GoHenry: Kids & Teens Banking 4+

Today I saw the beauty of this app in action. I took my nearly 14-year-old to a store and told her she could use her new card, goHenry. She knew what the limit was that she could spend on a transaction, so she use the calculator on her phone to add up the items in her hand. She said to me you don’t know how hard it is to stick to that dollar amount. She was nervous using the card for the first time but smiled when all went well with the transaction.

My second example is my 10-year-old failed to bring her card to the mall but she wanted to buy something from the Lego store. So I told her I would purchase it and then transfer the money from her card back to my parent account. She calculated what that would do to her balance and still thought it was a good deal. Normally, I might have offered tickets but it and then choose chores to earn the money. It’s harder to do it that way.

While I think cash is the right way to teach kids about the value of money. I don’t feel comfortable with children having cash on hand versus a card when it comes to larger sums. They are still kids. This allows them to really think through their purchases.

Hi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review. It is great to see your children are benefiting from gohenry and it seems already really taking to it and learning great money management. We agree, we are by no means replacing cash however moving along with the times in this digital age. - Sophie

I ordered a card for each of my grandkids when Gohenry first came out. I definitely enjoyed the convenience of being able to load their cards for chores, good deeds, birthdays and holidays. Although, as with any new business, I did experience a few frustrations when grandkids would try to use their cards at some stores, and it would decline their purchase, when there was definitely money in their account to use. There were also a few times that I had loaded money on their cards in the middle of the night, just because I happened to be awake and just happen to think of it at that time. Yet, the next morning, my granddaughter tried to use it to get her birthday gift she had been so excited to get, and it again declined. When I called in, they told me it was because it was suspicious that it had been loaded at such an odd hour. As I do understand the importance of security measures to avoid fraud, i just felt like I was calling in with every other purchase they were trying to make. I am very happy to see the improvements with their site, and the changes for families to be able to use together with ease. Overall, I am very happy with Gohenry, and I will be ordering my newest grandson his card as soon as I can.
Ultimately, the entire idea of having the kids earn, learn and save, is a very important life lesson at any age, but being able to start young, has the potential to boost the confidence and pride to a great start of a secure financial future. 👍🏽

Hi there, thank you so much for your feedback and the 5* rating! It's so lovely to hear that you have seen an improvement with the service since you started with us, but if there's anything further you feel we could be doing please do let us know! - Bella :)

I just received my sons debit card and so far I really like how easy it was to set everything up. I also like that a real person answered the phone when I had a question. I do have a suggestion though. I think the spending limits is great but it could be better. My son has set a savings goal for a game he wants to buy when it comes out later this year. When he reaches his goal we will transfer the money to his available balance so he can buy the game. However, in order for him to buy the game I will need to edit his spending limit for that particular purchase. I think it would be better if kids could just REQUEST to spend a higher amount for those times they want to purchase something that may cost more than their limits but they have the available balance. And as parents we can deny or approve such request. Kinda like how my kids have to “ask” to download an app with the Apple family plan. Maybe it would be as simple as: if a parent approves the request the spending limit is turned off temporarily and if denied stays the same. Other than that so far I really like it and so does my son.

Hello Tjulz. Thank you for your 4* review! We're happy to hear you are pleased with gohenry so far! Thank you so much for your suggestion to add a 'Request to spend'. It sounds like a really good idea. If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know. Thanks - El.