KOHO Financial

What KOHO Financial does

KOHO Financial Inc. is a Canadian mobile-first fintech founded in 2014 and headquartered in Toronto, operating a unified prepaid Mastercard account that serves over 2.5 million Canadian consumers across spending, saving, borrowing, credit-building, crypto, and international money transfer use cases. The core technology stack combines instant-issued virtual and physical prepaid Mastercard cards (licensed from Mastercard International Incorporated and supported by Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay), fund custody through a federally regulated Canadian bank (Peoples Trust) that provides up to C$100K of CDIC protection on opt-in balances, an API-enabled partner gateway for embedded B2B distribution, and partner-integrated modules for credit reporting (Equifax), crypto trading (Ndax), cross-border remittance (Boxo/Nium), and insurance (Walnut Insurance). The platform is SOC 2 Type 2 audited, PCI DSS compliant, FINTRAC-registered as a Money Service Business, a Payments Canada PSP member, and is in the final stages of pursuing a federal Schedule 1 banking licence through OSFI.

KOHO's commercial model layers multiple revenue streams on top of a freemium-to-premium subscription ladder: Essential at C$0/mo (unlocked with direct deposit or C$1,000+/month deposits), Extra at C$12/mo, and Everything at C$14.75/mo, each offering tiered cash back (1-2% on essentials), interest (2-3.5% on the entire balance), and feature access. Adjacent recurring add-ons include the Cover interest-free cash advance bundle (starting at C$2/month, up to C$250 advance) and Credit Building (C$10/month, with plan-based discounts). Transaction-based revenue comes from Mastercard interchange on prepaid card spend, interest spread on customer deposits placed in trust at CDIC members, KOHO Crypto trading fees (0.5%-1.5%), and cross-border remittance fees (15,000+ transactions and C$10M+ in volume since May 2025 launch). The go-to-market combines product-led self-serve mobile/web signup in approximately five minutes with no credit check, an Impact-powered affiliate program, a member referral program (up to C$100 per friend, capped at C$1,000), and a B2B Enterprise channel for white-label and co-branded card issuance.

The company has raised approximately C$507 million CAD in cumulative funding across multiple rounds, including a C$130M Series E in June 2026 at a C$1.33 billion post-money valuation that delivered unicorn status, with a high-quality investor base spanning Mubadala, Portage Ventures, Drive Capital, Eldridge, BDC Capital, HOOPP, Savano Capital, and operator-investors including Shopify founder/CEO Tobi Lütke and Affirm COO Michael Linford. CEO Daniel Eberhard disclosed at the May 2026 NACO Summit that KOHO generates over C$200M CAD in revenue, with one subsequent report citing approximately C$250M CAD growing 50% YoY, and that the company had turned down two acquisition offers from global fintechs while pursuing its independent path to a Schedule 1 banking licence.

Name

KOHO Financial

Legal name

KOHO Financial Inc.

Website

https://koho.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

KOHO Financial is a Canadian mobile-first fintech serving 2.5M+ Canadians with a prepaid Mastercard platform that consolidates spending, high-interest savings, credit building, crypto trading, cross-border remittance, and insurance through tiered subscription plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Banking

NAICS

Savings Institutions and Other Depository Credit Intermediation (52218), Depository Credit Intermediation (5221), Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Functions Related To Depository Banking, Nec (6099)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Wallets & Account Aggregation Hub (Multi-account, Stored Value) (FSAGAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open-Loop Prepaid Cards (Network-Branded) (FSAMANAA), Embedded Deposit Accounts & Digital Wallet Infrastructure (FSAGALAE), Crypto Custody & Exchange Wallet Services (Integrated) (FSADAAAG)

Keywords

• Prepaid banking services
• Digital banking platform
• Consumer fintech app
• Prepaid card issuance
• Mobile financial services

