GoHenry is the kids money management app of choice for many parents in the US and UK. Find out if you can use GoHenry in Canada, and check out GoHenry Canada alternatives.
What is GoHenry?
GoHenry is a debit card and spending app that teaches kids financial literacy using expert-designed games and quizzes. Kids follow videos, interactive lessons and quizzes to complete Money Missions and earn experience points and badges. Content is created by financial professionals and teachers following US educational guidelines.
The GoHenry debit card can be used to pay for purchases. Parents can transfer funds onto the card and control where and how much kids spend. It costs $4.99 USD per month for 1 user or $9.98 USD per month for up to 4 kids.
Is GoHenry in Canada?
Unfortunately, GoHenry is not available in Canada, although card holders can pay for purchases in Canada with a GoHenry card. To use GoHenry, you must live in the US or UK. As of the time of writing, GoHenry has not announced plans to begin offering the kids debit card in Canada.
Compare GoHenry Canada alternatives for kids
Looking for an alternative to the GoHenry card in Canada? Check out the following money management apps and accounts for kids.
MyDoh offers a kids prepaid card that can be used to make online and in-store purchases. The MyDoh app can be used to transfer money, view account balances and see transactions. Up to 5 children can be added to an account, which costs $0 per month.
Parents set up and monitor the account
Helps keep track of tasks and chores
Dedicated Visa Debit card for your kid
Backed by RBC, a major Canadian bank
30-day free trial (for new subscribers)
Kids cannot deposit cheques or cash into their Mydoh account
Kids cannot withdraw or deposit using ATMs
Additional monthly fee of $0 (but includes up to five youth or kids' accounts under one plan)
The CIBC Smart Start kids account comes with free transactions and Interac e-Transfers. Along with a debit card to make purchases, account holders get discounts at hundreds of stores and restaurants with a free Student Price Card (SPC) membership.
No monthly fee
Comes with a debit card for your child
Free, unlimited transactions and Interac e-Transfers
1 free non-CIBC ATM withdrawal per month
Earn on savings account balance
Teens 13+ can open an account without a parent
Discounts on food, fashion and entertainment through the free SPC+ membership for teens 14+
BONUS OFFER: Get $100 with CIBC Smart Start and $50 for each friend you refer — up to 10 (T&C apply)
$2 fee for non-CIBC ATM transactions
Kids under 12 must have a parent or guardian to open an account
Kids 13 and under can open an account with no monthly fees, and teens 13 to 18 years old can open a free BMO Plus Chequing Account or get a discount on the monthly fee for a BMO Premium Chequing Account or BMO Performance Chequing Account. Get the monthly fee waived on a savings account.
Plenty of accounts to choose from
Can easily add child to your account
A monthly account fee may apply depending on the account you choose
For $0 a month, kids can get a debit card with unlimited transactions. Scotiabank Getting There Savings Account holders who are at least 14 years old can can earn Scene+ points and redeem for free Cineplex movie theatre tickets and more.
Teens 16+ can open account without parent
Teens aged 12 to 15 can open an account, but require a parent's help if getting a teen debit card
No monthly fee
Comes with a debit card for your teen
Earn points on debit card purchases
Free, unlimited debit card transactions
Free, unlimited Interac e-Transfers
No monthly fee
Low interest rate
Kids under 11 need a parent to open an account and do not get an access card
GoHenry offers a 1-month free trial, after which a charge applies based on how many kids are on the account. Here’s its pricing:
Plan
Monthly cost
Number of kids
Basic
$4.99 USD
1
Family
$9.98 USD
4
What makes GoHenry shine
GoHenry features a suite of money management tools designed for kids and teens, but its gamified financial learning is the tool that deserves the spotlight.
Financial literacy
Every kids’ debit card includes some kind of financial blog or learning content, but GoHenry stands our for its beautifully designed lessons in the form of videos, quizzes and bite-sized articles. Each lesson caters to your child’s age from 6 to 14 years old, with more teen content in the works.
Kids set out to complete each video or quiz “mission,” earning points and badges as they move through the game’s levels. The missions aren’t just created by marketers — they’re designed by financial experts and teachers to follow US K–12 Personal Finance Education National Standards.
Typically, kids’ banking platforms turn out articles without using many visuals. And while some competitors like Step cater to teens, few include lessons for younger kids the way GoHenry does.
Parental controls
Parents get automated allowance and chore-funding features offered by similar kids banking apps in the US. Kids get paid for chores weekly, giving them time to complete their list and get rewarded for the chores they finished.
Yet GoHenry dials in parental controls by giving the ability to set limits by the day, week and month. Then, parents can toggle on the limits for in-store or online purchases and ATM withdrawals. It’s one of the only US kids’ banking apps that grants such tight parental controls, with Greenlight as its rival offering store- and category-level controls.
