John Lewis Partnership Card

[Deleted User]

Muffet1 said:

Quite a few of my own concerns about the changes to JL card here.  I won’t be applying for the Newday card, what will happen to the 40+ years of good credit history that I’ve accrued?

Nothing, it stays on your record for 6 years and if you get another card with benefits ideally, you can keep doing the same. Amex are good for offers and Lloyds/Halifax do one with 0.25% cashback for £4000 then 0.5%

[Deleted User]

Muffet1 said:

Quite a few of my own concerns about the changes to JL card here.  I won’t be applying for the Newday card, what will happen to the 40+ years of good credit history that I’ve accrued?

The last 6 years of it will show on your credit files. The other 34+ will continue to be a secret between you and the various lenders.

dr_adidas01

[Deleted User] said:

Muffet1 said:

Quite a few of my own concerns about the changes to JL card here.  I won’t be applying for the Newday card, what will happen to the 40+ years of good credit history that I’ve accrued?

The last 6 years of it will show on your credit files. The other 34+ will continue to be a secret between you and the various lenders.

It won’t be a secret, while correct 6 years worth of history will show on your credit report. The actual date when you opened the account is also shown on your credit report. 

artyboy

Just spotted this thread. Mrs Arty has a JL card and it's been a pretty miserable experience - from the point of a very elongated application process where she was asked to prove her income; to being given a limit much lower than any other CC she's ever applied for; to extremely incompetent and borderline unintelligible customer service agents...

And now this, where even a handover of the client book can't be managed seamlessly. Well that's it... being able to use it (and earn cashback) in their bureau de change was a nice perk, but it's no great loss when it goes for us.

What we found surprising was that JL allowed HSBC to provide such poor service in their name. But then it's pretty par for the course with that bank...

WillPS

artyboy said:

Just spotted this thread. Mrs Arty has a JL card and it's been a pretty miserable experience - from the point of a very elongated application process where she was asked to prove her income; to being given a limit much lower than any other CC she's ever applied for; to extremely incompetent and borderline unintelligible customer service agents...

And now this, where even a handover of the client book can't be managed seamlessly. Well that's it... being able to use it (and earn cashback) in their bureau de change was a nice perk, but it's no great loss when it goes for us.

What we found surprising was that JL allowed HSBC to provide such poor service in their name. But then it's pretty par for the course with that bank...

Everything you've described is reportedly the reason why JL pulled the plug on the partnership - slow applications and tight lending criteria in particular.

The book isn't JL's so they can't force JLFS (which is a subsidiary of HSBC) to do anything with it.

What's happening is more like what happened with Asda where their existing card closed and a completely new one opened - the difference being that JL aren't leaving a gap between the old closing and the new appearing, which is leading to confusion over why nothing is being transferred.

MollyR

The thing I particularly disliked about the JL card is the way that, if one paid in a partial payment during the month between direct debits (often necessary since the credit limit was so low), that amount was deducted from the next direct debit - even when one had already been told in writing that the direct debit was going to be the full amount from the previous statement.  It meant that when, for instance, one was away, one could run short of credit just because JL had not taken the full amount when expected.  I even went to the Ombudsman over this, but they just said that while it was illegal to take more than the expected amount on a direct debit, it was perfectly acceptable to take less!

daveyjp

MollyR said:

The thing I particularly disliked about the JL card is the way that, if one paid in a partial payment during the month between direct debits (often necessary since the credit limit was so low), that amount was deducted from the next direct debit - even when one had already been told in writing that the direct debit was going to be the full amount from the previous statement.  It meant that when, for instance, one was away, one could run short of credit just because JL had not taken the full amount when expected.  I even went to the Ombudsman over this, but they just said that while it was illegal to take more than the expected amount on a direct debit, it was perfectly acceptable to take less!

Its a credit card not a current account.  Recycling credit isn't generally a good idea and may be against T & Cs.

[Deleted User]

daveyjp said:

MollyR said:

The thing I particularly disliked about the JL card is the way that, if one paid in a partial payment during the month between direct debits (often necessary since the credit limit was so low), that amount was deducted from the next direct debit - even when one had already been told in writing that the direct debit was going to be the full amount from the previous statement.  It meant that when, for instance, one was away, one could run short of credit just because JL had not taken the full amount when expected.  I even went to the Ombudsman over this, but they just said that while it was illegal to take more than the expected amount on a direct debit, it was perfectly acceptable to take less!

Its a credit card not a current account.  Recycling credit isn't generally a good idea and may be against T & Cs.

