If you searched for a KOHO credit card, the short answer is that KOHO doesn’t issue one. The KOHO card is a prepaid Mastercard that spends money you load onto it, and KOHO sells credit separately through Credit Building, Cover cash advances, a line of credit and Pay Later. This review explains how KOHO works, what the card costs on each plan, what it earns, which KOHO products actually involve credit, and when a different card is the better pick. YieldMaple checked every figure against koho.ca, KOHO’s help centre and the KOHO cardholder agreement on September 24, 2026. This page is general education, not financial advice.
KOHO card at a glance
| Feature | KOHO prepaid Mastercard | A typical credit card |
|---|---|---|
| Is it a credit card? | No — it's prepaid and not linked to a credit line, so you can only spend money you've loaded (better on this row) | Yes — you borrow up to a credit limit |
| Who issues it | a prepaid Mastercard issued by KOHO Financial Inc. | A bank or other lender |
| Credit check to get it | instant approval with no credit check | Usually, yes |
| Builds credit history | No — the card doesn't build credit on its own | Yes, when the issuer reports your payments |
| Interest | None — nothing is borrowed | Charged on balances you don't pay in full |
| Monthly cost | Free with no plan; Essential is $7 a month, or $0 in a month you set up direct deposit or deposit $1,000 | Varies — many cards have an annual fee |
| Cash back on groceries, transportation and dining | 1% on Essential, 1.5% on Extra and 2% on Everything | Varies by card |
| Foreign transaction fee | 1.5% on Essential; none on Extra or Everything (Mastercard's conversion rate still applies) | Varies by card |
Sources: koho.ca prepaid Mastercard, plan and legal pages, and KOHO's Compare Plans help article, checked September 24, 2026. The credit card column describes how credit cards generally work, not a specific card.
How does KOHO work?
KOHO works like a reloadable spending account: you load your own money and spend it with a prepaid Mastercard. You can add money by Interac e-Transfer, direct deposit, cash at Canada Post or a linked debit card ($3.00 per load on Non-Member, Essential and Extra; free on Everything). Your plan sets the cash back on groceries, transportation, and food and drinks: 1% on Essential, 1.5% on Extra and 2% on Everything. Credit Building is a separate add-on at $10 a month before plan discounts.
Is KOHO a credit card?
No: the KOHO card is a prepaid Mastercard that spends money you’ve already loaded, so there is no credit limit, no interest and no bill to pay off.
KOHO’s own description is plain. The card is a prepaid Mastercard issued by KOHO Financial Inc., and KOHO says it is not linked to a credit line, so you can only spend money you've loaded. Each purchase comes out of the balance you have loaded. KOHO advertises instant approval with no credit check for the card, which is what you’d expect from a card that lends you nothing.
So why do so many people search for a “KOHO credit card”? Three reasons:
- The Mastercard logo. A prepaid Mastercard looks like a credit card and works at the same terminals, online and abroad. KOHO’s own FAQ even uses the phrase “prepaid credit card”.
- KOHO does sell credit. Its Borrow menu lists a cash advance, a line of credit and Pay Later, and its Credit menu includes Credit Building. None of these is a credit card, and koho.ca lists no KOHO-branded credit card among its products.
- Wealthsimple’s older prepaid card came from KOHO. Wealthsimple’s prepaid Mastercard was issued by KOHO Financial Inc., under licence from Mastercard, so some people assume the two companies offer the same card. Wealthsimple is moving all of its prepaid Mastercards to Visa Platinum Prepaid cards in phases, and both are prepaid cards, not credit cards.
In practice, a prepaid card means you can’t overspend and you never pay purchase interest. The trade-offs: the card does nothing for your credit history, and some machines may refuse it. KOHO’s cardholder agreement says the card may not work at unattended terminals such as parking machines and pay-at-the-pump fuel stations.
Does the KOHO card build credit?
No: KOHO’s own site says a prepaid card doesn't build credit on its own, because spending your own money creates no debt for a credit bureau to track.
