GoHenry card - cautionary tale - my son spent £4,000 over less than 3 months

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I got my 11 year old a GoHenry card a year or so ago to get him to understand how to earn money by setting him chores which would get remunerated from his account on which I had put some pocket money and how to save. My 11 year old ended up spending just short of GBP4,000 over 3 months on online gaming sites using his GoHenry card. I did not even know this was even possible. They did nothing to alert me. They say on their website that you can set spending limits and get notifications in real time. I did not realise this was happening as auto top up from my account was on and notifications were off. I was not even aware of those functions as they are not well advertised. I was made to think by their own advertising that this card was just a pocket money card, not a debit or credit card. I think the marketing and advertising of this company is misleading. They have refused all responsibility for what has happened as they said that it was up to parents to enable/disable those functions on the app and some kids do spend vast amounts on online gaming and therefore this triggered no alerts on their system. I feel a duty to warn other parents that this is a risk for children who do fall into these gaming website traps that a GoHenry card can easily be misused.

Exactly, it's the same as if the mother gave the kid her VISA credit card and full details, and then complained about VISA when her kid then spends £4000 online.

If you set up the GoHenry child app with the default settings (or even custom settings), this cannot have happened. The only way it could have happened is for the OP to have deliberately given her child access to the parent account, or for the child to have found out how to access it (guessed a password/pin or similar).

No, it's OPs fault for not setting the card up correctly. It's literally designed for parents to control kids spending habits. All the information is there, she chose not to look at it properly. And now she's doubling down on being wrong by behaving like she's been tricked when she isn't even doing the basics of checking regularly how much has been spent.
What's MORE worrying is that OP hasn't been monitoring her child's online activity? How could you possibly not know these conversations/transactions were taking place OP, your child is too young to have unmonitored access!

How come he had £4k on it? Surely the protection is in that it's a pre-pay card so will have very little anyone could get access to if it's nicked and they also can't overspend, you can see exactly what they are spending and where as you both have access to the app (unlike many bank accounts which are managed only by the child) and you can easily stop the card if it gets lost and so on, and can easily transfer money if they are stuck somewhere.

When DDs had nimbl cards they just had their pocket money of £10 a week and that was it!

DD2 (15) now has a Starling Kite which is linked to my Starling current account - and completely free of charge - (but with no direct access to my account for her) and is free. When she gets a part time job she will open a full account.

Surely the problem here is that you didn't watch what he was doing when you were able to, didn't use any of the built in control systems and gave him access to a ton of money?

I also know that when E wanted to buy V-Bucks on her nimbl she couldn't as in game purchases was something they blocked.

Also how would you not know what was going on with your own accounts? I get pop up notifications at the very least and requests for approval of payments all the time and it's so easy to keep an eye on accounts on your phone.

WOW!

100% NOT your sons fault

You woodenhead.

It may have been the dc changing settings
At 2 dc1 knew my phone unlock code (she didnt use the phone)
At 6 she set herself up on facebook (it emailed me something!)
At 11 she changed her new 1st phone settings to change the time it locks.
At 8 she avoided the kindle locks by changing to a new user.

If you bank with Nat West you can have a rooster debit card for a child

All the comments are 100%, my daughter had a GoHenry Card and the "default settings" on the app mean the kid would not of been able to access £4000. The only way it could happen is if OP has changed all the settings, the parent app was given to the child or the child has "hacked the account", memorised passwords etc.

The whole purpose of these cards is to control spending. GoHenry are not to blame for lack of parental care and responsibility.

Did you change the default settings on purpose?

This makes no sense. My 11 yo also had his go henry linked to his fortnite. He could only use if he had enough money in his account. It notified me on the app whenever he spent anything. Once he ran out of money I had to go on my parent app and transfer him money from my parent account (which had automatic top ups.) no automatic top ups go straight into a child’s account. Also I’m pretty sure there’s a spending cap so how is this even possible?

That must be really annoying for you but i do think your dd has a promising career ahead as an IT whizz!

I never got the point of a Go Henry card that you have to pay for.

My DC just had a mini kids account at a normal high street bank with a normal debit card which had limits on it

When DD was £2.50 overdrawn they blocked her account and sent her a letter

After doing that a couple more times she soon got the message and manages her money really well now as a teenager

So much so she has a part time job which makes her think twice about spending money on absolute crap because she's earnt it herself

Same, my DC all got a debit card age 11. If there ms no money in the account, they can't buy anything, end of.
No way I was paying a fee for Go Henry.

I opened a bank account for DD1 aged 11, but the debit card was not contactless (annoying for buses, buying train tickets and various other things) and I couldn't see or jointly manage the account. With Nimbl I could send her money so quickly and everything she was spending it on, lock the card quickly if it was lost, and decide any spending controls. Now DD2 has Starling Kite which is free and when she gets a pt job she will get a full account.

I cannot fathom how you think this anyone else’s fault but your own.

£4000 over 3 months is approx. £44 per day!!

On extra credits in games?!

That's barmy!

On Go Henry's front page.....
"Is there a limit to how much my child can spend on their card?GoHenry has a default spend limit of £60 per week and £30 per single spend, but you can set your own limits when you activate your child’s card. Limits can be changed anytime in your parent app, up to a maximum daily spend limit of £4,000."

I think the OP might have got the message now - and ain't coming back.

Which makes me wonder if an 11 year old on half term has started this thread for a bit of a laugh...

They certainly got lots of people frothing over.

Interesting though, as on one memorable occasion a while back, I'd got my 9 year DD a Kindle for Christmas, and she managed to buy £130 worth of books in around 24 hours!! I do check accounts/cards regularly, so luckily spotted it before too long. Amazon were very good about it, and returned all the money.

But again that was because you didn’t set it up right.

It sounds like your son must have had access to your parent account and been making regular transfers to his card from your parent balance.

Whilst parent balance auto-tops up if it falls below whatever you set up; it wouldn't automatically go to your son.

Yes, loads of posters have already told her. In February.

I was just coming to say it’s around £43 a day.

How the fuck do you not miss £43 a day?

You didn't notice £4k over 3 months coming out of your account and you hadn't adequately checked the settings you'd enabled as most people do... this is on you not GoHenry.

This thread is from February.