Terms of Service

1. Who We Are and What We Do

PAYHIIVE operates two related services:

• Merchant Payment Platform: a payment aggregation service that lets businesses collect mobile money payments (including MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money), receive payouts, generate shareable payment links, and integrate payment collection directly into their own websites or apps via our API.
• Remittance Service: a service that lets anyone — without creating an account — pay by card in USD or EUR and have the equivalent amount delivered directly into a recipient's MTN or Airtel Money wallet in Uganda. Neither the sender nor the recipient needs a PAYHIIVE account to use this service.

We are a technology platform that connects merchants and individuals to underlying mobile money networks and payment processors. We are not a bank, and funds are not held by us as deposits.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By registering for a merchant account, generating or using an API token, or initiating a remittance, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and any policies referenced in them. If you do not agree, do not use our services.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement to use our services. If you are using PAYHIIVE on behalf of a business, you confirm that you have the authority to bind that business to these Terms.

4. Merchant Accounts

To collect payments, receive payouts, or access the API, you must register for a merchant account and provide accurate, current, and complete information about yourself and your business. You are responsible for:

• Keeping your account credentials, API keys, and secret tokens confidential and secure
• All activity that occurs through your account or API keys, whether authorized by you or not
• Notifying us immediately at support@payhiive.com if you suspect unauthorized access to your account or a compromised API key
• Ensuring any information you collect from your own customers (phone numbers, payment details) is collected and used lawfully

We may require identity or business verification (know-your-customer / know-your-business checks) before enabling live payment processing or payouts, and may request updated documentation at any time.

5. Sending a Remittance

Our remittance service allows a sender to pay by card and have funds delivered to a recipient's mobile money wallet in Uganda. When using this service, you agree that:

• You are responsible for entering the correct recipient phone number, mobile money network, and amount. We are not able to reverse a transfer that was correctly delivered to a recipient identifier you provided in error.
• Delivery to the recipient's mobile money wallet is typically fast but is not guaranteed to complete instantly, and may be delayed by the recipient's mobile network operator, card issuer checks, or compliance review.
• If a remittance cannot be delivered after your card has been charged, the amount charged (excluding any card network or processing fees that cannot be recovered from our payment processor) will be refunded to your original payment method.
• The recipient will be notified once funds have landed in their mobile money wallet, by SMS and, where an email address is provided, by email.
• We may delay, hold, or decline a remittance for compliance review, including checks related to anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud prevention, without liability for resulting delay.

6. Fees and Pricing

Fees for merchant transactions, payouts, and remittances are disclosed to you before you confirm a transaction — either in your merchant dashboard or at checkout for remittances. Fees may vary by payment method, country, currency, and transaction size, and may be updated from time to time. Continued use of the service after a fee change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the new fees.

7. Third-Party Payment Processors

We are not responsible for delays, errors, or service interruptions caused by a mobile network operator, card network, banking partner, or payment processor that is outside of our direct control, though we will make reasonable efforts to help resolve such issues on your behalf.

8. Settlement and Payouts (Merchants)

Funds collected on your behalf are settled to you according to the settlement schedule and method shown in your dashboard. We may apply risk-based holds — for example, delaying settlement on unusually large or high-risk transactions, or for new merchant accounts — before releasing funds, and may request additional information before releasing a hold. We reserve the right to withhold, reverse, or offset settlement amounts to cover confirmed fraud, chargebacks, refunds, or amounts owed to us under these Terms.

9. API Access and Developer Responsibilities

If you integrate with our API, you agree to:

• Keep your secret API keys confidential and never expose them in client-side code, public repositories, or shared documents
• Use test/sandbox keys for development and testing, and only switch to live keys for production traffic
• Respect published rate limits and account transaction volume limits
• Not attempt to reverse engineer, probe, or circumvent the security of our API or infrastructure
• Handle webhook callback URLs responsibly — note that a callback URL pointing at a local development address (e.g. localhost) cannot receive webhooks from our servers; see our developer documentation for local testing guidance

We may suspend API access without prior notice if we reasonably believe your integration poses a security, fraud, or compliance risk to us or to other users.

10. Prohibited Uses

You may not use PAYHIIVE to collect payments for, send remittances in connection with, or otherwise facilitate:

• Illegal goods or services under the laws of Uganda or any other applicable jurisdiction
• Money laundering, terrorist financing, or structuring transactions to evade reporting or compliance checks
• Unlicensed gambling, betting, or lottery operations
• Fraudulent schemes, pyramid or Ponzi schemes, or misrepresentation of goods and services to customers
• Weapons, controlled substances, or counterfeit goods
• Any activity that violates the terms of our underlying payment processors or mobile network partners

We may suspend or terminate access, freeze pending settlement, and report activity to relevant authorities where we reasonably suspect a violation of this section.

11. Chargebacks, Disputes, and Refunds

Merchants are responsible for resolving disputes with their own customers and providing any information we reasonably request to investigate a dispute or chargeback. We may deduct disputed amounts, associated fees, and any chargeback penalties from your account balance or future settlements. Repeated or excessive disputes may result in additional review, reserve requirements, or suspension of your account.

12. Data and Privacy

13. Intellectual Property

All software, branding, documentation, and content provided as part of PAYHIIVE remain our property or that of our licensors. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use our platform and API solely to operate your account and integrate with our services as intended. You may not copy, resell, sublicense, or reverse engineer any part of the platform outside of this license.

14. Disclaimers

Our services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We do not guarantee that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available at all times, and we are not liable for delays or failures caused by mobile network operators, card networks, banking partners, internet service providers, or events outside our reasonable control.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, PAYHIIVE and its officers, employees, and partners will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the service. Our total liability for any claim arising from a specific transaction is limited to the amount of fees we earned from that transaction, or the transaction amount itself where a transfer was not delivered due to our error.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold PAYHIIVE harmless from any claims, losses, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the platform, or your violation of applicable law.

17. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account, API access, or ability to send remittances at any time if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, pose a fraud or compliance risk, or if required to do so by a payment processor, mobile network partner, or regulator. You may close your merchant account at any time by contacting support, subject to settlement of any outstanding transactions or obligations.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to our services, fees, or legal requirements. We will update the "Last Updated" date below when changes are made. Continued use of PAYHIIVE after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Uganda, without regard to its conflict of law principles, unless otherwise required by mandatory local law applicable to your use of the service.