Credit history comes from KOHO’s separate lending products, which sit on top of the card. KOHO sorts them into two menus:
- Credit: Credit Building and Secured Credit Building, both small lines of credit designed to produce a record of on-time payments. KOHO says Credit Building reports your payment history to Equifax and TransUnion. Plan members also get a free credit score on Essential, Extra and Everything, and a free credit report on Everything only, so you can watch the effect.
- Borrow: Cover (a cash advance), the KOHO Line of Credit provided by Fora, and Pay Later. These exist to lend you money rather than to build credit, though an unpaid Cover advance can still reach your file: KOHO says an advance left unpaid for more than 3 months may be reported to credit bureaus.
If building credit is the goal, Credit Building is the product to look at.
How does KOHO Credit Building work?
KOHO Credit Building is a $225 line of credit with no interest; you pay a monthly subscription, and KOHO reports your payment history to Equifax and TransUnion.
The details, from KOHO’s credit-building page and the Credit Building section of its legal terms:
- Price: $10 a month before plan discounts. Extra members get 30% off and Everything members get 50% off, which brings the subscription to $7 a month and $5 a month. Essential gets no discount.
- Approval: guaranteed approval, with no deposit, no hard credit check and no application. You need an individual KOHO account, not a joint one.
- The line: $225 at 0% (a no-fee, no-interest line of credit).
- Payments: a payment is due 30 days after you draw on the line, then every 30 days while you owe a balance, and the minimum is $67.50, or the full balance if you owe less.
- Utilization: KOHO says you don’t need to withdraw money from the line for it to work. Instead, you set a utilization rate at the start of each billing cycle, and KOHO suggests keeping it under 10%.
- The risk: KOHO’s terms say unpaid balances can hurt your credit score, and failing to repay the line makes you ineligible for future KOHO lines of credit. The terms also say Credit Building is not a credit repair tool and doesn’t promise a higher score.
KOHO advertises average score increases, but its footnotes limit them to members who started with very low scores and used all of its credit-building tools for a year or more with on-time payments. Treat those as marketing: your result depends on everything else in your credit file.
Secured Credit Building
KOHO also offers Secured Credit Building. You deposit $50 to $500, and the credit limit is equal to your security deposit. The minimum payment is the lesser of $10 or what you owe, the line charges no interest, and KOHO reports your payment activity to a credit bureau. Two points from KOHO’s terms that its marketing pages skip: the deposit is not insured by CDIC, and any interest it earns is kept by KOHO, so the deposit earns you nothing. The subscription fee is shown in the KOHO app when you sign up (KOHO doesn't publish it on its website).
For other ways to start from zero, including secured credit cards, see our guide to getting a credit card with no credit history.
Which KOHO product actually gives you credit?
Five KOHO products involve credit and none of them is a credit card; the right one depends on whether you want a credit history or cash to borrow.
| Feature | What it is | What it costs | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOHO card (no credit) | A prepaid Mastercard | Free with no plan; plans up to $22 a month when billed monthly | Spending your own money |
| Credit Building | A no-interest $225 line of credit (better on this row) | $10 a month before plan discounts | Building a credit history (better on this row) |
| Secured Credit Building | A no-interest line equal to your deposit of $50 to $500 | Fee shown in the KOHO app when you sign up (KOHO doesn't publish it on its website) | Building credit with a deposit |
| Cover | A cash advance of up to $500 (KOHO sets your limit from your account history) | Bundle priced from $2 a month (the fee varies with the size of the advance, among other things) | Bridging a short gap before payday |
| KOHO Line of Credit (Fora) | $1,000 to $15,000 of revolving credit | Interest of 19.9% to 34.9%, depending on your credit | Larger borrowing, in six provinces |
| Pay Later | Instalments on one or more purchases of $100 or more, up to $1,000 | 3, 6 or 9 months, with a fee instead of interest | Spreading out a past purchase |
Sources: koho.ca credit-building, Cover, line-of-credit and Pay Later pages, and the KOHO Credit Building, Secured Credit Building and Cover terms on koho.ca/legal, checked September 24, 2026.
