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Is GoHenry in Canada?

This spending app uses games and quizzes to teach kids about finances. GoHenry Canada doesn't yet exist, but there are alternatives.

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 Smart Cash Card

$0
Monthly Fee
$0
Transaction Cost
N/A
Rewards
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)
Monthly Fee $0
Transaction Cost $0
Foreign Transaction Fee 2.5%
Monthly Fee $0
Minimum Age 18
Minimum Age Teen Account 4
# Included Account 5
Rewards N/A
BMO Performance Chequing Account
Finder Rating: ★★★★★ 3.7 / 5
Go to site Read review

BMO Performance Chequing Account

Earn $600
Bonus Offer
$17.95
Monthly Account Fee
unlimited
Free Transactions
Under the family bundle, you can select a primary account and an account holder, which must be an adult, and then select and set up a separate bank account for your teen. Not only does your teen pay no monthly fees, but they get unlimited no-fee daily banking, including Interac e-Transfers. If you open a new account and meet certain requirements, your family gets a welcome bonus of $600.
  • No monthly fee for your teen
  • Parent pays only one account fee per month
  • Each account is separate and private
  • Unlimited monthly transactions, including Interac e-Transfers
  • Parents get a $40 rebate on a BMO Mastercard annual fee
  • Attach a no-fee BMO savings account and earn 5.50% on all deposits Valid until October 31, 2024.
  • 1 free non-BMO ATM withdrawal per month
  • Free teen debit card
  • OnGuard Identity Theft Protection at no charge
  • Must keep a $4,000 minimum balance to waive monthly fee
  • Earn 0% on account balances
  • Parent must be a BMO bank account holder
  • $5 fee each for overdraft protection, international ATM withdrawals and global money transfers
Min. Age 18
Min. Age Teen Account 13
Account Fee $17.95
Youth Account Fee $0
# of Accounts Included 20
Overdraft Fee $5
ATM Out-of-Network Fee $2
U.S. ATM Fee $5
International ATM Fee $5
CIBC Smart Start

CIBC Smart Start

N/A
Interest Rate
$0
Account Fee
unlimited
Transaction Fee
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 12 and under must have a parent or guardian to open an account
Min. Age N/A
Min. Age Teen Account 13
Account Fee $0
Transaction Fee unlimited
Interac e-Transfer Fee N/A
NSF Fee $45
Scotiabank Getting There Savings Account

Scotiabank Getting There Savings Account

0.10%
Interest Rate
$0
Account Fee
unlimited
Transaction Fee
Teens will love the Scotiabank Getting There Savings Account. Not only does this bank account for teenagers come with a free kids debit card (with unlimited, free debit card transactions) but teenagers aged 14 and older can earn Scene+ points that can be cashed in for free movies and Cineplex purchases. Teens will earn 0.05% on deposits up to $499.99 and then 0.1% on deposits of $500 and up.
  • Teens 16+ can open account without parent
  • Teens aged 12 to 15 can open an account on their own with adequate ID
  • 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
  • Low charge of $2 to use non-Scotiabank ATM
  • Kids 14+ can collect Cineplex Scene+ points (or Scotia rewards)
  • Free paperless or paper statements
  • Mobile cheque deposit
  • Works with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
  • No monthly fee
  • Low interest rate
  • Kids under 11 need a parent to open an account and do not get an access card
  • Youth 12 to 15 require a parent's help to get a teen debit card
Min. Age N/A
Min. Age Teen Account 12
Account Fee $0
Transaction Fee unlimited
Interac e-Transfer Fee free and unlimited

GoHenry plans and cost

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:

PlanMonthly costNumber of kids
Basic$4.99 USD1
Family$9.98 USD4

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 nicely 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 customization.

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.

A co-parent can be added to the account and will be able to top up the parent account, but only with the card registered on the account.

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 once 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 with no fee for domestic or international ATMs. However, they may pay a fee charged by the ATM provider, and kids can’t make a balance inquiry via an ATM.

What countries can you use GoHenry in?

The GoHenry card can be used anywhere in the world that 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

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Stacie Hurst as part of our fact-checking process.
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