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John Lewis: Partnership Card reviews

Name: Partnership Card
Rating: 1.33 (882 reviews)

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1.32

Based on 882 reviews, last reviewed 12th Nov 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

75% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

88%

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

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

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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:

JLP and Newday in cahoots.

Told I'm ineligible - despite >50 years loyal JLP customer, 5 figure credit limit and score excellent - I have after communications with JLP managers concluded that this oust has been orchestrated by JLP. From sources including JLP and Newday websites,, I speculate: JL stores are in financial difficulty, currently supported by Waitrose itself on the brink. It’s not that JLP doesn't want higher spending loyal customers, it sure does; but what it wants is custom that doesn’t sap profits.    With the HBSC JL Partnership card, each £1 spent qualifies for a point, whose number depends upon whether spent at JL and/or W or elsewhere. The more elsewhere the less JLP gets the more it costs JLP. I think it used to be one point for every £1 spent in JLP, two for every £1 elsewhere. Nowadays for some eligible purchases at JL and W 5 points for every £4 spent; and for other eligible purchases at JL and W 1 point for every £4; 1 point for every £4 spent elsewhere. Fewer vouchers for spending elsewhere is not a deterrent. For example, if a card-holder with £5,000 credit limit spends £4000 a month elsewhere then JLP issues vouchers. Vouchers can only be used in JL or W but it doesn't follow the purchase price has to exceed the vouchers value. A cardholder could amass a substantial sum in vouchers without having spent a penny at JL or W. When using vouchers to buy in JL or W not have to buy anything involving any extra payment for the difference between the vouchers and price. JLP would make a loss. JLP says that over the last five years £230m has been issued in vouchers. How much of approximately £126,000 a day average has gone to customers that haven't paid JLP anything. By enlisting Newday to either render higher credit limit existing Partnership cardholders ineligible or where the applicant is eligible a substantially lower limit JLP is reducing the value of vouchers issued. JLP is probably getting a share of any interest paid by new card-holders and paying a lower commission on receivables (transaction sales). JLP I suspect envisages that where an existing Partnership cardholder is rejected that person would obtain a desired credit limit from another card provider and continue to buy from JL/W whenever. Whether enough existing Partnership cardholders would want to continue loyal to JLP is a separate issue. A JLP partner qualifying for discount told me that for most goods and services there are cheaper deals elsewhere. Not a deposit-taker Newday hasn't any revenue beyond credit cards. It borrows to re-lend, loan note interest between 2% and 6+% a year - with interest rates rising costs will go up: for how much longer its business is sustainable is anyone's guess. To finance JLP's transaction, Newday has taken out a loan of £650M. Any cardholder paying the whole balance monthly is getting an interest-free loan from the date of purchase to balance payment date - if you time it carefully then up to 45 days - so for that reason alone an existing JL Partnership cardholder is ineligible. Newday plans to float shares on the stock market next year so boosting the number of cardholders is to impress shareholders. A £5000 credit limit to one card holder (unlikely to pay interest) is akin to £500 limit to 10 card holders (likely to pay some interest). The net proceeds of a stock market float (rumoured capitalisation £2.5Bn) would provide a injection of interest-free cash. The sad part is that JLP could increase its profit margin and number of loyal customers without having to resort to destroying long-term customer relationships with JLP. Instead of the vouchers issued regardless of where a JL Partnership cardholder spends, the vouchers should be linked to the myJohnLewis and myWaitrose cards. Show or scan a my-card before paying and have the voucher value credited to the my-card - and since printing on paper is costly to administer, to issue every JL and W customer a my-card which can be produced by the customer at the check-out for credit and debit with the points/voucher value. Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

What a disaster

Why did John Lewis decide to change from HSBC to Newday? Newday are absolutely awful. Spent weeks and many phone calls trying to get the code I had been sent to work to enable me to apply for the new card. Apparently there was a software issue. Having finally been accepted and the new card arrived found it to be contactless. Previously I had requested a non contactless card and HSBC had been happy to oblige. Called customer services again and the representative I spoke to was even more hopeless than those I had spoken to before. Several pieces of information he gave me turned out to be incorrect during the telephone conversation. Asked to speak to a manager, none available, was promised a call back but over two weeks later am still waiting. What has happened to John Lewis? I have been a customer for years. I gave up using Click & Collect when they started charging for this service. The stores have gone downhill with partners disinterested, lack of stock availability and product choice. Now with all the problems with Newday, who it seems couldn’t care less about John Lewis customers and the standards of customer care we have come to expect, I am thinking I will cut my John Lewis Partnership card up and not bother shopping in John Lewis again. Reviewed on: 31st October 2022

A FEW WORDS

I don't need many words - NEWDAY - ABSOLUTE RUBBISH, shame on you John Lewis you are no longer rated as highly as you always were and at this rate never will be again. Reviewed on: 30th October 2022

A total mess!

