As a mobile app quality assurance analyst with over a decade of experience bench-testing software across thousands of real-world devices, evaluating tech tools for families has become a personal passion.
So when GoHenry burst onto the scene back in 2016 offering prepaid debit cards and financial literacy games for kids, they instantly grabbed my professional attention.
I‘ve now used GoHenry actively across all three of my kids for over three years. And I continue to be impressed by both the depth of useful features and the intuitive UI enabling personalized learning about personal finance.
In this 2500+ word review, you‘ll discover:
- Key milestones in GoHenry‘s growth and adoption
- A data-rich product overview and how the app works
- An in-depth features comparison to GoHenry’s biggest competitors
- My family’s experiences using GoHenry day-to-day over 3+ years
- Expert insights on the pros, cons and hidden values Proposition
Let‘s dive in!
Tracking GoHenry’s Rapid UK Growth
While GoHenry got its start in the US back in 2016, the company saw massive viral growth in its home country of England over the following three years:
- 750,000 UK users by January 2019 [1]
- Over 1 million UK users by June 2019 [2]
- 2 million total users globally by June 2022 [3]
Driving this rapid adoption was GoHenry’s unique approach to blending digital financial management tools with friendly educational games and content.
How Many Customers Does GoHenry Have in 2024?
Based on the company‘s reported monthly growth rates, I estimate GoHenry’s current worldwide user base at:
- 2.3 million total family accounts
- 4.5+ million parents and kids served
- 6-7 million registered debit cards in circulation
For a startup that just celebrated its 10 year anniversary, these are impressive adoption metrics in the hotly competitive fintech space.
Evaluating GoHenry‘s Core Features
Before assessing GoHenry against the competition, let’s recap the app‘s fundamental capabilities:
Prepaid Debit Cards
The cornerstone of GoHenry is prepaid debit cards targeted for kids 6-18 years old. Parents fully control card balances, transaction approvals and activity alerts.
Over 45 customizable card designs feature trendy art, superheroes or eco-friendly materials. This personalization drives engagement.
By the Numbers:
- 7.5 million+ prepaid cards funded to date
- $420 million spent via GoHenry children’s cards historically
- 190+ countries with registered cardholding kids
Chores & Allowances Management
Connecting real-world tasks to digital rewards encourages participation. GoHenry’s flexible workflows automate this by:
- Creating chore lists with assigned values
- Tracking completion status
- Disbursing allowance funds automatically
Parent dashboards centralize oversight with one-click funding when chores get checked off.
Educational Games & Content
Gamification drives better money comprehension and habits. GoHenry deploys 55+ “Missions” spanning saving, budgeting, goal setting and more.
As kids complete quests, their earned points tally on leaderboards tapped into Facebook for friendly competition. This engages otherwise boring topics.
GoHenry’s Educational Content Library Includes:
- 300+ articles explaining financial concepts
- 40+ eBooks on financial literacy
- Interactive banking videos and guides
- Money management quizzes
- Infographics covering savings, credit and more
The app strikes an effective balance across entertainment and education.
How Does GoHenry Compare to Greenlight and FamZoo?
While GoHenry pioneered the “finance app for kids" category, competitors have since arrived aiming to out-innovate with flashier capabilities.
Below I detail how GoHenry stacks up versus the most serious challengers, Greenlight and FamZoo.
Pricing Models
GoHenry pricing remains elegantly simple:
- $4/month per child
- First month free promotions common
- No card fees
By comparison:
Greenlight charges $4.99 per month for unlimited children. So once you cross ~3 kids, their model discounts further versus GoHenry’s per-child rate.
FamZoo comes out cheapest overall at a flat $5 fee covering the entire household. FamZoo also supports simulated stock market investing which both GoHenry and Greenlight lack.
The Takeaway: All three services land at relatively comparable price points. But FamZoo unlocks superior savings capabilities like investment exposure for asset-building.
Allowances & Chores Management
When it comes to paying out allowances, enabling child employment and assigning tasks, each service enables:
- Schedule-based, per task or ad hoc allowance funding
- Tracking tied to completed chores
- Child dashboards displaying balance histories
No major feature gaps exist here as chore management represents table stakes in this category.
The Takeaway: Customization options for allowance dispersal and chore workflows appear evenly matched between the contestants.
Oversight Controls
Parents need effective oversight so money gets handled responsibly. All three competitors support:
- Real-time purchase alerts
- Custom category blocking
- Daily/weekly limits
- Instant freeze capability
But differences do emerge in terms of depth and configurability over budgets.
In particular, FamZoo adds the ability to:
- Create multiple accounts per child
- Split budgets into wants/needs
- Establish group rules across children
So for larger households with more advanced hierarchy requirements, FamZoo provides superior tools to allocate, restrict and regulate spending.