Plus, a second parent can be added to GoHenry accounts to get notifications and manage chore lists. Every kids’ app is different in this area. Some don’t allow you to add another parent, while others let you customize different controls for each parent.
Design
This is one of the only kids’ cards that offers customizable designs. Kids can choose from over 45 card designs, letting them customize their name and favorite picture or pattern. Only Greenlight rivals this level of customizing.
In addition to its cards, the app doesn’t hold back on using bold colour, avatars, icons and progress bars for an eye-catching look. It keeps tools simplistic with bite-sized financial lessons and suggested goals for savings, helping kids use the app with ease.
Where GoHenry falls short
GoHenry’s pricing structure is its biggest downfall. It starts out at $4.99 USD per month for one child, which is comparable to other US kids’ debit cards. But it costs $9.98 USD a month to move to the family plan, which includes cards for up to 4 kids. Other competitors grant 4 to 5 cards on their standard plans for around $5 USD a month.
Secondary parents added to an account can’t send money, a problem if their child needs money and the main parent can’t be reached.
GoHenry’s customer experience
Most customers have a 5-star experience with GoHenry based on app and user reviews. Happy customers like the wealth of features the app offers, and they’re thrilled to see their kids successfully learning about finances.
Yet multiple people have said that they deal with glitches like the app not paying allowance, especially with the Android app which may be contributing to the lower customer rating there.
A few customers mention the requirement of setting up a weekly automatic allowance. However, our staff verified with customer support that parents can set the allowance to $0 USD if they don’t want to use the automated allowance.
How to contact customer support
GoHenry customer service can be contacted by phone 7 days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST). Account holders can also reach GoHenry via email, letter mail or by reaching out to the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
Is GoHenry safe?
GoHenry takes care to spell out exactly how it protects personal information using secure servers and encryption for payments. While it doesn’t sell your information, GoHenry shares necessary details with business partners or service providers like analytics sites to offer and improve its features.
Its privacy policy explains that personal information collected from children under 13 is used solely by GoHenry for internal purposes and is not sold or distributed to third parties other than as laid out in its privacy policy.
Kids’ funds are insured by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to $250,000 USD through Community Federal Savings Bank.
GoHenry’s ATM network and fees
Children can withdraw cash from any ATM, though they’ll pay $1.50 USD fee for domestic and international ATMs. They may also pay an ATM owner fee on top of GoHenry’s fee. However, kids can’t make a balance inquiry via an ATM.
For international transactions, GoHenry doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee. The GoHenry card should be accepted anywhere Mastercard is accepted. But, as with most cards, the following countries are blocked from transactions:
Belarus
Central African Republic
CONGO (was Zaire)
Cote d’Ivoire
Cuba
Iran
Iraq
Libya
Mali
North Korea
Russia
Serbia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Ukraine
Venezuela
Yemen
How to get started with a GoHenry card
Here’s how to set up, pay and manage a GoHenry account after receiving a card:
Download the app. Get the mobile app for Android or iOS to get account access.
Share access. Add a spouse or another guardian as a co-manager on the account.
Establish a weekly allowance. Set up a weekly allowance or tasks with an attached value to get funds sent to the card automatically from the primary account.
Set spending limits and goals. Establish savings goals, weekly limits and one-time exemptions as needed by visiting the Rules section of the parent account.
Activate your child’s debit card. Activate the GoHenry card on the app to receive the child’s username, password and PIN.
Keep the monthly fee in mind. If there aren’t enough funds in the primary account to cover the monthly fee, GoHenry will pull from the attached debit card.
Contact support. Use the FAQ on the GoHenry website or talk to live support via phone, email or live chat weekly from 9am to 5pm EST.
GoHenry Canada FAQs
No, GoHenry Canada doesn't yet exist here and we don't yet know when GoHenry plans to launch in Canada, but there are some kids financial apps such as the RBC Mydoh app.
GoHenry is a debit card and spending app in the US and UK that teaches kids about financial literacy using games and quizzes designed by educators. With GoHenry, kids can watch videos, complete interactive lessons, quizzes and "Money Missions" to earn rewards. Content is currently created by financial professionals and teachers following US educational guidelines. Kids can use the GoHenry debit card for purchases, with funds transfered by parents, who can also control where and how much kids spend their money.
To help teach financial literacy to kids means parents have to find ways to help kids learn the connection between time and money and the importance of saving and budgeting. Find out what are good, age-appropriate chores for kids, plus average allowance and per chore price lists.
Rhys Subitch is a personal finance editor at Bankrate and former loans editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business lending. Rhys has nearly a decade of experience researching, editing, and writing for startups, Fortune 500 companies, universities and websites. They hold a BA in sociology and a certificate of editing from the University of Washington.
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