All I am trying to do is make payment of my balance to the new John Lewis Credit card. They make it almost impossible to transfer money from a bank account and no details of the JL bank on the statement, which is surely the norm? They clearly want to take money direct from the JL Credit Card website but that is not my way of doing things. I have held a Partnership Card for many years but after this fiasco, I will be closing my account and going elsewhere. Talk about a huge downgrade. John Lewis - what happened here??? I also did not like having to apply for the new card, putting an extra mark on my credit score. There should have been a seamless transfer from one card to the other, but no, that was too easy. Reviewed on: 30th October 2022

What a dreadful mistake

Credit limit been more than halved. No balance transfers. New card not turned up yet. Card blocked early- cannot even use old one despite having nearly £8k potential credit. No plausible explanation of why change has been made. Seriously thinking of never shopping at JL/ Waitrose anymore. Feel so let down. They should hang their heads in shame Reviewed on: 29th October 2022

Like so many others - we're off

I've been a partnercard holder for 10 years, exceptionally happily. So much so we took out a second card for household expenses - and enjoyed spending our vouchers on our home. Today, I've spent 51mins on hold for NewDay customer services to find out the business name in order to set up a BACS payment. No indication on the statement and, thanks to an earlier review, I wasn't surprised to see the Santander name come up when setting up the new payee account. But my bank insists on a business name, and nothing on the list seemed appropriate - the 3 different Debenhams options were tempting following the aforesaid review, but risky - rather like Russian roulette! After 51 mins on hold for customer services I gave up - we decided to find another provider. My parents were John Lewis account holders, I've been a loyal customer, and for 5 years I was a very proud Partner, but enough is enough. The decline is very sad to see, and the whole debacle with NewDay is the final straw. We're Off. Sharon White (and the Board) please take note. Reviewed on: 29th October 2022

COMPLETE AND UTTER DISASTER.

Like many other John Lewis cardholders, I tried to make a bank transfer payment. Sort Code & Account Number shows : Amazon,Debenhams, Asda, BUT NOT JOHN LEWIS…. New Day helpline said “ just pay under Amazon “ Isn’t that a STUPID SUGGESTION ? Why would I do that ? My statement from New Day does not differentiate between purchases by the primary or secondary card holder ????? WHY NOT. ? I need to know WHO has made the purchase. I don’t want to GUESS !!! Such a shambles and such a shame. I WILL NOW DITCH MY JOHN LEWIS CARD. Reviewed on: 29th October 2022

Downgraded credit limit

I have been a loyal customer of John Lewis for as long as I can remember and had a partnership card for the last ten years. My John Lewis credit limit was £11,000. I regularly spend up to my limit and I paid in full every month. My new card credit limit is £7,000, which I know will be insufficient. I submitted a complaint about the credit limit but heard nothing more. Very disappointed by the poor service. Reviewed on: 29th October 2022

New Credit Card

I was informed by letter some months ago that I would receive a letter with an unique number for smooth transition to the new credit card when the old one expired on the 31st October. Today is the 29th October and I am still waiting for my unique number. The old credit card managed by HSBC was brilliant but the new one is managed by New Day and I have not found them very good from my dealings with them in the past. Wrong move John Lewis as some of your others recently. I am looking elsewhere for my new credit card. Reviewed on: 29th October 2022

Card not recognised for online payment to Land Registry

Tried to make online payment to Land Registry today with new card. Message said card not recognised, so had to use old card, which was fine. Shame that can’t be used for long now. Please don’t tell me to phone helpline as life is too short to wait for that. Reviewed on: 28th October 2022

Problems at every turn

Having gone through multiple hoops to transfer from old to new (Newday) provider, including being rejected, then accepted when Newday admitted that there had been mistakes and problems for many people, I have now had a nightmare trying to pay the first bill. Nowhere on the bill is the name of Newday given for the account - they just give sort code and account number which is insufficient for online banking. Why are the account number and card number different? Both 16 digits. Does John Lewis know or care what this is doing to their reputation? They need to take action. Reviewed on: 28th October 2022

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