Draft — not yet reviewed by counsel
This document is a working draft prepared to describe how the service actually operates. It has not been reviewed or approved by a qualified legal practitioner, it is not yet in force, and it should not be relied on. Sections marked [FOR COUNSEL] are deliberately unwritten.
Legal · Appia Gateway
Merchant terms of service
These terms would govern a business's use of Appia Gateway. AppiaPay wallet users are covered by separate terms.
1. Who we are
Appiawave (RC 1787250), 16B Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria ("Appiawave", "we"). Appiawave operates in partnership with licensed financial institutions. Bank rails are provided by Providus Bank and Globus Bank. Card funding is handled by licensed processors. Appiawave does not represent that it holds a licence in its own name.
2. The service
Appia Gateway is an API-only collections service. On request we issue a dedicated virtual account number against a stated expected amount, attribute inbound transfers to that charge, notify you by signed webhook, and credit your Appia naira wallet. There is no hosted checkout page, no drop-in widget and no client SDK; you render your own checkout.
3. Onboarding and access
Access is granted by us following onboarding, which requires a valid CAC registration. There is no self-serve signup. We issue one active secret key per merchant; generating a new key invalidates the previous one immediately. You are responsible for keeping that key secret and for all activity conducted with it.
We may decline, suspend or withdraw access. [FOR COUNSEL] — grounds, notice periods and appeal rights.
4. Fees
Collections are charged at 1.5% of the amount received, subject to a minimum of ₦200 and a maximum of ₦1,500 per collection. Where an overpayment is received, the fee is recomputed on the larger figure. Payout transfers to a bank beneficiary are charged ₦55 each; payouts to an Appia wallet beneficiary are not charged. There is no monthly fee and no setup fee.
Fees are debited as a separate ledger entry against your wallet. [FOR COUNSEL] — notice period for fee changes.
5. Settlement
Collected funds credit your Appia naira wallet and are spendable immediately. Where a split arrangement is attached, beneficiaries are paid at 09:00 WAT on the following Nigerian day, or on demand where you trigger a payout. Merchants without a split configuration are not paid out; collections accumulate as wallet balance.
We query the receiving bank for each payout's status and retry confirmed failures through the business day. Transfers unresolved by the end of the Nigerian day are refunded to your wallet, including the transfer fee.
6. Amount handling
Where the amount received exactly matches or exceeds the expected amount, the collection settles and you are credited the full amount received. Where less than the expected amount is received, the funds are returned to the sender and you are not credited. A charge whose window has lapsed will still settle if payment arrives late. Payments that cannot be attributed are held in a suspense queue for manual resolution.
7. Your obligations
You are responsible for the accuracy of the order references and beneficiary details you submit, for verifying webhook signatures before acting on them, and for de-duplicating deliveries on the delivery identifier. Beneficiary account names are resolved against the receiving bank before a beneficiary may receive funds; you remain responsible for confirming that the resolved name is the party you intend to pay.
[FOR COUNSEL] — prohibited use categories, AML/KYC obligations, sanctions screening, record-keeping duties.
8. Disputes on transfers
A transfer initiated by a payer is not subject to the card-scheme chargeback process. Disputes between you and your customer regarding goods or services are between you and your customer. [FOR COUNSEL] — our role, if any, in recall requests initiated through the banking system.
9. Availability
We do not currently offer a contractual service level. Rate limits apply at 100 requests per 60 seconds per merchant. [FOR COUNSEL] — availability commitments, maintenance windows, and remedies.
10. Liability, indemnity, termination, governing law
[FOR COUNSEL] — this section is deliberately unwritten. Limitation of liability, indemnities, termination rights and the consequences of termination, governing law and dispute resolution all require drafting by a qualified practitioner and should not be adapted from a template.
11. Changes
[FOR COUNSEL] — how changes are notified and when they take effect.
12. Contact
info@appiawave.co.za