In Canada, there are three plans for the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid card:
In fact, we’ve named it the Best Prepaid Card in Canada for 2023. Not least because the KOHO Extra Mastercard Prepaid Card offers 1.5% at grocery stores, including Costco and Walmart! It’s one of the only cards to offer this for these chains.
What’s more, it doesn’t charge any conversion fees for foreign currency transactions.
And we’ve named the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card the Best Card for Newcomers to Canada in 2024.
This card requires no credit history in Canada, and you can build your credit score. And with this card, you’ll earn at least 3% interest on your entire balance!
The KOHO Card is halfway between a debit card and a credit card:
This type of card will not affect your credit score: getting one will have no impact. However, it won’t help you improve your credit score either.
KOHO prepaid cards have some things in common:
There are three KOHO plans to suit your needs:
Here are some tables showing the features of these KOHO plans:
KOHO has increased its savings rates to 3% on its free plan and 5% on all its paid plans.
Here’s how to save:
Both KOHO Mastercard prepaid cards offer an automatic savings program.
Purchases made with your KOHO card are rounded to the nearest $1, $2 or $10 (you choose the amount). For example, if you activate the automatic savings program and purchase $2.25, $0.75, $1.75, $2.75 or $7.75 (whichever you choose), it will automatically be set aside for you!
You can see in your KOHO app how much you have saved at any time. Note that this money can be accessed anytime: if your available balance is less than the amount of the purchase you wish to make, the funds will be withdrawn from your savings account.
KOHO Mastercard prepaid cards offer a cash-back program on your everyday purchases. You’ll see the cash back in your Savings tab within 1-2 business days of the original authorized purchase.
The cash back you earn depends on the KOHO plan you choose.
You can earn cash back on more purchases through KOHO partner merchants like:
For example, with Altitude Sports, you can get 4% extra cash back. This is in addition to the base rate, for a total of 4.25% cash back!
With Harvey’s, it’s 3% extra cash back. With the Everything plan, you’ll get 5% at Harvey’s, in addition to the 2% cash back on restaurants!
By opting for a KOHO Essential, Extra or Everything plan, you’ll be able to access an online shopping portal, directly via your KOHO app, to earn up to 50% cash back on your purchases.
All you have to do is click on the merchant’s link directly in the KOHO application before making your purchase. You will then receive your cash back within 30 to 60 days.
There are over 1,000 brands in the KOHO online shopping portal, some of which offer up to 50% cash back!
Usually, prepaid cards do not report your account activity to credit bureaus such as Equifax and Transunion. To counter this, KOHO has a credit-building option.
For $10 a month for 6 months, you can subscribe to KOHO Credit Building.
When you sign up, Koho will deposit $225 of dedicated credit enhancement funds into a separate account from your expenses (so you won’t have access to it). Each month, Koho will recover $75 of these dedicated funds and report it to Transunion as a positive action for your credit score.
For clarity, your total balance on KOHO will not change when KOHO adds the dedicated funds. Your only job is to make sure your regular account contains $10 each month to cover the subscription fee, and KOHO will do the work of establishing your credit score behind the scenes.
This credit building feature operates on a six-month cycle (so you can subscribe once every six months). You must already have a KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card to benefit from it.
Do you want to check your credit score? KOHO gives you access to this information free of charge. Simply create a KOHO account and take advantage of a 30-day trial period.
Here’s how it works:
Please note that your score will be updated once a month. After the free trial, you’ll need to pay the monthly subscription fee for one of the plans to obtain your credit score.
The KOHO Cover program gives you access to an interest-free cash advance of up to $250. Access to this overdraft protection service costs $2 per month.
KOHO charges a monthly fee for the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card according to the plan chosen.
There are no interest charges, insufficient funds charges or wire transfer fees. Here is a summary table of the other costs:
The Essentiel package is available free of charge to new users, provided they perform one of the following two actions:
Three types of loading are possible:
Details of the limits for an Essential account are here, and for an Extra account here.
Credit cards offer more rewards – and some have no conversion fees for foreign currency transactions – KOHO is aimed at a different audience.
The KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card, with no annual fee, can appeal to those who want to control their budget while earning cash back. One thinks, for example, of young people and students. This formula will disappear on April 20, 2024: if you get this card and opt for the Easy Plan (with no annual fee) before this date, you can keep this formula.
The KOHO Extra Mastercard Prepaid Card is designed for those who spend a lot in the 1.5% categories and regularly pay in foreign currencies (to enjoy the no foreign transaction fee benefit). Especially since the 1.5% grocery category also works at Costco and Walmart!
For either of these cards, you can get a $20 welcome bonus and 3 months of the Extra package for free by adding the code KOHOMILES when you sign up.
Otherwise, if you prefer credit cards, you can check our recommendations:
Yes, the KOHO Extra Mastercard Prepaid Card used to be called the KOHO Premium Mastercard Prepaid Card. It’s still the same card but with a new name and more features.
No, as the name suggests, the KOHO Prepaid Card is a prepaid card. There are no credit limits or inquiries made on your credit report.
The KOHO Prepaid Card is a prepaid card from KOHO Financial. With this card, there are no credit limits and no inquiries on your credit file.
To activate the KOHO Prepaid Card, go to your KOHO mobile application or the KOHO website.
You can use KOHO for any purchase. Top up your KOHO prepaid card before making a purchase.
To contact KOHO, simply go to your KOHO mobile app or the KOHO website. You can also write to KOHO at support@koho.ca.
Savings are here (if you don’t see the sign-up form, please click here):
