gohenry review

Set up by a group of parents who wanted to help children learn about money, gohenry gives financial independence to kids and full control to parents. We look at how it works, its features and if it’s worth the fee.

An easy and fun way to pay your kids pocket money and teach them good money habits

• gohenry is a debit card and app with unique parental controls for young people aged 6 to 18.
• gohenry costs just 2.99 per child per month, and you can cancel at any time.
• Join 100,000s of families and get started for free.
• No obligation. No upfront payment.

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What is gohenry?

• A parent account. Parents can access it through an app, use it to top up the child’s account and to apply parental control on children’s spending habits.
• A child account. Children can see their balance and the spending limits you’ve established for them in the app.
• A Visa prepaid card. The card can be used by children to make purchases in shops and online and 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 control it allows. 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 transactions from shops that also sell other kinds of products.

And that’s the stuff parents will love. Here’s what’s in it for the children:

• Financial independence. They’ll have a “real” bank 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).

How much does gohenry cost?

After a 1-month free trial, gohenry costs £2.99 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 1 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.

There was initially a charge for spending or withdrawing money abroad, but gohenry scrapped this in 2020.

gohenry customer reviews

The gohenry app has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 from 18,000 reviews on the App Store. It also ranks very well on Google Play, where it has a score of 4.6 from more than 13,000 Android app users.

On Trustpilot, gohenry received an average mark of 4.2 out of 5, and a rating of Great, from over 3,500 reviews. Users praised the customised kid’s card, app functionality and ability to teach children good money habits, although there was some criticism of gohenry’s fees.

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 details

	gohenry
Monthly fee	£2.99
Card fee	Free
Transaction fee	Free
UK ATM fee	Free
Loading fee	50p (one top-up free per month)
Account type	debit
Network	VISA
Replacement fee	£4.99

Pros and cons of gohenry

Our verdict

When it comes to deciding whether gohenry is the right solution for your family, there are two main factors to take into account: price and parental control.

First of all, 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 a month is free, which is kind of annoying because, let’s face it, everyone expects pocket money to be paid weekly. So you need to think carefully about whether gohenry is what you and your children actually need. However, gohenry allows free ATM withdrawals in the UK and abroad, which isn’t to be taken for granted.

Secondly, the parental control features are really thorough and if you turn off the cash withdrawals, your children won’t be able to spend a penny without you knowing what it was for. Which is amazing if you want to initiate your six-year-old in personal finance in a super-safe environment. On the other hand, your children will probably grow out of gohenry well before they turn 18 and expect you to grant them some actual independence and privacy, for which a regular children’s bank account is probably more adequate.

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

• How long does it take to set up an account?

  You can apply online within minutes. The card will be posted to you and gohenry says it usually takes up to seven working days.

• How do I top up the parent account?

  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 loaded every time the balance goes under £5.

• Can my children go into overdraft?

  No, they can’t. They can only spend as much money as there is in their account.

• How does it work if I have more than one child?

  You can manage up to four child accounts from your parent account. The child accounts will each come with their own card (and also with their own monthly fee).

• How can relatives send money into the account?

  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 even include a message while sending it).

• Does gohenry offer any special offers?

  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.