It's not recycling credit, you are allowed to make payments to the card whenever you like, you can do it the day you purchase an item if you want, the terms are only against putting the card in credit. Indeed, what OP is doing is akin to how balance transfers work - you pay off the balance on the card before a statement is created so they don't take the full amount on the DD

artyboy

WillPS said:

artyboy said:

Just spotted this thread. Mrs Arty has a JL card and it's been a pretty miserable experience - from the point of a very elongated application process where she was asked to prove her income; to being given a limit much lower than any other CC she's ever applied for; to extremely incompetent and borderline unintelligible customer service agents...

And now this, where even a handover of the client book can't be managed seamlessly. Well that's it... being able to use it (and earn cashback) in their bureau de change was a nice perk, but it's no great loss when it goes for us.

What we found surprising was that JL allowed HSBC to provide such poor service in their name. But then it's pretty par for the course with that bank...

Everything you've described is reportedly the reason why JL pulled the plug on the partnership - slow applications and tight lending criteria in particular.

The book isn't JL's so they can't force JLFS (which is a subsidiary of HSBC) to do anything with it.

What's happening is more like what happened with Asda where their existing card closed and a completely new one opened - the difference being that JL aren't leaving a gap between the old closing and the new appearing, which is leading to confusion over why nothing is being transferred.

I know it's not JL's book, but if they really have no control then it shows either naivity or poor management on their part.

HSBC/JLFS controls the risk and methodology for customer acceptance, but JL should have understood that up front and ensured it was aligned the the demographic of their intended client base. Likewise they should have agreed upfront service standards with penalties for not meeting them, including the option to move the book in a way that made the risk transparent for a new provider to assess.

Given we know HSBC has some of the most stringent lending criteria around, coupled with the typical customer demographic (ie JL/Waitrose shoppers), it's hard to understand why there aren't other providers queuing up to take what must be a pretty prime book. Unless HSBC is being obstructive in providing information about it...

(this isn't a subject area I'm totally unfamiliar with, by the way...!)

WillPS

artyboy said:

WillPS said:

artyboy said:

Just spotted this thread. Mrs Arty has a JL card and it's been a pretty miserable experience - from the point of a very elongated application process where she was asked to prove her income; to being given a limit much lower than any other CC she's ever applied for; to extremely incompetent and borderline unintelligible customer service agents...

And now this, where even a handover of the client book can't be managed seamlessly. Well that's it... being able to use it (and earn cashback) in their bureau de change was a nice perk, but it's no great loss when it goes for us.

What we found surprising was that JL allowed HSBC to provide such poor service in their name. But then it's pretty par for the course with that bank...

Everything you've described is reportedly the reason why JL pulled the plug on the partnership - slow applications and tight lending criteria in particular.

The book isn't JL's so they can't force JLFS (which is a subsidiary of HSBC) to do anything with it.

What's happening is more like what happened with Asda where their existing card closed and a completely new one opened - the difference being that JL aren't leaving a gap between the old closing and the new appearing, which is leading to confusion over why nothing is being transferred.

I know it's not JL's book, but if they really have no control then it shows either naivity or poor management on their part.

HSBC/JLFS controls the risk and methodology for customer acceptance, but JL should have understood that up front and ensured it was aligned the the demographic of their intended client base. Likewise they should have agreed upfront service standards with penalties for not meeting them, including the option to move the book in a way that made the risk transparent for a new provider to assess.

Given we know HSBC has some of the most stringent lending criteria around, coupled with the typical customer demographic (ie JL/Waitrose shoppers), it's hard to understand why there aren't other providers queuing up to take what must be a pretty prime book. Unless HSBC is being obstructive in providing information about it...

(this isn't a subject area I'm totally unfamiliar with, by the way...!)

Can you cite an example of when a co-branded credit card product has been moved from one issuer to another and the book has been transferred with it?

The normal thing to happen is the losing provider simply keeps the book but drops the co-branding. Normally this is done a while before the new card becomes available - sometimes they overlap a little (as was the case with IHG when they moved from Barclaycard to Creation and Virgin Atlantic when they moved from MBNA to Virgin Money, from memory both had an overlap of 6 months-a year). 

I don't know for certain, but it seems rather like ownership of the book is something co-brand partners quite deliberately have nothing to do with.

The JLFS situation is notable in that there is a very short period of overlap with the new JL/NewDay and that HSBC is just shuttering the whole operation rather than trying to do anything with the (relatively prime) book.