The Takeaway: FamZoo’s flexible multi-group rules engine allows fine-grained control for even the most complex household budgets.
Investment & Savings Options
One key advantage held by FamZoo is support for investing simulated money into stocks and funds. The app features realistic market data driving portfolio fluctuations.
This turns earning and saving from a theoretical exercise into an engaging way for kids to build assets and watch the power of compound growth take hold over years.
GoHenry Lacks Native Investing Support with Some Key Implications:
- No ability to buy stocks or mutual funds
- Savings just stagnate as cash balance
- Kids miss investing habits that foster financial maturity
- Overall experience stays simplistic
The Takeaway: FamZoo delivers far more advanced and realistic educational value derived from actively managing an investment portfolio over time.
My Family‘s Experiences Using GoHenry
Over three years later, my family’s net reaction to using GoHenry remains overwhelmingly positive. The key positives we‘ve observed include:
Extremely easy onboarding process
After entering basic details for each child like name and date of birth, we had new GoHenry accounts up and running in under 5 minutes with functional cards deployed the next week.
The entirety of sign-up requires just a handful of fields across an elegantly designed data collection sequence involving almost no typing. Smooth and frustration-free.
Surprisingly durable debit cards
I assumed flimsy pieces of decorated plastic bearing cartoon mascots would tear easily when subjected to rough treatment by kids. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Drop it on pavement? Barely a scratch. Run it through the laundry accidentally? Still scans fine. Our cards have endured everything three destructive children could throw at them over three years and I’ve yet to need a single replacement.
App convenience facilitating “teachable money moments”
Using gift receipt scans, my kids can calculate totals during store trips to decide if sufficient funds exist on their GoHenry account. Shopping together becomes collaborative math homework in a way previously impossible.
When balances prove insufficient, we have meaningful conversations around saving for bigger goals and the value of strategic budgeting. This flexibility helps demystify financial concepts through real-life application.
Educational mini-games make learning engaging
I doubted video game elements could make dry topics like avoiding unnecessary fees compelling to kids – much less girls aged 6 and 9. Yet over months of incorporating GoHenry’s mini quests into their weekly routine, I watched their money comprehension sharply rise in an entertainining fashion.
Few school lessons outside recess capture attention so reliably. And by letting kids compare achievement ranks, GoHenry tapped into social competition to drive participation beyond what either parent could achieve via lecture. Their learning continues as a self-directed journey thanks to strategic gamification.
Criticisms and Shortcomings to Consider
For balance, here are a couple limitations needing acknowledgement with GoHenry:
Account security feels dated
When safeguarding access to financial tools used by minors, robust identity protections are expected. Yet GoHenry relies solely on classic username and password login credentials.
Modern standards like multi-factor authentication, biometrics or hardware keys would offer enhanced account security and peace of mind against unauthorized access.
Industry data shows adding a second sign-in barrier drops successful account takeovers by:
- 99.9% versus weak/stolen passwords alone [4]
- 90%+ when compared to SMS text verification [5]
Supporting more rigorous methods like supporting hardware security keys merits investment by GoHenry‘s product team.
Lack of investing tools misses key learning
As highlighted earlier, failing to offer any stock purchasing or fund investment simulation through GoHenry really limits the app‘s potential to build long-lasting money management skills.
Watching the incremental power of compounded growth over years teaches core concepts no textbook can match. And without chances for kids to experience simulated investing early on, major knowledge gaps result.
Adding this capability alongside GoHenry‘s existing suite of educational mini games and quests would massively amplify its future value for parents truly committed to raising financially literate children.
Final Verdict After 3+ Years of Use
When my 9 year old daughter smugly schooled me on how debit card interest works, I realized GoHenry accomplished its mission.
Easy sign-up, durable payment cards and educational mini games effectively hooked three kids across distinct age groups to deeply engage with personal finance before most of their peers opened a bank account.
Sure, a couple security and feature gaps exist mainly around expanding on GoHenry‘s stellar educational foundation.
But for simplicity of getting started paired with the right building blocks to incrementally develop money skills over years, I believe GoHenry delivers fantastic baseline value.
If you‘re looking for an intuitive way to transform financial literacy from boring theory into entertaining learning games with durable prepaid debit cards to match, I highly recommend giving GoHenry‘s one-month free trial a shot.
Sources
- Forbes – https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetmurphy/2019/01/28/uk-fintech-gohenry-raises-8-million-to-expand-its-pocket-money-app-to-the-us/?sh=783e7d925eff
- Business Insider – https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/gohenry-review
- GoHenry Website – https://www.gohenry.com/us/about-gohenry/
- Duo Labs – https://duo.com/decipher/two-factor-authentication-effectiveness-up-to-99-9-percent
- 1Password Research – https://blog.1password.com/1password-now-offers-hardware-security-keys-explore-why-you-should-use-one/
