Add Koho's Easy Plan to HISA chart | Site suggestions | Discussion forum

While Koho Financial, Inc., is not a bank, is privately owned, and has limited customer support options outside of in-app support during and escalated e-mail complaint support, it does nonetheless offer CDIC insurance on balances linked to the prepaid credit card product, currently paying 3% per annum on its no-fee Easy Plan. It includes fee-free Interac e-Transfers and pre-authorized debits and early direct deposits. You can also fund your account via the aforementioned e-Transfer or via linking your external bank accounts.

While CDIC insurance is offered on prepaid credit cards as of 2022, Koho Financial, Inc., is not a bank, but took over issuance and BIN sponsorship of its flagship Koho card from Peoples Trust Company. Nevertheless, it has maintained a back-office relationship with Peoples Trust Company whereby Peoples Trust Company provides the CDIC insurance and custody of customer funds. It's unclear if the PT account number Koho provides you is a shared account number, or a unique account number assigned to every Koho customer. If the former, then it's likely PT provides the CDIC in trust for deposit insurance through a pooled registered cash account (like Wealthsimple Cash Card). If it's the latter, then it's likely that PT provides the in trust for CDIC deposit insurance directly in the name of each named beneficiary.

Either way, though, Koho bears similarity to Wealthsimple Cash in one, unique way, in that, regardless, it still owns the customer relationship and controls its customers' access to the back-office bank, and settles transactions to/from that back-office account at end of business day.

As such, it meets the requirements for inclusion in the HISA chart, but only the Easy Plan as the other plans charge annual fees and pay you 5% per annum.

One other benefit is a full 1% cash back on purchases made with the card, versus 0.5% with EQ Bank Card.

Cheers,
Doug