KOHO Card Review

Who is the KOHO card for?

As one of the most popular fintech companies in Canada, KOHO offers this reloadable Visa card which gives cardholders a clear picture of their spendings and helps them achieve their financial goals. The KOHO card is a prepaid card, cardholders must load money onto this card before buying things they want. Because they can only spend the amount they deposit, this card performs more like a debit card. 

While many other credit cards charge a diverse range of annual fees, KOHO’s annual fee is $0 as well as a $0 transaction fee. While KOHO helps cardholders avoid the common fees, it also provides a 0.5% cash back rate with any purchase. With select merchants such as Indigo or Public Mobile, the cash back rate can be increased by up to 5%. However, this card is only available in Canada right now. If you are interested in any of the features and currently in Canada, the KOHO card will be a nice option for you.

Rewards

The KOHO card comes with a 0.5% cash back rate on all purchases which is impressive for its lack of fees. With partnerships with companies including Indigo, Altitude Sports, and Sunwing, KOHO offers all cardholders the cash back rate up to 5%. Furthermore, KOHO offers a new referral program: if you refer one of your friends to KOHO, you and your friend will both enjoy an extra 1% cash back rate in the first 90 days. This policy does not only help cardholders get more rewards from KOHO but also increase potential customers for KOHO.

Perks and Benefits

One interesting perk that KOHO offers is called a round-up feature. Cardholders can round up every purchase to the nearest $1, $5, or $10. For example, if one cardholder chooses a round-up number of $10 and he spends $7.5 on a sandwich, the additional $2.5 will automatically be sent to his savings accounts. The whole concept behind this feature is that people usually ignore small transactions. However, they will gradually add up and become a huge amount of money after a long time. This feature directly assists all cardholders to build their savings from day one.

Moreover, the cardholders can set up their accounts to make automatic transfers to their savings. People are encouraged to make this transfer when they get paid every month. With this perk, the KOHO card can help all cardholders reach their financial goals much sooner.

The KOHO card also provides real-time insights on your spendings every month. Through the online app, cardholders can have a very clear picture of when and where they spend their money on. Moreover, KOHO offers all cardholder free financial coaching to help them understand their financial positions, give them advice on managing their spendings, and assist them to reach their final saving goals.

Additionally, the KOHO card’s cool designs are another selling point. There are four styles cardholders can choose for a KOHO card: Sunkissed skinny dip, Gilded Cotton Candy, Bueberried Caviar, and Frozen Cherry Soda. In addition, KOHO also has the option to upgrade the card into a metal one, which costs $159. If you would like your card to look unique and cool, this additional feature could be your choice.

No annual fee and transaction fee

Unlike what you have to pay for many credit cards offered by other banks in Canada, the KOHO card has a total annual fee of $0. Also, cardholders are not responsible for paying any transaction fees, Interac eTransfer fees, or NSF fees. In addition, KOHO also partnered with Visa, allowing access to the Visa Plus ATM network to let cardholders withdraw cash with the KOHO card at any time. (One needs to pay for the fee, around $3 if he or she decides to use other machines)

On the other hand, the KOHO card sets a foreign transaction fee of 1.5%, which is the only fee that cardholders need to pay. In total, we are surprised by the little fees cardholders have to pay to get the KOHO card. The minimal fee required is able to further help all cardholders to achieve their financial goal sooner. 

Conclusion

The KOHO card is a special one. First of all, it does not charge its cardholders like other financial institutions. While customers can enjoy their minimal fee paid for this card, they will also benefit from the cash back reward rate and round-up feature. KOHO, with its free financial coaching, acts as your financial counselor and establishes different savings goals for different customers. Customers can have a clear picture of their monthly spendings and a better plan on how to wisely spend their money in the future. The only shortcoming, in our opinion, is that the KOHO card is only available for people in Canada. If you are in Canada and ready to set up your financial goal soon, the KOHO card is the perfect option.