KOHO Review 2026: Is The Cashback Card Worth It?

KOHO is one of the most-used Canadian fintechs — over 1.5 million users as of 2026. It positions itself somewhere between a bank account, a cashback card, and a money-management app. After using it for over two years for daily spending, here is the honest assessment.

What KOHO actually is

KOHO is not a credit card and not a bank. It is:

• A prepaid Mastercard loaded with your own funds
• A money-management app with budgeting, round-up savings, and goal tracking
• A Credit Building product (separate paid add-on)
• An interest-bearing account (“Earn Interest”) that holds your balance at competitive HISA-like rates

The Mastercard works anywhere Mastercard is accepted globally. Funds are held in trust at a CDIC-member partner bank, providing CDIC coverage up to $100,000 through the partner-bank structure.

KOHO tiers and pricing

KOHO operates on a freemium model. The free tier (“Easy”) includes the basics; paid tiers unlock more cashback and features.

KOHO tiers (May 2026)

	Easy ($0)	Essential ($4/mo)	Extra ($9/mo)	Everything ($19/mo)
Cashback (groceries + transport)	1%	2%	2%	2%
Cashback (other categories)	0%	0.5%	1%	1%
Free Interac e-Transfers	Limited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Earn Interest (HISA)	Yes	Yes	Higher rate	Highest rate
Free ATM withdrawals	Limited	Limited	Yes	Yes
Foreign transaction fees	1.5%	1.5%	$0	$0
Mobile credit score	Yes (free)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Round-up savings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Annual fee equivalent	$0	$48	$108	$228

The free tier is genuinely usable. The paid tiers pay for themselves only at meaningful spend volumes — the Extra tier ($9/mo = $108/year) needs ~$10,800 of grocery+transport spend to break even at the 1% extra cashback.

KOHO Credit Building

The standout feature for many users: KOHO Credit Building ($7/mo or $84/year, separate from the tier subscription).

How it works:

1. You sign up for Credit Building.
2. KOHO reports a monthly “tradeline” to TransUnion and Equifax on your behalf.
3. Each month you pay the $7 fee on time → KOHO reports a positive payment.
4. After 6–12 months, your credit score typically improves measurably.

This is genuinely valuable for:

• New immigrants to Canada with no credit history
• Young Canadians who haven’t held a credit card before
• Anyone rebuilding credit after a bankruptcy or default
• People who want to bypass the security deposit required by most secured credit cards

The cost ($84/year) is comparable to a paid secured credit card annual fee, but with no $500–$1,000 security deposit required.

Cashback math: is KOHO better than a credit card?

For spending optimization alone, KOHO’s cashback usually loses to dedicated credit cards:

KOHO cashback vs alternative Canadian cards (May 2026)

	Card	Annual fee	Cashback structure
KOHO Easy (free)	$0	1% groceries + transport
KOHO Extra	$108/yr	2% groceries + transport, 1% other
Wealthsimple Credit Card	$0–$120/yr	2% on everything, no FX
Tangerine Money-Back	$0	2% on 3 chosen categories, 0.5% other
American Express Cobalt	$155/yr	5x dining/groceries (~5% effective), 1x other
SimplyCash Preferred (Amex)	$120/yr	2% on everything

For pure cashback, the Wealthsimple Credit Card or Cobalt earn more. KOHO’s edge is the integrated experience: cashback, savings, credit building, and budgeting in one app.

Earn Interest: KOHO’s HISA play

KOHO Earn Interest pays interest on the full balance held in the account — not just a separate savings sub-account. Tier rates increase with paid tiers, with the Everything tier paying the highest rate.

The catch: funds are held in trust at a partner bank with $100K CDIC coverage, similar to Wealthsimple Cash but at a single partner (not split across multiple). For most users this doesn’t matter; for high-balance holders, Wealthsimple Cash’s $1M total CDIC coverage may be more attractive.

Round-Up Savings

KOHO rounds every purchase up to the nearest dollar (or $5/$10 if you prefer) and moves the difference into a savings goal. A $4.27 coffee becomes a $5 charge with $0.73 deposited into savings.

This sounds gimmicky but works. Average KOHO user saves a few hundred dollars a year via Round-Ups without thinking about it. For people who can’t budget actively, this is genuinely useful.

My personal experience

I’ve used KOHO for daily spending since 2024 — primarily groceries, gas, and small online purchases. About $20K/year flows through it. I’m on the Essential tier ($4/mo) primarily for the unlimited free e-Transfers.

What I like:

• App is fast and the spending breakdown is clear.
• Round-up savings has accumulated ~$400 in a year without effort.
• Direct deposit goes through reliably.

What I don’t:

• The free-tier cashback is meaningfully lower than my Wealthsimple Credit Card (2% on everything vs KOHO 1% on selected categories).
• Customer service is chat-only with sometimes long waits.
• It’s not a real bank account — I still need EQ Bank or similar for cheques and full banking features.

I use KOHO alongside EQ Bank (banking) and the Wealthsimple Credit Card (everyday spending). KOHO fills the “spending app with budgeting” niche that the others don’t.

Sign-up bonus

KOHO typically offers a sign-up bonus when you fund the account through a referral link — varies between $10 and $40 depending on current promotion.

Reader offer

KOHO

Sign-up bonus when you fund the card via referral

Sign up for KOHO →

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Disclosure.

Who should use KOHO

Use KOHO if:

• You’re new to banking or want a single app for spending + saving + credit building
• You want round-up savings without thinking about it
• You need to build credit history without a security deposit
• You want a prepaid Mastercard to control spending (no risk of going over)
• You’re a younger user who wants modern UX over branch banking

Skip KOHO (use a real bank + credit card) if:

• You already have established credit and a good cashback credit card
• You want maximum cashback (Cobalt, Wealthsimple, SimplyCash all earn more)
• You need joint accounts, business accounts, or large-balance banking
• You prefer phone customer service (KOHO is chat-only)

My final verdict

KOHO is a solid money-management app with a useful credit-building product. It’s not the best at any single thing — Wealthsimple Cash beats it on banking, Cobalt beats it on cashback, EQ Bank beats it on simplicity — but the integrated experience is good for users who don’t want to juggle multiple apps.

For students, new graduates, new immigrants, or anyone building their financial life from scratch, KOHO is a credible all-in-one. For established users with optimized stacks, it may be redundant.

I keep using it for the round-ups and spending categorization. Your mileage may vary.

Read next

• KOHO vs Neo Financial — head-to-head with the closest competitor
• Is KOHO safe? — CDIC structure explained
• Wealthsimple Cash review — for pure HISA + spending
• Best Canadian credit cards 2026 — alternatives if you want max cashback