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John Lewis: Partnership Card reviews

1.32
Based on 882 reviews, last reviewed 12th Nov 2025
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Latest highest rating:

5

had a partnership card for years now. had a partnership card for years now. love the rewards vouchers on spends and the points you are awarded for using their credit card which i normally ... Read more Reviewed on: 12th June 2025
carol cheshire's avatar
carol cheshire

Latest lowest rating:

1

Lost my £3000 payment to my Partnership card Lost my £3000 payment to my Partnership card through their app for 2 weeks, causing much stress and many phone calls trying to get my money back - as ... Read more Reviewed on: 12th November 2025
Malcolm L's avatar
Malcolm L

About this product

Read our John Lewis Finance Partnership Card reviews to help you to find out about the pros and cons of taking out the Partnership credit card. What kind of features does the John Lewis Partnership card have? What do people think of John Lewis' customer service? Does the card have great benefits?

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John Lewis Partnership Card reviews (882)

Review of the John Lewis, Partnership Card:

Reasons for ineligible or derisory credit limit?

1
Told ineligible for the newday JL Partnership card - despite >40 years loyal JL/W customer, credit score excellent, £12,000 credit limit and superb payment record - I have commented on Trustpilot and Linked-in and direct to upper echelons of JL. I was upset and livid to begin with. Composure regained - withdrawn my application - I have been thinking about why ineligible and why paltry credit limits. Newday is akin to a parasite, not a lender in its own right, it has to borrow to lend. It pays interest between 2% and 6%+ on its borrowings - source: loan notes listed on London Stock Exchange - so cannot afford to subsidise cardholders that do not pay interest. Newday is a puppet, its strings pulled by funds advised by Cinven and CVC Capital Partners. With plans to float on the stock market, newday wants to increase the number of cardholders to boost its standing in the minds of investors. One cardholder with for example £5000 credit limit and paying the whole of the balance monthly (no profit for newday) equates to 10 cardholders each £500 limit, mostly incurring interest (profit for newday). Newday has taken out a loan circa £650M to pay JLP for receivables (source: newday results presentation August 2022) - a loan carrying interest will ultimately have to be paid for by cardholders. The presentation highlights perceived benefit of the JLP account. "Higher customer transaction volume and loyalty. Diversifies customer base towards prime. Delivers growth and attractive profit profile." Newaday’s 28.9% cost to income ratio maintained only if existing and new cardholders pay at least the same amount of interest. Ineligibility is I would think also orchestrated by JLP. A JL manager assures me JLP would have been satisfied with its due diligence. JLP is in financial difficulty. Its overheads and operating costs are unsustainable: top-heavy with overpaid managers and ceo, not attracting enough retired part-time workers for saving on National insurance it is suffering wage inflation, most generic products and services on offer are a soft touch for competitors. With profit margins shrinking, JLP strategy is for JL Financial Services to become an important profit centre in its own right. As agent for insurers, JLP gets commission. Likely a cut of the interest paid by cardholders. I would think JLP wants to reduce the cost of the vouchers cardholders get when using the card whether or not in JL and/or W. A form of cash-back, the idea of the vouchers was that cardholders would mainly buy from JL and/or W, not as I suspect most do to mostly buy elsewhere. The points differential is not enough to deter. As JL Financial Services knows how much cardholders spend, what they buy when and where, I suspect JLP has analysed every existing credit limit and told newday to get rid of what JL regard as unprofitable cardholders via ineligibility or derisory credit limits. Although it appears that JLP has alienated its core customers, from JLP's perspective it could be argued partly our own fault for not regarding JL and W as our sole suppliers. I am proper loyal to W in particular but I gather my attitude is unusual. If f i were to buy elsewhere something that JL or W sells then what I spend elsewhere wouldn't be helping JLP so rather than shop around I only shop at Waitrose. I doubt JLP rates newday for customer service, more likely for ruthlessness. JLP is I suspect using newday to do its dirty work. In its presentation newday says "Moved to the latest version of Customer Management bureau data and tightened growth strategies for existing customers" and "Tightening of affordability criteria and initial credit limits for new customers". On balance if what i reckon is correct or something along those lines then that doesn't say much for JLP's ethics but then again JLP is not what it was. Reviewed on: 30th August 2022

Paid my monthly statement on time and through my ban...

1
Paid my monthly statement on time and through my bank as per usual , the monies left my account on the day and John Lewis advised the amount was still outstanding , advised and sent screenshots of the parent made and it transpired that John Lewis had lost the payment in there system , yes they returned my late charges but with zero apology or compensation for all the anxiety and stress John Lewis caused , awful service awful awful service Reviewed on: 8th July 2025

had a partnership card for years now.

5
had a partnership card for years now. love the rewards vouchers on spends and the points you are awarded for using their credit card which i normally amass and spend in the new year sales. customer service is always good and the guarantees although it can be a pain sometimes to find the contact details Reviewed on: 12th June 2025

Unable to contact to unblock card outside office hours

1
I have had 2 vital payments blocked on a Sunday due to the algorithm thinking it was fraudulent activity. But Anyday is NoT open before 10am and after 4pm so you can not call to unblock your card. Been unable to purchase petrol on one occasion and unable to pay for a food order delivery due at 8am when expecting 30 for lunch at 12pm. I have made an official complaint but nothing changed. It is not acceptable. I will be cancelling my card. Reviewed on: 9th June 2025

I just really like the Parnership card.

5
I just really like the Parnership card. I makes things easier to purchase and the settings let you know when payment is due. It's very simple and has made my life easier. I'd recommend it to friends and family. Reviewed on: 27th May 2025

If I could score lower than 1 star I would.

1
If I could score lower than 1 star I would.. I’ve been trying to increase my credit limit .. you can’t even GIVE them money! Customer services are not trained to deal with queries - my dog can give me more info than they can… they deserve these bad reviews. I’m ditching my card and sticking with my M and S one who are brilliant at every level AND they deal with queries face to face in store… Reviewed on: 6th May 2025

Slow in producing pdf statements each month

1
Ask for payment and ask you to check your statement days before they get round to the producing the actual pdf statement itself! Reviewed on: 2nd May 2025

Pity you cannot give 0 They block your card for no r...

1
Pity you cannot give 0 They block your card for no reason and cannot explain why! Reviewed on: 15th April 2025

Newday have ruined JLs integrity

1
Newday who are the administarors of John Lewis credit cards are unpersonalised, unintelligent, incompetent administarors of a once reputable company. I have been with JL for decades, always paid my account in full on time, yet they would not increase my credit limit, and could not give me a reason why. The complaint phone lines are maned by people who speak with unfathomable foreign accents. John Lewis, you have gone down hill. What a shame!! The only bonus is a John Lewis voucher every so often, otherwise, I'd cancel it today. Reviewed on: 5th April 2025

Good credit card with money back

5
The JL partnership card is good because it gives some money back, dependent on how much money you spend, in the form of vouchers to be spent in JL or Waitrose. Reviewed on: 27th February 2025

Ever since NewDay took over it has been chaos.

1
Ever since NewDay took over it has been chaos. This happens frequently. I receive messages stating my bill was not paid on time, when it was.. All firms now have security and I do not find this problem with other providers. At the moment they have blocked my account, again. I always pay my account in full every month and have spent a lot of money with John Lewis. I do not think NewDay are the right firm to work with John Lewis. They are at the wrong end of the market. Reviewed on: 20th February 2025

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