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plan Fees: Recurring monthly subscription revenue from three paid plans — Essential ($0/mo, can be unlocked for $0 with direct deposit or $1,000+/month deposit), Extra ($12/mo), and Everything ($14.75/mo) — plus a free 30-day trial to drive conversion. Premium tiers offer higher cash back, higher interest, and additional features.
2. Cover Bundle Subscription: Recurring monthly subscription revenue from the Cover bundle (starting at $2/month), which provides access to interest-free cash advances up to $250, a free credit report, priority support, and Financial Coach access.
3. Credit Building Add-on: Recurring monthly subscription ($10/month) for the Credit Building line of credit feature, with discounts up to 50% for Everything plan members and 30% for Extra plan members.
4. Interchange and Payment Network Revenue: Revenue generated from Mastercard interchange fees on prepaid card transactions, plus interest spread earned on customer deposits placed in trust with CDIC member institutions (Peoples Trust).
5. Crypto Trading Fees: Usage-based transaction fees on KOHO Crypto trades, ranging from 0.5% for Everything plan members to 1.5% for non-members, on 20+ supported cryptocurrencies.
6. Cross-Border Remittance Fees: Revenue from international money transfer service (powered by Boxo/Nium), enabling remittances to 200+ countries and territories with processing volume exceeding 10 million CAD since launch and over 15,000 transactions.
7. Enterprise B2B Platform Revenue: Revenue from enterprise partners using KOHO's white-label/co-branded prepaid card issuance, payments ecosystem integration, credit/lending capability, and API-enabled partner gateway, supported by dedicated technical and program management resources and AML/KYC support.
8. Affiliate Referral Commissions: Performance-based commissions paid to and from the KOHO Affiliate Program (run on Impact) where publishers, influencers, and comparison sites earn commission on referred customers.
9. Customer Referral Program: Member-to-member referral incentives of up to $100 per referral (capped at 50 referrals, up to $1,000 in total) where referred friends also receive three months free of the Everything plan.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

KOHO Financial is a Canadian fintech that operates a mobile-first financial platform built around an instantly issued prepaid Mastercard. The platform unifies spending (cash-back debit purchases), savings (up to 3.5% interest with automated Vault/Goals/RoundUps), credit building (interest-free line of credit reported to Equifax), borrowing (Cover interest-free cash advance, line of credit, Pay Later), crypto trading (Ndax-powered), and cross-border remittance (Boxo/Nium-powered) into one app, sold to Canadian consumers via freemium subscription plans and to enterprises via a white-label API.

Product overview

KOHO Financial Inc. is a Canadian fintech offering a unified mobile financial platform centered on a prepaid Mastercard and virtual card, organized around three subscription plans: Essential ($0/mo, waivable), Extra ($12/mo), and Everything ($14.75/mo). The platform bundles spend management (KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card and KOHO Virtual Card with up to 2% cash back on essentials and up to 6.5% at select merchants), high-interest savings (KOHO High Interest Savings with up to 3.5% interest, plus Vault, Goals, and RoundUps automations), credit-building (KOHO Credit Building, KOHO Secured Credit Building, KOHO Cover interest-free cash advance up to $250, KOHO Line of Credit, and KOHO Pay Later), investments (KOHO Crypto powered by Ndax), and life services (KOHO Joint Account, KOHO Cross-border Remittance via Boxo and Nium to 200+ countries, KOHO eSIM, and KOHO Tenant Insurance and KOHO Travel Insurance via Walnut Insurance). It also operates KOHO Enterprise, a B2B platform for white-label and co-branded prepaid Mastercard products with an API-enabled partner gateway, PCI-compliant infrastructure, and AML/KYC support, and runs a Referral Program and an Affiliate Program (via Impact).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KOHO Crypto: In-app cryptocurrency trading feature launched in April 2026, powered by Ndax, offering access to 20+ cryptocurrencies with fees starting at 0.5% per trade.

