GoHenry has built a loyal following among UK parents who want their kids to spend and save with a real card, under proper controls, rather than handling loose cash. A GoHenry referral is one of the more generous family-finance referral schemes around: refer a friend who genuinely needs a kids' card anyway, and you're both quids in once their account is up and running.
This guide sets out exactly what the current GoHenry referral scheme pays, how the reward actually gets triggered, and what to check before you rely on it, since the amount and timing have changed more than once over the years.
Current verified offer: refer a friend to GoHenry and you get £30 added to your parent account, while your friend gets £10 added to theirs. There's no fixed promo code to type in — you share your personal referral link from inside the GoHenry app (Account > Refer a friend), or use the general sign-up page at gohenry.com/uk/referrals. To qualify, your friend must open a new GoHenry parent account, load at least £30 and activate at least one child's card, then keep the account active for 60 days. The reward is credited to both parent accounts within 7 working days after that 60-day period. Only genuine new UK residents aged 18+, who don't live at the same address as the referrer, qualify as the referred friend, and referrers are capped at 10 rewards per calendar year.
GoHenry referral at a glance
| Detail | What applies |
|---|---|
| Referrer reward | £30 to your GoHenry parent account |
| Referee reward | £10 to your friend's new GoHenry parent account |
| How to refer | Share your personal link from Account > Refer a friend in the app |
| Qualifying action | New account opened, £30+ loaded, at least one child card activated |
| Waiting period | Account must stay active for 60 days |
| Payment timing | Within 7 working days after the 60-day period ends |
| Referral cap | Maximum 10 rewarded referrals per referrer, per calendar year |
| Who can be referred | New, genuine UK residents aged 18+, not living at the referrer's address |
How the GoHenry referral works, step by step
- Log in to your GoHenry parent app, tap Account, scroll down and tap "Refer a friend" to get your personal referral link.
- Send that link to a friend who doesn't already have a GoHenry account and lives at a different address to you.
- Your friend opens a new GoHenry parent account using the link, loads at least £30 onto it, and activates at least one child's card.
- Their account then needs to stay active for 60 days from that activation.
- Once the 60 days are up, GoHenry credits £30 to your parent account and £10 to your friend's, usually within 7 working days.
Because the reward only appears after a two-month active window rather than instantly, it's worth telling whoever you refer that the money isn't going to land the same week they sign up — patience is part of the deal here.
What GoHenry actually is
GoHenry is a prepaid debit card and companion app aimed at children aged 6 to 18, designed to let kids handle real money under a parent's supervision rather than cash that's harder to track. Parents load funds onto the card from the app, set spending limits, block or allow categories of merchant, and get an instant notification every time the card is used. Children get their own named card plus access to Task Master, a chore and allowance tracker, and Money Missions, a set of in-app lessons on saving and budgeting.
The company has been operating since 2012 and now serves customers in both the UK and US. GoHenry Ltd is an electronic money institution authorised and regulated in the UK, meaning customer balances are safeguarded separately from the company's own funds. It also offers a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, run in partnership with Vanguard, for parents who want to start investing on a child's behalf inside the same app.
Pricing and plans
GoHenry runs on a monthly subscription rather than being free to hold. The Everyday plan costs £3.99 a month and covers the core card, app, spending controls and savings pots. Plus, at £5.99 a month, adds extra financial education content and more customisation for chores and rewards. Max, at £9.99 a month, adds further perks such as broader family sharing and priority support. The referral reward is paid on top of whatever plan a family chooses; it doesn't change the subscription cost.
Eligibility and the small print
To refer someone, you need to be an existing GoHenry customer with an active account, defined by GoHenry as one with at least £30 loaded and at least one child card activated. Only one referral per household is counted, and the friend you refer must be a genuine new customer aged 18 or over who is UK resident and does not live at your address — you can't refer a partner or housemate. Referrers are capped at 10 rewarded referrals per calendar year; if more than 10 qualify on the same day, GoHenry selects 10 at random to pay out. If a referred friend closes their account within a month of receiving the reward, GoHenry does not claw the money back, but the offer can be varied or withdrawn at any time without notice, so it's worth checking the live terms before assuming the numbers above still apply months from now.
