Write a review

Go to business site

John Lewis: Partnership Card reviews

Name: Partnership Card
Rating: 1.33 (876 reviews)

View other John Lewis products

1.33

Based on 876 reviews, last reviewed 25th Sep 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

20% decrease 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

If your phone is stolen, you cannot verify anything. I had my phone and card stolen, to cancel your card you need your phone... to do anything, you need your phone. So then decided to used the chat servi... Read more Reviewed on: 25th September 2025

Read all reviews See your review

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?

Find out more about the Partnership card by reading our reviews from the Smart Money People community - people like you. You can also write your own John Lewis Partnership Card review to share your own experiences.

Smart Money People is the UK's leading financial services review and insight hub. Together, we can make financial services work better for everyone.

John Lewis Partnership Card reviews (876)

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

NewDay/Partnership card

Oh dear, can only hope it gets better. After over 30 years with John Lewis with their HSBC financial bank, our credit limit was reduced even though we always paid our outstanding monthly balance and told it will take six months to reinstate it. With a very bad previous experience, concerning a late payers fault with NewDay when they were backers for a defunct Debenhams store card. Another disappointing feature with dual cardholders NewDay statements do not show which card was used in transactions. John Lewis’s reputation has received a serious blow! Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Very disappointing

I have started using the new JL partnership card. The balance on the old card (c£1,500) was paid by direct debit in mid-October as usual. I was surprised to receive a statement for the new card yesterday which informed me that the balance due on that card (c£750) would be taken on the 31st of this month. I contacted New Day which confirmed that the new card offers only 15 days credit. I am in the fortunate position of being able to cover this extra outlay in a month but I suspect many people will suffer hardship as a result of this reduction in the length of credit. I am tempted to cancel the card, having been a cardholder for many years. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Complete indifference.

In June my husband died and as he was the main credit card holder with John Lewis my card was cancelled. To my horror they would not issue a new card until they had changed banks. Subsequently Trailfinders paid into my cancelled account a sum of money owing to me even though I had told them the debit card account had been cancelled. This money has been sitting in a holding account since July with neither John Lewis nor Trailfinders accepting responsibility. John Lewis had assured me that I would be the first to receive a new credit card but of course I have not heard from them and it is now the middle of Oct. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

My letter to Dame Stella

I concur absolutely with all the comments on this section. I wrote to Dame Stella when we had to deal with NewDay, a shocking experience and I had experience of them also through Laura Ashley. This is it Dear Dame Sharon, Thanks for your acknowledgement, but apart from further accountability shuffling and palm-off's from Iain Stewart I've yet to see any empathy with the Customer view whatsoever. As I said in my original email I served on a multi-national Board for some 12 years before retiring and we operated a customer-centric organisation which placed the customer at the top of the tree, and the internal management structure and business processes playing second fiddle to the "front line" or customer interface. I certainly don't get a customer-centric feel from the replies I've had in this exchange recently, and clearly Iain seems to put his relationship with NewDay before those of his customers. John Lewis doesn't seem to get it! When your service levels don't deliver, we don't want to hear from your suppliers, we need John Lewis to take primary accountability and go out on a limb to put things right quickly and decisively. It hit me as Déjà vu that my original complaint written to you on 17th October is absolutely consistent with the cacophony of complaints echoed in the article in today's Sunday Times, and the customer comments it refers to on the Smart Money People website. There's a world of JL customers of long standing out there shouting "you've got it wrong" and nobody seems to be listening. Where on earth has the John Lewis we used to have confidence in gone?? A good first start for one or more of your senior team would be to “mystery shop” by phoning a query to New Day, and try to speak to a human, you might then get a bit closer to understanding the problem. See how easy it was, and how long you had to hang on. I can't find today's article on the web so I've scanned it for you, but I'm sure you've seen it. I've also added the link to the Smart Money People page Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Another credit card problem

