Koho - Reviews and experiences

I could still sign in on the website. That was a relief at first, because I thought at least I’d have access to move funds if needed. Turns out the web access didn’t solve the real issue.
I called support and after a few back-and-forths they said I’d used the wrong email. I knew which email I’d been using for years. I’d originally signed up with another address, sure, but I’ve used this one since. I tried the original and it accepted the address but then refused the password. Password-reset links wouldn’t arrive because apparently the “wrong” email was on file. So I was stuck.
After hours of explaining the same thing — and mentioning this had happened before when they updated the app in July — the tone changed. Suddenly my account showed “odd activity.” I pointed out I’d used the card to buy flowers for a friend whose spouse had died a week earlier. Legitimate purchase. Still, they asked for a government ID photo with me holding it next to my face. I asked why. I said I’ve been a customer for over five years, my pension is direct deposited, and the ID I used when signing up was already on file. They told me they needed that selfie-ID to re-open the account. I’m still trying to get my head around that: if they can’t close an account with funds in it, how did they end up closing mine and keeping the balance?
Long story short, my roughly two hundred dollars stayed in the account. I spent hours being passed from agent to agent — I lost count, maybe five different reps — and ended the conversation asking them not to contact me anymore. My blood pressure was up and I felt sick from the runaround.
So: the product worked reliably for years, and the website access saved me at one point, which I appreciate. But the recent handling of security, the communication, and the fact they held funds while demanding new ID made the whole experience very poor. Not perfect anymore, sadly. I expected better from a company I trusted and promoted.

If you need a reliable payment method, KOHO is not it. KOHO prepaid cards often get declined or fail when you need them most.



KOHO may look like a nice online prepaid card, but based on my experience and dozens of other reviews online, it has serious service, access and support problems that will cost you time and money. Users (myself included) have been locked out of accounts without explanation, experienced long or nonexistent responses from support, frozen funds, unresolved disputes, lost refunds, and trouble accessing help, especially if you can’t use the app to chat.
Myself and many other customers repeatedly had to submit personal information and ID with no clear explanation of why or how it was processed, despite KOHO keeping this information on file. This raising serious privacy concerns.




KOHO is not a bank... they are a Payment Service Provider (PSP). While they are registered under Canadian regulatory frameworks, they are not subject to the same consumer complaint protections or dispute resolution bodies as traditional banks and there is limited direct oversight focused on individual customer disputes.

That means dispute organizations such as OBSI (ombudsman) will not be able to help you.




Another issue is that KOHO does not appear to have a dedicated complaint escalation department. Regular customer service agents handle complex disputes, with poor results. 
It’s not accredited with external dispute bodies like OBSI and just by reading the reviews, you’ll see a clear pattern of unresolved billing and access issues, refunds held for months and customer service that often fails to help. 



This means there are few avenues for real help when something goes wrong.

If you value reliable access to your money and effective complaint escalation pathways, reconsider before signing up.
It’s not worth the risk, lost time, poor customer service, money and peace of mind trying to resolve basic issues. 



There are better banks and providers with stronger protections and customer support.

My account got shut down by the company out of nowhere, no reasons given. It's just not right to treat customers like that, eh.

My mom tried sending money through the app, but it got rejected 'cause she went over some limit. They said to split the cash, but didn't say why there's a limit in the first place. The app kept kicking my mom out even after she changed her password. Customer service wouldn't even talk to her on a Saturday, have to wait 'til Monday. First time using this app and we're not happy. Shutting this down right away!

I decided to give Koho a try after a friend told me about it. I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised by all the perks it offers. Getting cash back on groceries and gas purchases without a monthly fee is a real game-changer for me. I haven't had any issues with the platform so far, and I like that they listen to feedback from users and keep improving their features. One of my favorite things is being able to lock both my virtual and physical cards for added security and peace of mind. It's good to know my card info is safe from unauthorized use. Overall, I definitely recommend Koho to anyone looking to save more and keep their money secure.

My experience with Koho was all good until they decided to switch up their plan tiers. These changes basically made my current tier less valuable, so now I feel like I'm not getting as much bang for my buck. If I want to keep the same perks, I'd have to fork out double for the next tier. It feels like they're trying to force customers to upgrade by cutting back on the lower tier benefits, and that's just not right, you know?

I used to always tell my friends how great this company was, but now I can't do that. They decided to lower the cash-back rates on their packages and it really made their deals not as good. I enjoyed being able to get rewards for my everyday purchases, but now it's just not worth it. I think they really disappointed their loyal customers.

