GoHenry debit card review
- Maintenance Fees
- $4.99 monthly
- Age requirements
- 6 to 18 years old
Our verdict
This app focuses on financial literacy through expert-developed games and quizzes, plus spend controls.
Built for turning financial learning into a game, we love that GoHenry boosts kids' experience with interactive quizzes and videos as part of its in-app educational tool called Money Missions. Kids can earn points and badges, and the content is even created by financial professionals and teachers based on national standards. GoHenry also gives parents more sway over where and how much their kids spend than the typical card. The downside is that you have to pay extra if you have several kids — something competitors typically include as part of their basic plan.
Best for: Parents who want their kids to learn financial literacy through games and quizzes.
Pros
-
Expert-designed financial games
-
Parental spending controls
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45+ card designs + customization
Cons
-
Charges extra for multiple kids
Get 2-month free trial plus $10 in allowance
Who is GoHenry best for?
GoHenry is best for children between the ages of six and 18. It’s also for parents who want their kids to learn money management skills. The app comes with interactive financial literacy games and quizzes tailored by age and developed by teachers and financial experts.
GoHenry plans and cost
GoHenry offers a one-month free trial before charging a monthly cost based on how many kids are on the account. Its pricing is set at:
| Plan | Monthly cost | Number of kids allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $4.99 | 1 |
| Family | $9.98 | 4 |
GoHenry and Acorns paired up
Acorns, a digital banking app focused on investments, recently acquired GoHenry as it plans to expand to the UK and other European markets. Since the acquisition, Acorns is now offering customers the ability to get a free GoHenry account if they have the Gold Acorns Checking account membership, which costs $12 per month.
That means you would get two accounts for the price of one. The Gold Acorns Checking account offers all the best perks you can get with the fintech, including an investing account for kids, $10,000 in life insurance, an Emergency Fund account and investable round-ups.
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 out for its beautifully designed lessons in the form of videos, quizzes and bite-sized articles. Each lesson caters to your child’s age from six 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 the 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
You get the automated allowances and chore-funding that you’d expect from any kids’ banking app. Kids get paid for chores weekly, giving them time to complete their list and get rewarded for the chores they finish.
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 kids’ banking apps that grants such tight parental controls, with Greenlight as its rival offering store- and category-level controls.
Plus, GoHenry lets you add a second parent to get notifications and manage the chore lists. Every kids’ app is different in this area. Some don’t allow you to add another parent, while others, like Mazoola, 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 colors, 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 it falls short
GoHenry’s pricing structure is its biggest downfall. It starts out at $4.99 per month for one child, which is comparable to other kids’ debit cards. But you’ll pay $9.98 a month to move to the family plan, which includes cards for up to four kids. Other competitors grant four to five cards on their standard plans for around $5 a month, which is about $4 less than what you get with GoHenry.
And while adding a second parent to the account is nice, they can’t send money, an annoyance if your kid needs money and the main parent is away from their phone.
Compare GoHenry with other debit cards for kids
Narrow down debit cards for kids by monthly fee and features.
GoHenry’s customer experience
Most customers have a five-star experience with GoHenry based on app and user reviews. Happy customers like the app’s wealth of features and are thrilled to see their kids successfully learning about finances.
Yet multiple people have said they deal with glitches, like the app not paying allowance, especially with the Android app, which may contribute to the lower customer rating there. A few customers mention that you’re required to set up an automatic weekly allowance. However, we verified with customer support that parents can set the allowance to $0 if they don’t want to use the automated allowance.
How to contact customer support
If you have questions about GoHenry or your account, contact a representative in the following ways.
- Call 1-877-372-6466 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET seven days a week.
- Visit GoHenry’s website to chat with a representative seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
- Send an email to help@gohenrycard.com.
- Connect with GoHenry on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
- Send mail to 54 W 40th St, New York, NY 10018.
Is GoHenry safe?
GoHenry spells out exactly how it protects your personal information, using secure servers and payment encryption. 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 the personal information they “collect from children under the age of 13 is used solely by GoHenry for internal purposes only and is NOT sold or otherwise distributed to third parties other than as laid out in this Privacy Policy.”
Along with privacy protections, your child’s funds are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for up to $250,000 through Community Federal Savings Bank.
GoHenry’s ATM network and fees
Your child can withdraw cash from any ATM, though they’ll pay a $1.50 fee for both 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. Your kid’s card should be accepted anywhere that accepts Mastercard, but some countries are blocked from transactions.
How do GoHenry’s fees compare to the competition?
Here’s how GoHenry’s fees and limits compare to other leading prepaid cards for kids.
| GoHenry’s fee and limits | Amount | How it compares to other kids’ cards |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly membership fee | $4.99 for one child $9.98 for a family of up to four kids | This is higher than most competitor plans that come with four or five cards for around $5 per month. |
| Overdrafts | $0 | Average since most kids’ cards don’t charge for overdrafts |
| ATM withdrawal | $1.50 | Above average |
| Card purchase (customized) | $4.99 | Average |
| Card replacement (same design) | No fee | Lower |
| Card replacement (different design) | $0 | Average |
| Maximum balance across all cards | $6,000 | Below average |
| Minimum load per transaction | $2.00 | Average |
| Maximum load per transaction | $500 | Average |
| Value of purchases allowed per day | $2,500 | Average |
| Value of ATM withdrawals allowed per day | $120 | Below average |
I got my GoHenry card. Now what?
Once your child has their card in hand, set up, pay and manage your account:
- Download the app. Get the mobile app for Android or iOS and start managing your account.
- Share access. Add your 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 your child’s card automatically from your primary account.
- Set spending limits and goals. Establish savings goals, weekly limits and one-time exemptions as needed by visiting the Rules section of your parent account.
- Activate your child’s debit card. Activate your kid’s card using your account. Once it’s activated, you’ll receive your child’s username and password along with their PIN.
- Keep the monthly fee in mind. If there aren’t enough funds in your 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 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
Kids’ debit card ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top debit cards for kids and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. We rate kids’ checking accounts by these factors: Monthly fee, features, ATM access, customer support options, and availability. We also consider APY as a factor only for those that earn interest. We rate prepaid debit cards for kids by these factors: monthly fees, features, customer support options and account availability.
Read the full methodology of how we rate Kids’ debit card accounts.
Rhys Finder
Editor
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