Products and services

• KOHO Mastercard Prepaid Card Reloadable prepaid Mastercard card product for everyday spending with cash back rewards, accepted anywhere Mastercard is taken in-store and online. Issued under license from Mastercard International Incorporated and protected by Mastercard Zero Liability Protection.
• KOHO Virtual Card Instant-approval digital prepaid Mastercard issued upon signup with no credit check, tokenizable into Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay for contactless and online purchases, with independently lockable card numbers.
• KOHO Credit Building Subscription add-on interest-free credit-builder line of credit with guaranteed approval and no hard credit check that reports on-time payments to Equifax to build credit history. Used by 400,000+ Canadians with reported average +93-point score increase.
• KOHO Secured Credit Building Secured variant of KOHO Credit Building requiring collateral, designed for users who want extra security while building credit history.
• KOHO Cover (Interest-Free Cash Advance) Subscription-based interest-free cash advance product offering up to $250 instantly with 0% APR, no credit check, and no proof of income, bundled with a free credit report, priority support, and Financial Coach access.
• KOHO High Interest Savings High-interest savings feature paying up to 3.5% interest on the entire balance (plan-dependent), calculated daily and paid monthly, with no minimum balance and CDIC protection up to $100K via trust at Peoples Trust and other CDIC member institutions.
• KOHO Line of Credit Personal line of credit offering approximately $1,000–$15,000 in available credit with interest rates as low as 19.9%, with no late, annual, or origination fees and no hard credit hit on application.
• KOHO Pay Later Buy-now-pay-later feature inside the KOHO app for booking travel and large purchases via monthly installments.
• KOHO Crypto In-app cryptocurrency trading product powered by Ndax, allowing users to buy, hold, sell, and manage 20+ cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana) starting at $1 with fees from 0.5% to 1.5% per trade, plus price alerts and recurring purchases.
• KOHO Joint Account Shared prepaid Mastercard account for two holders, earning up to 3.5% interest on joint savings and up to 2% cash back on shared spending, with a separate virtual card for joint expenses.
• KOHO Cross-Border Remittance Mini-app inside the KOHO mobile app for international money transfers to over 200 countries and territories, powered by Boxo and Nium payment infrastructure, with planned wallet-to-wallet and UPI payout expansion.
• KOHO eSIM Travel connectivity add-on providing free monthly eSIM data (1GB on the Extra plan, 3GB on the Everything plan), bundled with no foreign transaction fees and free international ATM withdrawals on the Everything plan.
• KOHO Tenant Insurance Tenant insurance add-on offered in partnership with Walnut Insurance, covering renters as part of KOHO's life management platform.
• KOHO Travel Insurance Travel insurance add-on offered in partnership with Walnut Insurance, bundled into the KOHO travel proposition.
• KOHO Enterprise (B2B Prepaid Platform) B2B platform enabling partners to build, launch, and scale white-label or co-branded prepaid Mastercard programs, integrating spending, saving, credit, lending, and rewards capabilities via a single API-enabled integration point with PCI-compliant infrastructure and AML/KYC support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 3.5% interest on entire balance, vs 0.010–1.5% at Big Five banks
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• NdaxcoreTechnology or Integration · 29 April 2026KOHO launched KOHO Crypto in April 2026, powered by Ndax, one of Canada's regulated crypto exchanges. Ndax provides the trading infrastructure and serves as custodian for 20+ supported cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana).
• Payments CanadaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2026KOHO Financial Inc. was admitted as a new Payment Service Provider (PSP) member of Payments Canada in January 2026, gaining participation in payments-system governance and development ahead of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) launch.
• BoxocoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2025Boxo provides the mini-app platform that powers KOHO's cross-border remittance service, enabling users to send money to 200+ countries and territories, with plans to expand into wallet-to-wallet transfers and UPI payments in India.
• NiumcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2025Nium provides the global payment infrastructure for KOHO's cross-border remittance mini-app, supporting disbursements to 200+ countries and territories and enabling future wallet-to-wallet and UPI India payout expansion.
