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John Lewis: Partnership Card reviews

Name: Partnership Card
Rating: 1.31 (890 reviews)

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1.31

Based on 890 reviews, last reviewed 27th Mar 2026

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

20% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

88%

Latest highest rating:

4

The JLP card offers cashback based upon spending and... The JLP card offers cashback based upon spending and it is possible to generate £100+ cashback per year. Managing the account is straightforward via t... Read more Reviewed on: 22nd January 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

I used my card to pay for petrol at my local Sainsbu... I used my card to pay for petrol at my local Sainsbury's. Later that day I received a message saying there was a suspicion of fraud. A simple glance a... Read more Reviewed on: 27th March 2026

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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?

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.

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John Lewis Partnership Card reviews (890)

Poor customer service on new credit card

After receiving my new card albeit in Apple wallet, have been waiting 10+ days for physical card which still hasn’t arrived. Was charged £22 to transfer balance from old partnership card, which was advertised as free. Impossible to get through on phone due to high call volume. Very dissatisfied John Lewis!!!! Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

Anti pensioners

Refused the new JL credit card despite holding one for years! Suspect it is because I'm now a pensioner and was honest. So Waitrose.. you are expensive and now I will not receive vouchers for spending..you will lose my, and probably thousands of other previously loyal customer" business. My bank is very pleased to give me a card! Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

Dreadful Service .

Having had a JL card for as long as I remember I actually won’t even bother to apply for the new one . I object to having to reapply. Also why have they now relocated their call centres in Cairo . It didn’t work for other companies who listened to their customers and bought them back to this country. To add insult to injury I have just had an email from John Lewis asking me to take part in a survey about their Partnership Card addressed to Christopher . Who is Christopher? Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

New card from new providerrefused

Retired, had card for years. Asset rich, managed income. Max credit score. No reason for this at all. John Lewis have shot themselves in the foot by the look of these reviews! Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

New partnership card

I have gone from a £10K credit limit to a £250 limit. This does not even cover my weekly shop!! Awful customer loyalty service. Complaints service non-existent. Will not be using my new card as it is completely useless!! Very disappointing customer service from John Lewis. I expect they will lose an awful lot of loyal business. Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

Oh Dear!

I, like many other loyal John Lewis customers, have just been rejected for the new Credit card. I am currently 50 minutes in, on the phone, waiting to speak to someone on customer 'care' to find out why - but from the hundreds of reviews posted here, I can see that I am going to get little feedback. What a massive own goal - thousands of loyal customers will be taking their customer elsewhere... not sure that they thought this move through..... Reviewed on: 6th September 2022

Write to the CEO

Here is her email [email protected]. I’ve written telling her how much I spent in store in the last year, and my planned big purchases in coming months. Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

Oh the irony!

Okay, so this is my third posting on this topic in three days! Just had to post this…my husband and I have both been declined for our JL cards, even though we have adequate income, 999 Experian credit rating etc…our daughter, earning LESS than us at 24 years old and having had her card for only 1 year has been accepted! She does as we do, pays the balance in full each month, using her card as payment insurance for internet purchases. As per the previous reviewer, there’s the proof…it’s all part of a bigger plan…long time loyal customers count for nowt, it’s all about generating interest and not allowing the customer to capitalise on the payment window..fact! Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

outraged, saddened and aggrieved

I have had a Partnership Card for many years with a track record of paying off, in full, the amount due each month. My credit limit was increased to £10,000 in June 2022. I am a loyal customer of John Lewis and Partners and Waitrose and Partners. I am not in the habit of making needless complaints; nor do I take to social media outlets to air my grievances. I now find myself in a position where John Lewis and Waitrose will not be on my radar for further shopping needs which given the regularity and frequency of my custom should be of concern to them. On 2nd September 2022, at the invitation of John Lewis and Partners, I applied online for a new Partnership Card. I put in the code provided in the invitation email and completed the application; ticking the box giving my permission for my details to be provided to NewDay Ltd. to ease the application process. My application was rejected which came as an alarming surprise. There was no facility for me to go back and check if I had made any errors in my application. The customer service agent I spoke to subsequently at NewDay Ltd. suggested I apply again later in the month. Quite what that would achieve I am at a loss to understand. I have asked for full and detailed reasons why my application has been refused from the NewDay Ltd Appeals team which I have yet to receive. I can only assume it is ageism and the fact that I pay off the balance due each month i.e. they don't make any money out of people like me. I am distressed that: • A John Lewis and Partners’ business decision has put me in the position that I have had to re-apply (and been refused) for a credit service which I have used for a considerable number of years, and I assumed the company had been satisfied to provide to me- • I have provided my details to a company (knowingly but at JL's suggestion) which refuses to provide me with the facility I had to apply for because of their business decision • there is no facility to have a reasoned conversation about this matter through John Lewis finance, my John Lewis account, or the current Partnership Card Services – an exemplary case of “computer says no”!! None of the so called ‘options’ will deal with my concerns • above all, my customer loyalty appears not to be of any value to John Lewis.. I will be unable to … and I quote ... “continue to collect reward points and earn gift vouchers exactly as you do now, " I feel saddened and aggrieved at the current base and dismissive attitude displayed by the management that I feel I have no choice but to bid farewell to John Lewis and Partners. Reviewed on: 5th September 2022

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

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