John Lewis suspends applications for its Partnership credit card
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Whilst it doesn’t earn miles or points, we have occasionally mentioned the John Lewis / Waitrose Partnership Card in the past.
Until the launch of the new Barclaycard Avios credit cards, the Partnership Card was one of the better options – although still a weak one – for getting rewards from a Visa or Mastercard. You got 1.25% back on your spending in John Lewis and Waitrose and 0.25% back elsewhere.
Applications for the card closed yesterday. John Lewis is planning to move it from HSBC to NewDay.

There is an interesting comment in the press release on the announcement. NewDay said that:
“our proprietary credit decisioning capabilities allow us to responsibly say ‘yes’ to more customers, which will enable even more John Lewis customers to enjoy the much-loved Partnership Card rewards.“
This sounds, to me, as if John Lewis and HSBC may have fallen out over the acceptance rate for the card, albeit you would expect the John Lewis / Waitrose customer base to be good credit risks.
However, it is also the case that NewDay has just lost the contract to run the Amazon Platinum Mastercard. NewDay’s private equity owners are believed to be planning to float the business in the medium term and will need a ‘good news’ story to convince investors that it is still a growth business.
What isn’t clear is what happens to existing cardholders. John Lewis says that:
“There’s no immediate change for current customers, who can continue to use their card and collect points as normal, and we’ll write to them this summer about the change.“
There are two possible scenarios. One is that NewDay buys the existing ‘book’ off HSBC and customers get a fairly seamless transition. The alternative is that HSBC switches Partnership Card customers to a generic HSBC card and they are forced to make a fresh application for the NewDay product.
If you have one of these cards, you should be seriously considering dropping it for the free Barclaycard Avios card. Even if you have no interest in Avios, you can convert the points into Nectar and get a 0.8% return on your spending – more than 3x the 0.25% return you get from the John Lewis card.
You can find out more on the John Lewis website here.
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2023 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £20,000 Read our full review
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and unbeatable travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 points bonus and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points bonus and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year Read our full review

American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card
1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review
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