• Mastercard International IncorporatedflagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerMastercard licenses KOHO Financial Inc. to issue prepaid Mastercard cards (physical and virtual). KOHO is the issuer of record for its prepaid card products and uses Mastercard rails for acceptance worldwide, plus Mastercard Zero Liability Protection for cardholders.
• Peoples TrustflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPeoples Trust, a federally regulated Canadian bank, partners with KOHO to safeguard customer funds. When users opt-in to Earn Interest, their money is placed in trust with one or more CDIC member institutions, making funds eligible for up to $100,000 of CDIC protection.
• EquifaxcoreTechnology or IntegrationEquifax is one of Canada's two major credit reporting bureaus and powers KOHO's free credit score feature and KOHO Credit Building product, which reports on-time payments to help build credit history.
• Walnut InsurancecoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerKOHO has partnered with Walnut Insurance as the official insurance provider for add-on products such as Tenant Insurance and Travel Insurance (https://www.gowalnut.com/ca/koho).
• ImpactcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKOHO runs its Affiliate Program on the Impact platform (app.impact.com/campaign-mediapartner-signup/KOHO-Financial.brand), enabling influencers, comparison sites, and publishers to earn commission on referred customers.
• Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google PaycoreTechnology or IntegrationKOHO's virtual prepaid Mastercard can be added to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay mobile wallets, enabling tap-to-pay acceptance at any contactless terminal.
• Canada PostminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKOHO users can load cash into their account at any Canada Post location as a funding method.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Wealthsimple: Canadian fintech offering a multi-product mobile app spanning chequing, savings, investing, and crypto to Canadian consumers. Direct competitor to KOHO in the Canadian neobank/super-app category, with overlapping product breadth and a similar freemium-plus-subscription model.
• Neo Financial: Canadian neobank offering a Mastercard, high-interest savings, cash-back rewards, credit building, mortgages, and retail partnerships. Closest direct competitor on prepaid-card + credit-building + cash-back proposition within Canada.
• Chime: US neobank with a mobile-first platform offering a fee-free account, high-yield savings, secured credit building, and earned-wage access. Direct comparable on prepaid-style debit, credit-building, and subscription-style premium tiering.
• SoFi: US neobank offering a full-stack super-app spanning spending, saving, credit building, investing, lending, and insurance. Comparable on multi-product aggregation and credit-led unit economics, but operating at materially larger scale and with a US bank charter.
• Revolut: Global neobank with prepaid cards, multi-currency accounts, savings, investing, crypto, and remittance. Comparable on the prepaid-Mastercard + crypto + remittance + multi-tier subscription super-app thesis, though at a much larger international scale.
• N26: European mobile-first neobank offering tiered subscription plans, savings, spending, and money-management features. Comparable on the freemium-plus-subscription digital bank model and product-led onboarding.

Broad incumbents

• Tangerine: Direct bank subsidiary of Scotiabank serving Canadian consumers with no-fee daily banking, savings, lending, and investing. A broad incumbent digital bank in the same addressable market and competing head-to-head on savings rates and ease of onboarding.
• Simplii Financial: CIBC's direct digital bank offering no-fee chequing, savings, and lending products in Canada. Competes with KOHO on everyday banking and savings rates from within a large incumbent's regulated banking perimeter.
• President's Choice Financial (PC Financial): Loblaw-owned Canadian banking and insurance arm offering no-fee banking and PC Optimum rewards integration. Competes with KOHO on fee-free everyday banking and rewards for Canadian consumers, leveraging the parent's massive retail footprint.

Emerging players

• Marqeta: US-based card-issuing and embedded payments platform that powers fintech and B2B programs via an open API. Direct comparable to KOHO Enterprise's white-label/co-branded prepaid Mastercard + API partner gateway offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GetKoho
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-HnC-dcg5_KYW6pQ7H4JQA
• Facebookfacebook.com/KOHO
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/koho
• Instagraminstagram.com/getkoho/?hl=en
• Pinterestpinterest.ca/getkoho

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds15 records

Investors22 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KOHO Financial