you know,
Speaker:I'd get the dough and, you know, started making
Speaker:pizza. So for even, like, since then, I think I
Speaker:made it a few weeks ago, and my son, you know,
Speaker:uh, likes to do it with me. And, you know, we make, you know, kind of these
Speaker:two little personal pizzas and, you know, dress them up,
Speaker:and it's a good, good way to spend time with them. Also, it's always fun, you know,
Speaker:curling dough, hopefully catching it. Um,
Speaker:and. And, uh, he really enjoys that. So I'd say. I'd say
Speaker:pizza.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: That is awesome, man. You might have to,
Speaker:uh, do a video one day, check that off.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Oh, boy. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'll
Speaker:pass the, uh, food inspection, but, you
Speaker:know, we'll try.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Awesome. Well, Jonathan, it's been a pleasure
Speaker:having you on the show and really getting to learn a
Speaker:lot more about you, who you are, um, from the
Speaker:various interviews that you've done before, and also learning a lot
Speaker:more about carecredit and how to actually can help out the pet
Speaker:parents, um, in doing such great
Speaker:things. And I just want to commend you for doing a great work, really
Speaker:spreading the word out there and making it nice and easy for
Speaker:people to take care of their family,
Speaker:um, not just financially, but also emotionally because this
Speaker:is an emotional strain when things happen. We always want to have everybody
Speaker:in a good light and to have this happen.
Speaker:This is a great way to help
Speaker:people just continue on to live their lives that they want
Speaker:to. Um, but where. This is the last
Speaker:question of the show, which is where can people,
Speaker:um, just find out a little bit more about your services or
Speaker:even just get in touch with you and your team?
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Yeah, I would say to, uh, go to carecredit.com um,
Speaker:and you'll see all the, um, different,
Speaker:um, specialties we're in. And if you hit the veterinary
Speaker:drop down, there's a lot of great information there as well that
Speaker:we provide to prospective pet owners
Speaker:and budgeting tips and
Speaker:all the other things we have. There's a lot of, um, good knowledge
Speaker:out there. So I'd recommend, um, going to
Speaker:carecredit.com and, and using that as a
Speaker:starting point. Um, and I would say, uh,
Speaker:I want to thank you for having me on and letting me talk
Speaker:about this and get the word out. It's important. But,
Speaker:um, want to thank you as well for what you're doing and
Speaker:trying to help, uh, your listeners
Speaker:and your community, um, get
Speaker:more education about finance and getting more
Speaker:perspectives and, um,
Speaker:serving. Doing that as a great, uh, public
Speaker:service is important. So thank you so much for your work.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: All right, thank you. Thank you so much.
Speaker:All right, so, uh, for those of you who are listening,
Speaker:please make sure y' all do the thing, you know,
Speaker:subscribe, follow and share this
Speaker:episode with another pet parent. And even if
Speaker:you're not a pet parent and you think of somebody who's planning to be a
Speaker:pet parent, this is the episode that you really
Speaker:want to share with them. So thank you all again.
Speaker:Y' all be safe. We out.
Speaker:>> Jonathan Wainberg: Peace. Peace.