Having been accepted for the new credit card, albeit with a reduced credit limit, I then found that my efforts to log on from my computer were thwarted by the inability to log on from my computer. Tried customer services helpline twice over two days with the same result. They were very patient talking me thru each step but the system would not allow me to enter a password. I was advised to download the app and just use that. I have never experienced any problems with using my computer to log onto any other website. This new card service is app driven and since I don't want to do all my business on the app I have with extreme reluctance cancelled my card. Very sad as many years a loyal John Lewis customer - and still am - but this new credit card stinks. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Bullied to pay

Having recently received our new cards from NewDay we already being bullied to pay a bill we haven’t received. A big mistake John Lewis who when contacted shrugged us off This after decades of loyalty. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Abysmal

To have your credit limit reduced by 66%, with my appeal being rejected, is a sign of total incompetence and unprofessionalism. JL - you have seriously messed up and you should be ashamed. To put this into context, we have just applied elsewhere for new credit cards, and our credit limit is far higher than the reduced one provided with JL’s new provider. I am still referring my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and would recommend you do likewise. . Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

A disastrous credit card changeover

Like all comments on this page I've has real issues on the transfer. This is my second letter to the Chairman, Dame Sharon White. Dear Dame Sharon, Thanks for your acknowledgement, but apart from further accountability shuffling and palm-off's from Iain Stewart I've yet to see any empathy with the Customer view whatsoever. As I said in my original email I served on a multi-national Board for some 12 years before retiring and we operated a customer-centric organisation which placed the customer at the top of the tree, and the internal management structure and business processes playing second fiddle to the "front line" or customer interface. I certainly don't get a customer-centric feel from the replies I've had in this exchange recently, and clearly Iain seems to put his relationship with NewDay before those of his customers. John Lewis doesn't seem to get it! When your service levels don't deliver, we don't want to hear from your suppliers, we need John Lewis to take primary accountability and go out on a limb to put things right quickly and decisively. It hit me as Déjà vu that my original complaint written to you on 17th October is absolutely consistent with the cacophony of complaints echoed in the article in today's Sunday Times, and the customer comments it refers to on the Smart Money People website. There's a world of JL customers of long standing out there shouting "you've got it wrong" and nobody seems to be listening. Where on earth has the John Lewis we used to have confidence in gone?? A good first start for one or more of your senior team would be to “mystery shop” by phoning a query to New Day, and try to speak to a human, you might then get a bit closer to understanding the problem. See how easy it was, and how long you had to hang on. I can't find today's article on the web so I've scanned it for you, but I'm sure you've seen it. I've also added the link to the Smart Money People page. Ross Cousens Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

and another loyal cutomer gone

From the communication I have had with John lewis it seems quite clear that they knew exactly what they were doing (to save money) when switching to NewDay and decided that to lose loyal customers in doing so was okay. It's not the same company that it was and I am now no longer shopping in JL or Waitrose...... very sad how much damage has been done. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Not able to renew card

After a total of about nine hours on the phone to New Day I am still unable to get the new card due to a ‘technical’ error. This has gone for over a month and absolutely disgusted that after all my years of having a JL card and paying off in full every month that I am now about to be without a card. Letter received from the complaints department saying they are looking into it … not holding my breath. Reviewed on: 23rd October 2022

Do you have a different John Lewis product?

Share your experiences with products to help others make smarter financial decisions and learn more about different products available. Write a review

Are you a business? Get insights, reply to reviews, invite customers and understand their needs

Alternative products

Classic Credit Card
from Bank of Ireland 2.20 from 5 reviews
Clear Rate Platinum Credit Card
from NatWest 4.53 from 18 reviews
American Express Credit Card
from American Express 3.27 from 97 reviews

Want to see more from John Lewis?

Travel Insurance
from John Lewis 4.75 from 3 reviews
Breakdown Insurance
from John Lewis 4.00 from 1 reviews
Home insurance
from John Lewis 2.19 from 72 reviews

View all products

Join Smart Money People

Keep up to date on ratings of your favourite businesses. Find out about our awards and write new reviews with ease

Create an account

News, guides and insight from our team

View resource hub