Overview
- Barclays announced on Monday that it will acquire GoHenry from Acorns, with press reports putting the price at about £180 million and a regulatory-closing expected in Q4 2026.
- The bank says GoHenry will remain a separate brand and app so it can keep its child-focused features such as prepaid cards, parental controls and in‑app money lessons.
- GoHenry serves more than 500,000 active UK child users and has helped over 2 million people since 2012, but it reported a £21.9m loss in 2024 and has not yet reached profitability.
- Barclays said the deal will reduce its core capital ratio by roughly five basis points and will not change its financial guidance or targets for 2026 or 2028.
- Acorns will retain its US business and Pixpay, and the sale reshapes competition in the UK youth-banking market where Revolut, Starling, Monzo and NatWest already offer youth products and schools will introduce compulsory financial education from 2028.