Terms of service

These terms govern your use of WhileSmart Pay as a merchant. By creating an account or integrating with our API, you agree to them.

Who can use the service

You must be at least eighteen years old and legally able to enter into contracts. If you're signing up for a company, you must be authorized to bind that company. We reserve the right to decline or suspend accounts that don't pass our verification checks or operate in prohibited business categories.

WhileSmart Pay is a service for merchants. You may use it to collect payment for goods and services you supply, whether you trade as a registered company or on your own account as an individual. It is not a way to send or receive money personally, and we don't support person-to-person transfers, collections between friends or family, or any collection where nothing is being supplied to the payer.

Registered organizations such as schools, churches, and associations may be approved to collect donations, dues, or fees. That approval is granted by our compliance team after review, and is not available to individuals collecting on their own behalf or to informal groups. See our acceptable use policy for what this covers in practice.

We may close or suspend an account collecting outside this scope, and return the funds it has collected to the people who paid them.

Fees and payouts

Processing fees are set out on the pricing page or in your custom agreement if you have one. We deduct fees before settling funds to your payout accounts. Our payout calculator shows what a given amount is worth after fees and conversion.

Funds you collect are held for up to seven days before you can withdraw them, and accounts that have not completed identity verification cannot withdraw at all. The period that applies to your account is set after review by our compliance team, and we may release funds sooner. Our payouts and holding period policy explains how it works and how to shorten it.

Once a payout is released, timing depends on the rail and the destination bank. Local rails typically settle within minutes.

Your responsibilities

• Keep your API keys and webhook secrets confidential. Treat them like production credentials.
• Only charge customers for goods or services you actually deliver. Refunds, chargebacks, and disputes are your responsibility.
• Follow applicable laws, including KYC, AML, tax, and data protection rules for your jurisdiction.
• Don't use the service for prohibited activities (gambling without a license, fraud, adult content without our written consent, other categories restricted by card networks or mobile money operators).

Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these terms, suspected fraud, or regulatory reasons. Funds held at the time of suspension are returned once investigations are complete, subject to network and regulator holds.

Service availability

We target 99.98% uptime on a 90-day rolling basis. Scheduled maintenance is announced in advance. We are not liable for downstream outages caused by a partner bank, card network, or mobile money operator, though we will communicate and do our best to route around them.

Liability

Our total liability for any claim arising from your use of the service is limited to the fees you paid us in the three months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages.

Changes

We may update these terms. Material changes are announced at least thirty days before they take effect. Continuing to use the service after the effective date means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms: legal@whilesmart.com.