Tip: because the reward depends on the referred account staying active for 60 days, check in with your friend around the two-month mark rather than assuming the money will simply appear once they've ordered the card.
Why families use GoHenry
Parents who stick with GoHenry tend to cite the granularity of the controls: you can allow spending at a specific type of shop while blocking others, set a weekly allowance that tops itself up automatically, and see every transaction the moment it happens rather than waiting for a monthly statement. For households with more than one child, running several cards from a single parent app, each with its own limits and chores, cuts down on the admin of managing separate bank arrangements. The referral reward is a useful bonus on the side, but it's this day-to-day usefulness that keeps most subscribers paying the monthly fee.
Honest pros and cons
- Pro: a genuinely useful tool for teaching kids financial responsibility, with granular spending controls and instant alerts.
- Pro: the referral reward is real cash, not points or vouchers, and is paid to both sides.
- Pro: regulated e-money status means customer funds are safeguarded.
- Con: every plan carries a monthly subscription fee, so it isn't free to run long-term.
- Con: the reward only pays out after a 60-day active period, so it's not a quick win.
- Con: referrers are capped at 10 rewards a year, which limits how much can be earned by sharing widely.
Tips to make the reward land
Make sure your friend actually loads at least £30 and activates a child's card — simply registering a parent account isn't enough to start the 60-day clock. Use the link generated from inside your own app rather than an old link found on a forum or blog, since GoHenry updates these terms periodically and outdated links or amounts can cause confusion. If you're being referred and already know someone with a GoHenry account, ask them to send their in-app link directly rather than searching for a generic promo code, since the current scheme runs on personal referral links rather than a single shared code.
Alternatives worth comparing
GoHenry isn't the only kids' card on the UK market. Nimbl and RoosterMoney offer similar prepaid card and app combinations, often at a slightly lower monthly cost but with fewer financial education features. Starling Bank's Kite card links to a full bank account rather than a standalone e-money product, which some parents find simpler for older teenagers. Revolut's under-18 accounts are worth a look if the family already banks with Revolut, since a child's card can be added inside the existing parent app. None of the alternatives currently combine chores, missions and a junior investing account quite the way GoHenry does, which is a large part of why it remains a popular default choice despite the subscription fee.
Verdict
The GoHenry referral scheme is worth using if you already know a parent who's likely to sign up regardless — £30 for you and £10 for them is a solid outcome for sharing a link, provided both of you are prepared to wait out the 60-day qualifying period. It shouldn't be the sole reason to join, though: the ongoing monthly fee means GoHenry only makes sense if the family will actually use the spending controls, chores tracker and financial education tools day to day. Treat the referral cash as a bonus on top of a product decision, not the deciding factor itself.
A quick real-world example
Consider two parents at the school gate. One has used GoHenry for a year, running weekly chores through Task Master and letting an eight-year-old save toward a bike using the app's saving pots. The other still hands over coins each week and loses track of what's been spent. When the first parent shares their referral link, the second isn't just picking up £10 — they're adopting a system that's already been tested in a similar household, with the referral reward simply nudging the decision along. That's the realistic value of a GoHenry referral: a modest cash incentive attached to a product plenty of families end up keeping regardless.
Comparing the referral to GoHenry's own sign-up offers
GoHenry occasionally runs separate promotional codes alongside the standard referral scheme, such as seasonal back-to-school discounts offering a free trial month rather than cash. These promo codes are aimed at brand-new customers finding GoHenry through marketing rather than a personal recommendation, and the two types of offer are not always designed to be combined. If you are weighing up whether to wait for a seasonal promo code or simply accept a friend's referral link, the referral route has the advantage of being a fixed, published scheme rather than a limited-time campaign that can end without warning.
