Koho (fintech)

Koho Financial Inc. (styled as KOHO) is a Canadian fintech company based in Toronto. While it is not a bank, the company is considered a neobank and provides banking services via Koho Financial Inc. pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated.

History

Koho was founded in 2014 in Vancouver. In January 2015, the platform was launched, offering its services through its beta mobile app. The company partnered with Peoples Trust and Mastercard for its banking services with the company providing all of the APIs and User Interfaces.

Originally, funds deposited into a Koho card were not insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), and would be returned to account holders by Peoples Trust in the event Koho fails. (As of 2024, Koho accounts are CDIC insured up to $100,000 per account.)

Later in 2017, Koho moved its headquarters to Toronto, after again receiving investment from Portag3 Ventures.

In 2019, Koho was able to secure $25 million in second-round funding after successful growth and accumulating 120,000 accounts in Canada. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Koho partnered with the CRA to allow their users to receive their emergency funds directly into their Koho accounts.

On August 19, 2020, Koho partnered with Manzil to launch the very first Halal Prepaid Mastercard program in Canada.

In 2024, Koho paired with Canada Post to allow its customers to make cash deposits into their Koho accounts via the post office. A few months later, in November 2024, Canada Post confirmed that it had partnered with Koho to bring back postal banking, by offering chequing and savings accounts. Initially Canada Post employees will be given early access to test the functionality of the accounts offered; with Canada-wide public access planned for 2025.