Credit Building and Secured Credit Building are covered above. The other three:
- Cover is sold as a cash advance for short gaps (KOHO’s terms call it an open credit facility), not as a credit-building tool. It comes with a paid bundle priced from $2 a month (the fee varies with the size of the advance, among other things), and the advance is up to $500 (KOHO sets your limit from your account history). Under KOHO’s terms, the price of the advance is 0% — no interest and no fees on the advance itself (the bundle subscription is the cost). KOHO pitches Cover as an alternative to payday loans, but it’s still borrowing: KOHO says an advance left unpaid for more than 3 months may be reported to credit bureaus.
- The KOHO Line of Credit is a Fora product with KOHO’s name on it: the lender is Fora Credit Inc., which underwrites, approves, funds and services it. It offers $1,000 to $15,000 at 19.9% to 34.9%, depending on your credit, and it’s only available in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and British Columbia. KOHO says checking whether you qualify won't affect your credit score. At the top of that rate range, carrying a balance is expensive: about $349 a year in interest on every $1,000.
- Pay Later splits one or more purchases of $100 or more, up to $1,000 into payments over 3, 6 or 9 months, with a fee instead of interest. KOHO shows the monthly fee in the app before you commit, and Pay Later isn’t open to every member yet: KOHO invites eligible members in the app.
A quick way to choose:
- No credit history and no spare cash for a deposit: Credit Building.
- A small deposit available and a preference for a limit backed by your own money: Secured Credit Building.
- A few hundred dollars needed before payday: Cover, repaid quickly.
- A real credit card with a limit and rewards: look outside KOHO (see the alternatives below).
What are the KOHO card fees?
The standard KOHO card comes with every plan at no extra charge; what you pay for is the plan, from free up to $22 a month when billed monthly for Everything.
| Feature | No plan | Essential | Extra | Everything |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | free | $7 a month, or $0 in a month you set up direct deposit or deposit $1,000 | $12 a month, billed as $144 a year, or $18 a month when billed monthly | $14.75 a month, billed as $177 a year, or $22 a month when billed monthly |
| Cash back: groceries, transportation, food and drinks | 0% — no cash back without a plan | 1% | 1.5% | 2% (better on this row) |
| Cash back: everything else | None | 0% | 0.25% | 0.5% (better on this row) |
| Interest on your balance (after opt-in) | 0.5% (after opting in) | 2% | 2.5% | 3.5% (better on this row) |
| Foreign transaction fee | 1.5% per transaction | 1.5% per transaction | None (better on this row) | None (better on this row) |
| Credit Building discount | None | None | 30% off | 50% off (better on this row) |
| Debit-card load fee | $3.00 per load | $3.00 per load | $3.00 per load | Free (better on this row) |
Source: KOHO Help Centre, Compare Plans (last updated August 11, 2026), and koho.ca plan pages, checked September 24, 2026. KOHO says pricing may vary; your app shows your current price.
The plan prices, in words: no plan is free, Essential is $7 a month, or $0 in a month you set up direct deposit or deposit $1,000, and on yearly billing Extra is $12 a month, billed as $144 a year and Everything is $14.75 a month, billed as $177 a year. On monthly billing, Extra is $18 a month when billed monthly and Everything is $22 a month when billed monthly. In other words, Essential costs $0 a month if you deposit your paycheque or add at least $1,000 each month, and every plan starts with a free 30-day trial.
What each plan earns: cash back on groceries, transportation, and food and drinks is 1% on Essential, 1.5% on Extra and 2% on Everything, and on everything else it is 0% on Essential, 0.25% on Extra and 0.5% on Everything. With no plan, cash back is 0% — no cash back without a plan. Interest on the whole balance, once you opt in to Earn Interest, is 2% on Essential, 2.5% on Extra and 3.5% on Everything, or 0.5% (after opting in) with no plan; KOHO says it is calculated daily and paid out monthly. On any plan, shopping through the app can add up to 6.5% extra at partner merchants. Cash back isn’t paid on ATM withdrawals, e-Transfers, KOHO transfers, bill payments, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, crypto, remittances and gambling.
