GoHenry cards: Is GoHenry a good idea?
What do I think about GoHenry cards: Is GoHenry a good idea?
One of the biggest headaches of parents is how to teach their children financial literacy or responsibility. It was during my quest to find an answer that I came across GoHenry.
I am a big believer of parents teaching their children financial values. I believe when children understand the value of money, they are better prepared for the financial world in future.
I wrote an article about how to teach your children about money. After I published the article I decided to open a GoHenry account for our first son who is age 10.
GoHenry is a good card that can help kids build money skills. I love the fact that GoHenry card offers parental control.
The way the world is going, we are going towards a cashless society. An account like GoHenry provides a great opportunity to start teaching our kids about money management and how to use ATM card in a sensible way.
These days, a lot of shopping is done using cards both online and in brick and mortar shops.
Our children have various material needs like art and craft, sporting activities and school education materials. We closely supervise our son in the shop to use his GoHenry card to buy specific things needed in the shop.
I personally keep the card and only hand it to him when we are in the shop together and I collect the card back as soon as we finished with payment.
What is GoHenry?
GoHenry is an online app and a pre-paid Visa debit card created specifically for children (6-18 years). The goal of the app is to teach children how to manage their allowances through budgeting and responsible spending.
The United Kingdom-based company was launched in 2012 and gives parents the ability to monitor the debit card transactions carried out by each of their kids. It is also available in the U.S.
How much does GoHenry cost?
Someone might ask the question, is Go Henry card free?
GoHenry is free for the first month, after which you are charged a monthly fee of £2.50 per child.
I feel it is important to explain how GoHenry card differs from a kid’s bank account.
The main difference is that you pay for the GoHenry card, it isn’t free. Depending on the method of transfer, you also pay a small token to transfer money onto the card. Also, there is a £2.50 membership fee per month.
How Is GoHenry Helpful?
I have to say that the GoHenry app is the major selling point of the company. There is a parent’s and kid’s version of the app.
With the parent’s version, parents can track their account balance and transfer money into their children’s cards. You can either choose to set up a fixed transfer of allowance for example weekly, or impromptu payments for specific tasks completed.
Another crucial feature of the app is the parental control parameters. You can set up strict rules on where or how the card should be used, choose between the card being used online or via ATMs, locking and unlocking of the card at will, as well as setting limits on individual and weekly spending.
With the children’s version, they can log-in to check their balance, spending history, and available tasks. They also can send their funds to either their ‘savings’ or ‘regular balance’.
How do I set up a Gohenry account?
Signing up to GoHenry is easy. All you need to do is to go to GoHenry website and click on the sign-up button.
It will take just you just few minutes and no credit card is required to sign up. After I sign up to get the GoHenry card for our son, the Go Henry card arrived in the mail after 4 days of signing up.
It shouldn’t go beyond 7days before the card will arrive. GoHenry mentioned on their website that card will arrive in about 7days.
GoHenry pre-paid Visa debit card and app has been helping our son build money skills.
We use the unique parental controls which means it’s totally safe for our son to use. If you sign up today you’ll get £10 added to your account (and so will I!) when you activate your card.
If you have interest in signing up, please click here to sign up.
How to put money on my GoHenry card
You can send money in your parent GoHenry account in two major ways;
- Through bank transfer
- Through your debit card
Transferring money through bank transfer can be broken down into 4 steps.
Log into your account and tap “topping up” from the left-hand side menu of your screen. Then tap the “see how” option next to ‘bank transfer’. This displays the GoHenry account details for your parent account. Once this is gotten, you can then contact your bank to set up the payment.
Note: It is advisable to set the standing order as monthly. It can also take up to 24 hours for you to be debited.
Transferring money to your parent account through your debit card can be broken down into 4 steps.
Log into your account on the website or mobile app then click ‘Top-up’ on the homepage. The next step is to confirm the amount you want to send then click make payment to complete the transfer.
Where can Gohenry cards be used?
One of the advantages of the GoHenry card is that it can be used anywhere globally so far as they accept VISA cards as a mode of payment.
This means your kids can pay for goods and services anywhere in the world. They can use it on school trips, holidays, over the internet and even make cash withdrawals on ATMs.
Transfer money out of parent GoHenry accounts
The fastest way to retrieve funds from your parent account without technical assistance from the GoHenry team is to make a ‘quick transfer’ to the child account and withdraw it through an ATM. It is important to know that your daily ATM withdrawal limit is £120 provided you set the child account rules to withdraw that much.
However, in cases whereby you wish to withdraw more than £120, GoHenry can transfer the funds back to your parent account.
You will have to send an email to help@gohenry.co.uk to help you with this. You must accompany your email with the transfer amount and your bank details.
Can you use GoHenry cards in shops and online platforms
Yes, you can use GoHenry cards in shops and online platforms if they accept payment through VISA cards.
How does my child use the card at an ATM?
Using the GoHenry card at an ATM is just like using any other payment card. Your child simply has to insert their card into the ATM and enter their card PIN. After which they can then withdraw cash.
However, your child can only successfully withdraw cash using an ATM if you’ve enabled it to be used at ATMs in the ‘Rules’ page.
It is important to note that they are not permitted to check their account balance on ATMs. Your child can only withdraw cash up to the limit you’ve set.
As earlier mentioned above, the daily ATM withdrawal limit is £120.
Click here to see all GoHenry limits.
Can GoHenry cards be used abroad
GoHenry cards can be used to pay for goods and services globally. If they support VISA card payments then the card will work.
Is Go Henry Safe?
Yes, GoHenry is safe.
The main aim of GoHenry is to teach children how money works so they can spend money in a safe way. It is a prepaid card which means you can only spend the money you put in it.
It helps teach kids how to be good with money.
My Reservations about GoHenry
- You have to pay £5 for customisable cards.
- They charge a monthly fee of £2.50 per card. This means the more children you have, the more monthly fees you have to pay.
My initial mindset when I first heard about GoHenry wasn’t really great. But, I leapt and opened it for one of my kids.
All I can say at the moment is that it is a great financial education tool.
The fact that you can set limits on withdrawals means your children will develop the habit of spending money wisely over time.
If you are interested in getting a GoHenry card for your child, please click here to sign up.
