If you’re ready to give your child some financial independence, but you’re not ready to completely let go of the reins, GoHenry could offer the perfect solution. The pocket money app is designed to grow with your kids and comes with a companion app for parents. What’s more, unlike many of its competitors, kids get access to videos and quizzes to help them learn more about money and can choose from more than 45 custom card designs (for an additional fee).
We look at how it works, its features and if it’s worth the fee.
GoHenry is a financial tool for children aged 6 to 18 (as well as for their parents). It consists of:
A parent account. Parents can access it through an app, use it to top up the child’s account and to apply parental controls on their children’s spending habits.
A child account. Children can see their balance and the spending limits parents have established for them in the app.
A Visa prepaid card. The card can be used by children to make purchases in shops and online, as well as withdraw cash from ATMs.
GoHenry was founded in 2012, by a group of parents “who wanted to help young people learn about money safely”. GoHenry has been featured on our best debit cards for kids page.
How does GoHenry work?
Most high street banks offer some kind of children’s bank account, but the main difference between their products and GoHenry is in the depth of parental controls. With GoHenry, this includes:
Instant notifications. Every time your child uses the card, you get a notification on your own app.
Custom cards. GoHenry offers a special custom card where you can get the name of your child on the front of the card, for example, goben or gosarah.
Spending limits. You can decide that your kid isn’t allowed to spend more than £10 a week and the card won’t work beyond that.
Rewards in return for completed tasks. You can set up the app so that money is paid into the child’s account only if they have cleaned their rooms, done their homework or walked the dog.
Control over where the card is used. You can block both the online purchases and the ATM withdrawals.
Transactions from age-restricted stores are automatically blocked. GoHenry won’t allow the card to be used at betting shops, pubs, off licences, pornography websites and so on. However, don’t forget that alcohol, for example, can be bought at regular grocery stores and GoHenry won’t be able to automatically block age-related transactions from shops that also sell other kinds of products.
That’s the oversight stuff that parents will love. Here’s what’s in it for the children:
Financial independence. They’ll have a “real” spending account, just like mum and dad!
Personalised cards. The standard card is included in the monthly fee, but for £4.99 your child gets to choose from a set of colours and designs.
Learning experience. Children will learn budgeting from a young age, so they’ll be more likely to turn into financially responsible adults (that’s the theory).
My eldest son, who’s at primary school, really enjoys the GoHenry app. He’s constantly asking to check his balance and moving money between his card and his savings goals. What he particularly likes is GoHenry’s Money Missions. Not only does this give him a little extra money, but he genuinely enjoys the mini-lessons and quizzes.
I like that that the GoHenry card and app have made him enthusiastic about learning about money and being mindful of what he’s doing with his pocket money. The monthly fee is the only slight frustration, as through my other bank accounts there are free options that I could use. But GoHenry's features more than makeup for this.
What does the GoHenry app look like?
How much does GoHenry cost?
GoHenry costs £3.99 a month for each child. Certainly not the cheapest option, but it does include free payments and ATM withdrawals in the UK and abroad, plus one free load from the parent account to the child account each month (after that it’s 50p per load). And there are educational resources for kids to use to learn about managing their money, including the new “Money Missions” feature, which is an interactive tool featuring videos, quizzes and guides on financial skills. Remember that if your child wants to choose a customised card, rather than a standard one, there’s an additional fee of £4.99.
GoHenry now has a Plus membership, which is slighty more expensive that its standard monthly subscription. However, you’ll get additional benefits such as interest paid on savings, 1% cashback on all in-store spending and unlimited free top-ups to your parent wallet.
GoHenry customer reviews
GoHenry was ranked 3rd out of 6 kids’ prepaid card providers in our independent 2024 customer satisfaction survey, with 93% of GoHenry customers we surveyed saying they would recommend it to a friend. Users praised how easy it was for kids to use and how educational it is.
One customer commented: “It is very helpful to teach kids how to spend or saving money”.
However, some customers highlighted how they thought “the monthly charge is a little high”. Overall, customers were positive about the service GoHenry offers: “The platform provides parental controls, allows parents to set spending limits and offers features to encourage responsible financial habits in children, fostering financial education from a young age”.
The GoHenry app has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from over 28,700 reviews on the App Store. On Google Play, GoHenry has a score of 4.2 from more than 25,000 Android app users (updated February 2024).
On Trustpilot, GoHenry received an average mark of 4.2 out of 5, and a rating of “Great”, from over 9,000 reviews (updated February 2024).
