Community
Wiki Posts
Search

Diners Club UK closing personal cards

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Mar 4, 2018, 6:24 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: BA Gold (OWE), Star Alliance Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,194
Diners Club UK closing personal cards

Just in case anyone wasn't aware. Diners Club UK are closing all their personal charge cards (It seems to be they close it on your renewal date).
reclusive46 is offline  
Old Mar 11, 2018, 9:27 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Patra
Programs: Affinity euros, Yellows, Epistrofi
Posts: 16
Didn't manage to find any info on their website, could you share a link with the announcement?
al3x1k0 is offline  
Old Mar 12, 2018, 5:39 pm
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: BA Gold (OWE), Star Alliance Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,194
Originally Posted by al3x1k0
Didn't manage to find any info on their website, could you share a link with the announcement?
All I received was a letter saying they would be cancelled (If you notice on their website, there is no application link anymore).
reclusive46 is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 1:05 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Patra
Programs: Affinity euros, Yellows, Epistrofi
Posts: 16
It's a pity, though from what i've read online Diner's Club's acceptance in UK is pretty limited. Were you an active user of the card?
al3x1k0 is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 12:40 pm
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: BA Gold (OWE), Star Alliance Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,194
Originally Posted by al3x1k0
It's a pity, though from what i've read online Diner's Club's acceptance in UK is pretty limited. Were you an active user of the card?
Not really an active user but I was grandfathered onto an old version of the card that had no annual fee and it was occasionally useful in places like China as you could use it where China UnionPay was accepted. Acceptance was ok. Pretty much every small business accepted it (as it's just bundled in with their terminal provider), it was larger retailers that were the problem.

Last edited by reclusive46; Mar 13, 2018 at 12:48 pm
reclusive46 is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2018, 1:35 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Patra
Programs: Affinity euros, Yellows, Epistrofi
Posts: 16
WOW, i'm surprised that was accepted kind of "by default". A couple months ago I took a look and check if it's worth applying for it (for my uncle who lives in UK) but I didn't find any value. If there was free lounge access it may be worth the 50 pounds annual fee.

So are they going to keep business accounts open?
al3x1k0 is offline  
Old Jul 31, 2018, 1:33 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London
Programs: Miles & More
Posts: 8
I was given 2 months notice. They are concentrating on corporate cards and accounts apparently . Quite a few places take it, and even if you don't see the logo in a shop, it was worth trying your card in the machine. They should do more to promote the card and gain card holders. Airport lounge access for £15 was good value.
justinghaynes is offline  
Old Sep 20, 2018, 3:12 am
  #8  
TTL
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: KUO
Programs: HH Diam, AY/AX/KQ/IHG/VISA Plat, SK/Bonvoy/Melia/Strawberry Gold, Radisson Prem, PP Prest
Posts: 2,266
Not just in the UK. But terminated also in Baltics and in the near future (5/2019) in Scandinavia and Finland =(
TTL is offline  
Old Sep 20, 2018, 6:13 pm
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London
Programs: Miles & More
Posts: 8
It’s a shame. Trouble is they haven’t kept up with the way people use their cards. People expect to be able to pay for everything by card these days, no matter what the amount is. If I used my card more than 3 or 4 times in a day, it would be blocked for security reasons. With no 24 hour customer service, it doesn’t give you much faith. They said the personal charge card account wasn’t viable. Not surprising if you can’t use your card! Once they changed the rewards to shopping vouchers, I imagine people changed to different cards. If other countries are following suit, then this could obviously be the end for the card that was the forerunner of the payment card.
justinghaynes is offline  
Old Sep 21, 2018, 5:11 am
  #10  
mia
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Originally Posted by justinghaynes
..... If other countries are following suit....
Diners is a franchise system, and it sounds as if Diners Club International (aka Discover) appointed inexperienced franchisees in some countries. If they cannot interest any of the mainline banks in taking a franchise, they may do better to operate it themselves in some countries - if they can meet the regulatory requirements.
mia is online now  
Old Sep 21, 2018, 8:55 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London
Programs: Miles & More
Posts: 8
The franchise was run by Citi until 2012 when Affiniture Cards took it over. They are concentrating on corporate cards and business payment solutions.
justinghaynes is offline  
Old Sep 21, 2018, 9:09 am
  #12  
mia
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Originally Posted by justinghaynes
....They are concentrating on corporate cards and business payment solutions.
Essentially the same in North America. When Citi sold Diners Club International they also started selling off the card issuing franchises. Bank of Montreal bought the Canada/USA franchise, and their press releases talked only about the good fit with their Corporate card business. BMO did issue some new consumer cards, but they withdrew them after a few months and have not come back. However, they have not shutdown the consumer card business that they inherited from Citi, or the new cards that they issued in that brief window.
mia is online now  
Old Sep 21, 2018, 11:09 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
Programs: AY, BT, DY and SK. Scandic, Radisson, Marriott and HHonors. ClubONE
Posts: 5,890
Originally Posted by mia
Diners is a franchise system, and it sounds as if Diners Club International (aka Discover) appointed inexperienced franchisees in some countries. If they cannot interest any of the mainline banks in taking a franchise, they may do better to operate it themselves in some countries - if they can meet the regulatory requirements.
In Scandinavia the franchisee has been SEB, one of the biggest banks and established in 1856. They have held the franchise for decades.
tsastor is offline  
Old Dec 30, 2018, 2:33 pm
  #14  
ECR
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 411
The does seem to be a Diners Club card offered in the UK for Lufthansa's Miles and More loyalty scheme if anybody really wants one. I'm surprised to be honest that there are not more airlines or hotels looking to Diners Club for their loyalty cards as I think it falls outside the 0.3% fee cap. I presume acceptance of the card is thought to be too narrow to be of interest.

https://www.milesandmorecards.co.uk/index.html
ECR is offline  
Old Dec 31, 2018, 7:55 pm
  #15  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,507
Originally Posted by ECR
The does seem to be a Diners Club card offered in the UK for Lufthansa's Miles and More loyalty scheme if anybody really wants one. I'm surprised to be honest that there are not more airlines or hotels looking to Diners Club for their loyalty cards as I think it falls outside the 0.3% fee cap. I presume acceptance of the card is thought to be too narrow to be of interest.

https://www.milesandmorecards.co.uk/index.html
Unless I missed something, that page states 1.25 miles per £1 and doesn't differentiate between DC and MC, which seems to imply that the cap applies to DC too.
tmiw is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.