KOHO Premium Mastercard®

KOHO Premium Mastercard is an excellent choice for individuals who would rather steer clear of banking, credit, and bills. It provides a reliable everyday solution for managing and tracking your budget, but it also rewards its users’ loyalty by adding irresistible perks such as cashback and interest.

KOHO Premium Mastercard is the Best for

You’ll love your KOHO Premium card if one of these ticks your boxes:

• Learning to be frugal and more responsible with your money.
• Managing money independently from financial institutions.
• Needing a secure card for daily spending with a few extra perks.
• Avoiding credit cards and finding alternative ways to boost credit.

What Are KOHO Premium Advantages

There aren’t many card providers that can compete with KOHO Premium, even though this card borrows functionalities and features from many of its rivals. Like almost all modern-day payment accounts, Koho too comes with a physical card and a virtual one in the form of an app. But Koho is unique in most of the other aspects:

A payment rate that pays itself.

Koho Premium costs $9 per month or $84 annually. You might think that this is too much for a prepaid card, but the math would beg to differ. When you consider every cash-back opportunity, as well as other rewards and money-saving features offered by KOHO, the math says that you can get your $84 back after spending $467. If you use Koho daily, the probability of spending that much every month is pretty high.

Financial coaching that works

In addition to features that save your money, KOHO equips you with a complete toolkit for developing and exercising healthy spending habits. The budgeting app allows you to set and automate savings goals. You’ll also receive balance updates after each purchase. One of the Premium features reserved for paying users is financial coaching. Whether you need some help managing your daily spending or you keep failing to meet your savings goals at the end of the month, you can contact KOHO’s in-house financial coach for a free consultation. According to their website,  the average user saves 7% of whatever money they load to their card.

Interest that keeps on giving

Earning interest is a relatively new capability for KOHO Premium users. A whopping 1.2% rate is fantastic compared to what most card providers offer, and the requirements are not too shabby either. Most notably, this rate applies to your entire account – both spending and savings. It’s a fixed annual rate, calculated daily and paid out monthly. There is no minimum balance required for a direct deposit. Let’s also mention that KOHO allows you to access your interest earnings at any moment. 

No foreign transaction fees

One of the downsides of the KOHO Prepaid Mastercard is 1.5% for foreign transaction fees. Premium users need not worry about this.

VIP positions in line for support

When you need to contact customer support, Koho Premium ensures you can do so in the nick of time. Paying users enjoy the privilege of being fast-tracked whenever they want to talk to a Koho support agent about their needs, dilemmas, and pain points. 

Credit building on demand

Many reviewers of KOHO Prepaid Mastercard and KOHO Premium Mastercard cards lower their ratings significantly because of one significant shortcoming – the (in)ability to build their users’ credit scores. Well, not anymore. As of late, KOHO has included an exceptional credit-building service to its offer, which you can activate or not – it’s entirely up to you. For only $7 a month, which works as a line of credit, KOHO can help boost your credit score. It’s fast, easy, and convenient, especially for its users.

What Are KOHO Premium Disadvantages?

Both users and experts generally love what KOHO Premium has to offer. It takes a critical mind to find drawbacks to using this prepaid card, and we’ve come up with a few. Whether they’re deal-breakers depends on what you think is important as a responsible cardholder. The disadvantages of choosing Koho Premium are:

No Premium joint accounts. KOHO’s fee-free Basic plan is also available in a Joint version, but Premium still lacks this capability. However, with KOHO Joint Prepaid Card being such a big success (and deservedly so!), it’s safe to assume that KOHO will soon launch its paid counterpart, boasting a few extra perks.

Deposit caps cap your earnings. KOHO currently has a cap on your deposits at $40,000, which may or may not interfere with your savings plans. It may be inconvenient for avid savers attracted to KOHO Premium due to its excellent interest rate. At the moment, we can’t tell if this is subject to change.

Neither here nor there: Insurance. KOHO is not insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), but this shouldn’t be a problem. If you choose to entrust Koho with your money, it will be safely stored at Peoples Trust, its partnering bank that holds your funds – which is insured by CDIC. 

Koho’s Best Money Saving Features

• Receiving up to $100 of your government payments up to 3 days earlier.
• Koho guarantees 0.5% cashback on all purchases for Basic and Premium.
• Premium comes with an extra 2% cashback for everyday essentials*.
• You can get additional cashback, a whopping 5%, at participating merchants.
• The RoundUp feature helps you save money by collecting spare change.
• Price matching empowers you to spend less money on each purchase.
• There’s a 1.2% interest on spending and savings accounts on direct deposit.
• Premium offers one free international ATM withdrawal every month.

*The additional 2% cashback available to Premium users is for groceries, food and drinks, and transport.

What Makes KOHO Premium Mastercard Different?

What sets KOHO Financial cards apart is that it has no serious competition. KOHO Premium boasts many of the well-known features offered by competitors, but it packs them in a truly unique way. There aren’t many prepaid cards with cashback perks, great interest rates, and credit-building capabilities. In these aspects, Koho is a true pioneer.

KOHO Premium Alternatives

• Mogo Visa Platinum – Free credit reporting, no annual fee, and plant a tree initiative. However, there are no rewards with this card;
• Neo Financial Rewards – No annual fee, up to 1% cashback, welcome bonus, and credit reporting;
• Jeton Visa Debit Card – Virtual and physical cards to access your money worldwide;
• MC1 Mastercard – No annual fee, simple benefits, beginners credit card to start building credit;
• Simplii Debit Card – Instant approval, comes with a free chequing account, rewards, and has no annual fee.

Bottom Line

When all is said and done, it’s evident that KOHO Premium is a first-rate prepaid card. However, it does cater to a specific audience. If you prefer debit cards to credit cards, you’ll probably love it. KOHO takes the convenience and freedom of managing your own finances and combines them with fantastic perks traditionally offered by credit cards. KOHO Premium is a rare fee-based prepaid card that pays off.

Frequently Asked Questions