What proportion of GoHenry users would recommend it to friends/family?
Response
GoHenry customers
Average for all brands in our survey
This year
92.50%
90.95%
Last year
79.01%
71.11%
Source: Finder survey by OnePoll of 500 Brits
Where can you use GoHenry cards?
You can use GoHenry cards in most stores that accept Visa. However, there are certain transactions that are automatically blocked. These include the following:
Gambling/betting
Dating websites and dating/escort services
Inbound teleservices
Wine & beer wholesalers
Tobacconists
Adult entertainment venues, websites and TV channels
There is also the option for parents to turn on a “strict merchant block”. This stops transactions at restaurants/bars and convenience stores that sell age-restricted items, like alcohol. Your child won’t be able to buy any items (including sweets and magazines) from these places.
Is GoHenry safe?
GoHenry isn’t a bank, so deposits aren’t protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). However, GoHenry cards are issued by IDT Financial Services, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and its funds are held in NatWest segregated accounts, which means that even if something goes wrong with GoHenry, your money can’t be touched.
The card is protected by a PIN and can be instantly blocked through the app if it gets lost or stolen.
GoHenry launched a new junior ISA in 2022. Parents can open one for their children with as little as £1 and deposit up to £9,000 per year through monthly contributions or one-off payments, without paying any tax on the interest or investment returns up to the annual limit.
This junior ISA must be opened before a child turns 16. It is then managed through the parent’s account as part of their regular GoHenry membership, and the ISA money is locked away until the child turns 18.
The junior ISA that GoHenry offers is a stocks and shares ISA (rather than a cash ISA), which means that the money is invested in stocks, shares, bonds and other assets. As the value of this investment can go down as well as up, bear in mind that your capital is at risk.
GoHenry junior ISA investments are managed by Vanguard, which means that unlike with general GoHenry spending accounts, ISA funds are FSCS protected up to the value of £85,000.
Pros and cons of GoHenry
Pros
Full parental control thanks to instant notifications and spending limits
It can be used by children as young as 6
Rewards system for completed tasks
Children learn about personal finance in a controlled environment
Relatives can also send money to the child’s account
You can manage up to 4 child accounts from the same parent account
Option to open a junior ISA
Cons
Monthly fee that’s higher than some
Additional fee applies to customised cards
Only one free top-up to the child account a month
You cannot load physical cash onto the account
It doesn’t pay any interest
Customer service information for GoHenry
Email support
Telephone support
In-app or live chat
Contact form
Branch support
Our verdict
When it comes to deciding whether GoHenry is right for your family, there are 2 main factors to take into account: price and parental control.
On the downside, GoHenry is relatively expensive: there are similar apps that come for a smaller monthly fee, while most children’s bank accounts are free. Only one top-up to the child account is free each month which can be restrictive as many parents prefer to pay pocket money weekly. Plus, if your child wants a customised, personalised card, you’ll need to cough up another £4.99. So it’s worth comparing this to other pocket money apps to see if you think the fee is worth paying. However, GoHenry allows free ATM withdrawals in the UK and abroad, and not all kids’ money apps do this.
On the positive side, the parental control features with GoHenry are really thorough, and if you turn off cash withdrawals, your children won’t be able to spend a penny without you knowing what it was for. This means it can be a great option if you’re looking to give younger children financial independence in a super-safe environment. Of course, as your kids grow, they’ll expect you to grant them some actual independence and privacy, and a regular children’s bank account is probably more suitable at that point.
Get started by visiting GoHenry's website and ordering a card. If you have read this review and decided that GoHenry’s card is not for you, you can also discover other prepaid cards for kids on the market.
Frequently asked questions
You can apply online within minutes. The card will be posted to you and GoHenry says it usually takes 7 to 9 business days.
You can do it via bank transfer or using your debit card. You can also set up auto top-ups, which means that your parent account will be automatically re-loaded every time the balance goes under £5.
No, they can't. They can only spend as much money as there is in their account.
You can manage up to 4 child accounts from your parent account. The child accounts will each come with their own card (but also with their own monthly fee).
Relatives can be invited to the party through a relative account. They'll have to log in and will then be able to gift money to the children (and can even include a message while sending it).
From time to time, GoHenry has been known to run promotions. We have a dedicated gohenry promo codes page where you can see the latest offers.
Banking scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Valentina Cipriani was a writer at Finder UK. She wrote news, features and guides about banking and credit cards, helping people to improve their financial lives. She holds an MA in International Journalism.
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