The fees on top of the plan price:
- Foreign currency: 1.5% on Essential; none on Extra or Everything (Mastercard's conversion rate still applies). KOHO’s cardholder agreement lists the base Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee as 1.5% per transaction, which on $2,000 of foreign spending adds $30 on Essential.
- ATMs: Canadian withdrawals are free from KOHO (the ATM operator may still add its own fee). Abroad, you get one free international ATM withdrawal a month on Extra and Everything (not included on Essential).
- Adding money: a debit-card load costs $3.00 per load on Non-Member, Essential and Extra; free on Everything, and cash deposits are free on Essential, Extra and Everything ($3.00 with no plan). Direct deposit and Interac e-Transfer loads don’t appear on KOHO’s fee list.
- Sending money: free real-time e-Transfers on every plan, up to $5,000 a day out.
- Crypto: trades cost 0.5% on every plan.
- Metal card: $150 unless you're on the yearly Everything plan (metal cards are on a waitlist).
- Closing the account: free — you can close it at any time without cost or penalty.
Which KOHO plan is worth paying for?
For a typical spender, free Essential and yearly Everything finish close; Everything pulls ahead with heavier spending, bigger balances, travel or Credit Building, and Extra rarely wins.
Here is a worked example. Take someone who spends $1,000 a month on groceries, transportation, and food and drinks, $500 a month on everything else, and keeps an average of $3,000 in KOHO with Earn Interest switched on. Their pay arrives by direct deposit, so Essential is free, and the paid plans are billed yearly.
| One year with KOHO | Essential | Extra | Everything |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash back on essentials | $120 | $180 | $240 |
| Cash back on everything else | $0 | $15 | $30 |
| Interest on the balance | $60 | $75 | $105 |
| Plan price | $0 | −$144 | −$177 |
| Net value | $180 | $126 | $198 |
| Net value with a year of Credit Building | $60 | $42 | $138 |
What the numbers show:
- Everything beats Essential by only $18 here. The higher cash back and interest barely cover Everything’s $14.75 a month, billed as $177 a year price. Spend less and the gap flips to Essential; spend more or keep a bigger balance and Everything’s lead grows.
- Credit Building changes the maths. The 50% off discount on Everything saves $60 a year against Essential’s full price, which is why Everything finishes $78 ahead once Credit Building is added.
- Extra is the awkward middle. It trails both plans in this example because its price sits close to Everything’s while its interest rate sits closer to Essential’s. It mainly suits lighter spenders who want to drop the foreign transaction fee for less than Everything costs.
- Essential isn’t always free. Without a qualifying direct deposit or monthly deposit, Essential on monthly billing costs $84 a year, which cuts its net value to $96.
The interest figures assume today’s rates hold for a year; KOHO’s terms say it can change them without prior notice.
Is there a no-fee alternative to the KOHO card?
Yes: Wealthsimple’s prepaid Visa charges no monthly fee and no foreign transaction fee, though it has no published cash-back rate and won’t build credit either.
The card that comes with Wealthsimple Chequing is a Visa Platinum Prepaid card (digital and physical), linked to your Wealthsimple Chequing account. It is prepaid too, so it is no closer to a credit card than KOHO’s. Here is how it compares:
- Fees: Wealthsimple Chequing’s monthly fee is $0, the card’s foreign transaction fee is 0% (Visa's conversion rate still applies), and for ATMs there are no Wealthsimple ATM fees in Canada or abroad; eligible ATM-operator fees reimbursed. KOHO Essential charges 1.5% per transaction on foreign purchases.
- Interest: Chequing pays 1.25% on the Core plan, plus an extra 0.5% with at least $2,000 direct-deposited within 30 days, and Wealthsimple Savings pays 2.5% (available to every client, no tiers). KOHO Essential pays 2% on the whole balance.
