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Tesco drops the Tesco Premium Credit Card

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this article about the Tesco Premium Credit Card.

I suggested that the card did not have much of a future given the closure of Tesco Direct in three weeks, because the main feature – 5000 bonus Clubcard points if you spent £5000 annually across all Tesco businesses – would now become trickier.  I know some people relied on putting large household purchases through Tesco Direct in order to hit the £5000 target.

It seems that Tesco Bank agreed with me.  The Tesco Premium Credit Card is being withdrawn from the market for new applicants.  I don’t know if it is being closed to existing cardholders too.

If you were on the fence about applying, the application form might still be live if you click here.  There is a 5,000 Clubcard points bonus (worth 12,400 Avios or 12,500 Virgin miles) for signing up.  I have been told that it will be gone by the end of today, if it hasn’t gone already.

Whilst this was definitely a niche product – and one I struggled to get excited about – it does have potential.  It may have suffered from poor marketing, because the free travel insurance benefit would have been valuable for a lot of mainstream card users who will not have Amex Platinum, HSBC Premier etc.  At a lower fee (say £50) or with a different benefits package, it may have worked well for a lot of HFP readers as a strong points earner.

I have updated our core ‘best credit card’ articles, all of which are listed on this page of HfP, to reflect this change.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee 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 Gold

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

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

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

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company 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

Comments (157)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • DTB says:

    I’ve had the black virgin card for 3 years, probably spend £30k-£40k on average, so it’s potentially targeted on that basis?

    never paid any interest though

  • the real harry1 says:

    @Alan – sounds like dumping 2 of your 3 cards here would not be a particularly good idea 🙂 (not until 3 months is up, anyway!)

  • Melvin says:

    For BETTER clarity (doh), my offer is for 33,000 miles total (15k + (3 x 6k))

    • Alan says:

      Do you have a link to the generic landing page for the 3x6k offer? I’d like to find out if I could be eligible for it too (as an existing MBNA VS cardholder but not currently holding the premium card).

  • the real harry1 says:

    O/T bits – Stobart fun & games (Southend Airport etc) – see FT story (and others) 🙂
    https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&q=stobart&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

    Bit of a shame on the PR front coming just 1 day after RyanAir announced Southend will become another RA base

  • W says:

    More interestingly, does that mean the Virgin Atlantic sign-up bonus will increase eventually?

    • Rob says:

      Don’t think so. Never say never but the discussions I had pre-launch with Virgin were based around the very tight economics here. Perhaps if the cards prove more profitable than expected ….

  • Richmond says:

    I reached my Curve limit of £10K and they are not keen to upgrade it until I will build more history. Obviously I won’t since I won’t be spending on a card any more. So what are my other options to earn points/miles/whatever on HMRC payments?
    I think there was Tesco debit card giving points? Is it still around? Any other options to earn rewards on HMRC payments?

  • CoolKestrel says:

    anyone have any updates on miles and more expiry after July 28? still awaiting a letter.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.