KOHO's Essential plan is free — $0/month with no minimum balance, no transaction fees, and no fee to receive e-Transfers. It earns 0.5% cashback on purchases and 0.5% interest on savings. Paid plans (Extra at $4/month, Everything at $9/month, Premium at $19/month) unlock higher savings interest, higher cashback, and additional features including credit building and, on Premium, no foreign exchange fee.

Does KOHO charge a foreign transaction fee?

Yes, on all plans except Premium. The Essential, Extra, and Everything plans charge a 1.5% foreign currency conversion fee on all foreign-currency purchases and ATM withdrawals. The Premium plan ($19/month) charges 0% — no FX fee. For frequent travellers or those who shop in foreign currencies online, the 0% FX fee of KOHO Premium or the EQ Bank Card (also 0%) is meaningfully cheaper than the 1.5–2.5% charged by most Canadian bank cards.

Does KOHO have NSF fees?

KOHO uses a prepaid model — you cannot spend more than the balance loaded on your card. Transactions that would exceed your balance are declined rather than approved. This means there are no NSF fees and no overdraft charges, because the account cannot go negative. The trade-off is that pre-authorised payments (subscriptions, bills) that exceed your balance at the time of processing will also decline rather than be paid — which can cause subscription cancellations or service interruptions.

Does KOHO charge for e-Transfers?

KOHO includes free incoming Interac e-Transfers on all plans. Outgoing e-Transfers are free on Extra, Everything, and Premium plans. On the free Essential plan, outgoing e-Transfers may require using the standard (non-instant) method; instant e-Transfer is a paid-plan feature. Check current KOHO terms in the app for the most current policy.

Is KOHO Everything or Premium worth it?

Everything ($9/month, $108/year) is the sweet spot for most users: 1% cashback, 4% savings interest, credit building included, and joint account support. On $10,000 in savings, Everything earns $292 more per year than the free Essential plan — well above the $108 annual cost. Premium ($19/month) adds 2% cashback and 0% FX, worth it if you spend heavily or travel regularly. Calculate your expected savings interest gain and cashback improvement before upgrading.

Can I cancel a KOHO paid plan?

Yes. KOHO plans are monthly subscriptions with no long-term contract. You can downgrade or cancel at any time in the app. When you downgrade, the benefits of the higher plan apply until the end of the current billing period, then revert to the lower plan's features. There are no cancellation fees.

KOHO Fees & Plans 2026 | Full Fee Schedule

KOHO’s fee structure depends on which plan you choose. The free Essential plan has no monthly charge and no transaction fees, but offers minimal savings interest (0.5%) and basic cashback (0.5%). Paid plans unlock higher rates, credit building, joint accounts, and on Premium, a zero FX fee. There are no NSF fees — the prepaid model declines transactions that exceed your balance instead of allowing overdraft.

KOHO Plan Fees

Plan	Monthly Fee	Annual Cost
Essential	$0	$0
Extra	$4	$48
Everything	$9	$108
Premium	$19	$228

Full Feature & Fee Comparison by Plan

Feature	Essential	Extra	Everything	Premium
Monthly fee	$0	$4	$9	$19
Savings interest	0.5%	3.0%	4.0%	5.0%
Cashback (all purchases)	0.5%	0.5%	1%	2%
Partner cashback	Up to 5%	Up to 5%	Up to 10%	Up to 10%
Foreign transaction fee	1.5%	1.5%	1.5%	0%
Instant e-Transfer (outgoing)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit Building	$7/mo add-on	Included	Included	Included
Joint account	No	No	Yes	Yes
Price match guarantee	No	No	No	Yes
ATM cash withdrawals	No	No	No	No
Registered accounts (TFSA/RRSP)	No	No	No	No
NSF fee	None (prepaid)	None	None	None
Overdraft	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available

Savings Interest: Is the Plan Worth It?

Plan	Annual Cost	$5K Earnings	$10K Earnings	Break-even
Essential	$0	$25	$50	—
Extra	$48	$150	$300	~$1,600
Everything	$108	$200	$400	~$6,000
Premium	$228	$250	$500	~$10,400

Break-even is the savings balance at which the plan fee is fully covered by the extra interest earned versus the free Essential plan. Extra breaks even at ~$1,600 — a low bar for most users. Everything’s $6,000 break-even is reachable for many Canadians maintaining an emergency fund or short-term savings. Premium’s $10,400 break-even is higher — users with smaller balances should also account for cashback gains and FX savings when evaluating Premium.

FX Fee: Essential/Extra/Everything vs Premium

On $5,000 in annual foreign-currency spending:

Plan	FX Fee	Annual FX Cost	Annual Saving vs Standard Card
Essential / Extra / Everything	1.5%	$75	$50–$50 (vs 2.5% cards)
Premium	0%	$0	$75–$125 (vs 1.5–2.5% cards)

For travellers spending $5,000+ per year in foreign currencies, Premium’s 0% FX fee saves $75 in FX markup versus the 1.5% on other KOHO plans, and $125 versus a standard 2.5% bank card. This saving alone covers roughly a third of the $228 annual Premium fee on that spending level.

KOHO vs Big Five: Annual Cost Comparison

Account	Monthly Fee	Annual Fee	Unlimited Transactions	Cashback	Savings Interest
KOHO Essential	$0	$0	Yes	0.5%	0.5%
KOHO Everything	$9	$108	Yes	1%	4.0%
KOHO Premium	$19	$228	Yes	2%	5.0%
RBC Signature No Limit	$16.95	$203	Yes	0%	~0.01%
TD All-Inclusive	$30.95	$371	Yes	0%	~0.01%
CIBC Smart Account	$16.95	$203	Yes	0%	~0.01%

At KOHO Everything ($9/month), you pay $95 less per year than a standard Big Five unlimited plan while earning 1% cashback and 4% savings interest — both of which the Big Five accounts do not provide on spending or on-deposit balances.

NSF Policy: No Fees, But Declines Happen

KOHO uses a strict prepaid model. There is no overdraft, no credit facility, and no NSF fee. If your KOHO balance is insufficient to cover a pre-authorised payment:

The transaction is declined rather than processed
No fee is charged by KOHO
The merchant may retry the payment or cancel the subscription depending on their policy

The practical risk: recurring subscriptions (streaming services, gym memberships, SaaS tools) may fail and result in service interruptions if the KOHO balance is not maintained above the expected monthly total. Keeping a small buffer ($50–$100 above your regular monthly spend) mitigates this.