- Cash back: for Wealthsimple’s prepaid card, cash back is none — Wealthsimple publishes no cash-back rate for the Visa Platinum Prepaid card, and the old prepaid Mastercard's cash-back program has ended. KOHO Essential pays 1% on essentials.
- Credit: the effect on your credit score is none — Wealthsimple says its prepaid cards won't impact your credit score. Wealthsimple’s credit product is its Visa Infinite+ credit card (covered below), not a credit-building line like KOHO’s.
- Deposit protection: Wealthsimple Chequing balances are eligible for CDIC coverage up to $1 million, because funds are spread across up to 10 CDIC member institutions (Wealthsimple itself is not a CDIC member). KOHO balances are eligible up to $100,000 per beneficiary, per CDIC member institution, once you opt in to Earn Interest.
The honest summary: for the spender in the worked example, Wealthsimple Chequing would pay about $52.50 in interest with the direct-deposit boost and no published cash back (or $75 if the balance sat in Wealthsimple Savings), against $180 from free KOHO Essential. KOHO wins on everyday spending and credit building. Wealthsimple wins if you travel, keep a balance large enough to need more CDIC coverage, or want your spending account in the same app as your TFSA, RRSP and FHSA. The Wealthsimple vs KOHO comparison runs the full numbers, and the Wealthsimple Cash Card review covers the Visa card in detail.
If what you actually want is a credit card, KOHO can’t help. Wealthsimple’s Visa Infinite+ credit card earns 2% on every purchase and costs $240 a year ($20/month), waived with $100,000+ in individual assets or $4,000+/month direct deposit; the Wealthsimple credit card review covers it in full. Neo Financial issues actual credit cards, including a secured option (see the Neo Financial review and KOHO vs Neo), and the best no-fee credit cards in Canada guide lists cards with no annual fee.
Is KOHO safe?
KOHO is a FINTRAC-regulated money services business, not a bank, and your balance becomes CDIC-eligible only after you opt in to Earn Interest.
KOHO is regulated by FINTRAC as a money services business, and its cardholder agreement says it is not a bank, and it doesn't take deposits itself. Once you opt in to Earn Interest, your balance is eligible for CDIC protection up to $100,000 per beneficiary, per CDIC member institution, once you opt in to Earn Interest. Balances not earning interest are not eligible for CDIC protection, and switching Earn Interest on can take up to 5 business days, so turn it on when you open the account. Card purchases carry Mastercard Zero Liability protection, and you can lock the card in the app if it’s lost. The deposit behind Secured Credit Building is the exception: it is not insured by CDIC. For the full breakdown, see our explainer on whether KOHO is safe.
Who should get the KOHO card, and who shouldn’t?
Get the KOHO card if you qualify for free Essential and want cash back plus credit building; skip it if you want a real credit card or travel often on Essential.
Pick KOHO if:
- You can get Essential for $0 a month if you deposit your paycheque or add at least $1,000 each month, and you spend steadily on groceries, transit and dining.
- You have no credit history or damaged credit and want guaranteed approval, with no deposit, no hard credit check and no application.
- You want a card that can’t take you past your balance while you get your budget under control.
Pick Wealthsimple Chequing if:
- You travel or shop in foreign currencies and don’t want to pay for Extra or Everything just to avoid a foreign transaction fee of 1.5% per transaction.
- You keep a larger balance and want CDIC coverage up to $1 million, because funds are spread across up to 10 CDIC member institutions (Wealthsimple itself is not a CDIC member).
- You already invest with Wealthsimple, or plan to, and want one app for spending and investing. Start with our complete Wealthsimple guide.
Get an actual credit card if:
- You want a credit limit, rewards on all of your spending, or a card whose own payments build your credit history.
- You already have decent credit. A prepaid card and a credit-building line add little once you qualify for a regular no-fee credit card.
Many people end up using both: a credit card for rewards and credit history, and a prepaid account like KOHO or Wealthsimple Chequing for day-to-day budgeting.