I tried to make an account but it keeps saying my email confirmation is expired even though I just got it. I can't find customer service to help me, they tell me to go to chat/support but I can't find it anywhere. It's really frustrating to set up and I can't get any help.

I was really looking forward to using the travel cash back feature on my card, but I was let down when I realized that I could only use my Canadian phone number for verification. This would mean I'd have to pay a lot of extra money to my phone company whenever I wanted to check my account while I'm on a trip. Other banks and services have better ways to verify like email or Whatsapp, which would make it easier for travelers like me to access their accounts without paying more. It's too bad that Koho didn't think about how this could help people who travel a lot. I'd give this feature a two-star rating overall.

I recently used my card while traveling from Canada to the USA, and I was really upset with the fraudulent activity I ran into. I saw some weird charges on my account, so I told the company right away. Even though I locked my card, I kept seeing transactions from those same fraudulent places getting denied, which meant they were still trying to use my cancelled card. Even after getting a new card number, I found out that a fraudulent seller had gotten access again, making me think that maybe the company let it happen. Because of their carelessness, I decided to close my account because I was scared of losing more money. Trust is so important with financial stuff, and unfortunately, Koho didn't keep up their end of the deal in my case.

I gotta tell ya about my experience with this company, eh. First off, their interest payment system is a total joke, I still haven't got the interest I'm supposed to and it's like it just vanished into thin air, eh. It's so frustrating and just not right, eh. And to top it off, their credit building service is a total scam, don't believe their lies and shady ways, eh.

I had a really bad experience with this company, they just up and suspended my account for no good reason. Their customer service was just terrible, they couldn't even explain why they did it. They sent me a message on their app saying they were looking into it, but I was left totally clueless. It felt like they were unfairly keeping me from my own money. Honestly, nothing about dealing with this company was good at all.

Stay away from this website, eh? It's full of scammers who just want to take your money. And once they got it, you're stuck with no help in sight. Customer service? Forget about it. Especially this one lady, Edna - she's useless. Save yourself and steer clear of this site if you care about staying safe and secure.

I just found out that someone made a fake transaction on my account, so I contacted the company for help. But they said I might have to wait 90 days for it to get resolved. And now it's taking even longer. I'm really frustrated with how slow and uncommunicative the company has been.

I've been having a tough time trying to access my account with this company. Even though I've sent in all the documents they asked for several times, I still can't get into my account. It's causing me a lot of financial stress. I've tried reaching out to customer service, but they haven't been helpful at all. They're not responding to my requests for help or letting me speak to a manager. The lack of communication and support from this company has really hurt my finances, and now I'm facing eviction and homelessness. I just want to warn others to think twice before opening an account with this company.

Stay away from this company. I made the mistake of opening an account and moving money on April 7th, only to regret it soon after. After reading lots of bad reviews, I realized I didn't want anything to do with this company. I spent over an hour trying to close my account, talking to a customer service rep named Valentina. Every 10 minutes, Valentina had a new excuse for why she couldn't close my account right away. I wasted a lot of time and ended up losing my money. Don't bother with this company, just stay away.

The app totally locked me out of my account 'cause it forgot my password and won't take the new one. I've tried a bunch of times to reset it, but it's not working. I contacted customer service through the web chat, and all they said was to wait 24 hours and try again - not helpful at all. It's so frustrating not being able to access my own money. It's just not right.

As a customer, it's important to me to be able to get help quickly and easily when I need it. But I gotta say, it was kinda frustrating to keep getting automated responses and preset questions when I was trying to talk to a real person about my card issue. I felt like nobody was really getting what I was saying, and all I wanted was to chat with someone who knew what they were talking about and could help me out. These days, technology is a big part of customer service, but companies need to find a balance between automation and actually talking to people to make sure customers have a good experience.

This place is terrible. The folks on chat are like chatting with a robot that only knows some key words. They don't even get the issue! I had to chat with them twice lately and it was a total mess both times. My app got blocked and the person just kept saying to update it - like obviously, I already tried that! And then my car payment took forever to process and they didn't even understand what I was trying to say. It's so frustrating!

I am so frustrated with the service I got from this company. Suddenly, they closed my account without telling me why. When I tried to reach customer service, all I got were robot replies saying to contact my government official. Not only did they close my account for no reason, but $2600.00 of my money is gone too. The lack of communication and honesty is just terrible. It feels like straight-up fraud and robbery.