Now that they have been bought by the Americans, GoHenry has announced a price rise for its subscribers, who will now have to pay 33% more each month to use the pocket money app’s pre-paid debit card.
33% price increase
GoHenry, the savings and debit card app focused on children and teenagers, has announced an increase in the subscription paid by its users.
Subscribers will now have to fork out £3.99 each month to use the pocket money card. That may not sound like a lot but it represents a +33% increase over the previous monthly charge of £2.99.
- What do we think of GoHenry? Read our expert GoHenry review
American acquisition
GoHenry was recently acquired by rival platform Acorns and as is often the case in these situations it looks like the new owners are reviewing their acquisitions pricing structure.
GoHenry Co-founder and COO, Louise Hill, was recently asked about the tie-up with Acorns and the values of their new parent company which she said was to ensure the financial wellness of the everyday American by encouraging them to start investing early in a non-invasive way.
GoHenry was founded on the premise that educating children about money and personal finance was a societal good so their values seem to be aligned.
Together, Acorns and GoHenry have nearly 6 million subscribers globally (across five countries).”
However, Louise Hill seems keen to move beyond just offering services to young people and would like to expand the franchise to include the over-18s.
JISA charges
Price rises post-acquisition are not confined to GoHenry, Nutmeg which was acquired by JP Morgan raised fees under its new ownership.
However, Roostermoney, which was bought out by Natwest, recently scrapped a proposed £1.99 per month subscription fee for access to its pre-paid debit card and pocket money app.
The monthly fee was to have become applicable in May.
The new owners relented on the charge, if only for NatWest Group customers, including RBS and Ulster Bank account holders.
Clients at other banks can still use the Roostermoney app and pre-paid debit card, but they will have to pay a £1.99 per month fee to do so.
Roostermoney was launched in 2016 and the app allows parents to load pocket money onto a pre-paid Visa debit card, which can be instantly frozen if it’s lost.
Parents can also block payments to specific merchants and the app provides real-time spending and balance notifications to both parents and children.
Kids spending habits
The Good Money Guide’s Jackson Wong, recently wrote about Roostermoney’s Pocket Money Index, which tracks the spending habits of more than 125,000 young people, asking could the index help us to predict stock market moves, you can read it here
Educating youngsters about money and personal finance is a very good idea and one that will help them no end in later life, when managing your finances, saving and investing for the future becomes increasingly important.
Seeing those juveniles as cash cows, however, is another thing entirely.
Hopefully, stiff competition between providers will keep such price rises to a minimum.
Hargreaves Lansdown, the country’s largest direct-to-consumer savings and investing platform, recently removed trading fees within its Junior ISA, for example.
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