ChitChat Wallet Terms and Conditions

Effective Date: 30th September 2024

The purpose of these terms and conditions (which we refer to from now on as the Terms) is to explain the legal relationship between you and ChitChat and our rights and obligations in connection with your use of the ChitChat Wallet. Please read these Terms carefully because you are required to accept them before you can use the payment services we offer through the ChitChat Wallet (the Services).

1. What is the ChitChat Wallet?

• ChitChat’s messaging app features an integrated wallet, enabling its users to add funds and send funds to, and receive funds from, other ChitChat users and bank accounts, cash agents and mobile wallets internationally.
• ChitChat is provided by Union Fiftyfour Limited, a company registered with Zambia’s Patents and Companies Registration Agency under company number 120170000396 and regulated as a payments system business by the Bank of Zambia.
• Access to the ChitChat Wallet is provided free of charge. A fee is charged per transaction, as explained in paragraph 8.
• We also offer a ChitChat premium account which includes access to the ChitChat virtual debit card together with other services from time to time. The ChitChat virtual debit card is issued under licence from Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd. This is a subscription service which you can apply for here, subject to accepting these additional terms and conditions.

2. Financial regulatory supervision

• Union Fiftyfour Limited is licensed by the Bank of Zambia to offer financial services to non-Zambian customers as an offshore product. It is a condition of using the ChitChat Wallet that you agree to your funds being held in trust accounts safeguarded in Zambia subject to Bank of Zambia directives and guidelines. The Bank of Zambia does not offer deposit protection on e-money but does require customer funds to be held in safeguarded Trust Accounts.
• Financial services regulations in other jurisdictions may prevent or restrict us from offering the Services to persons resident or located in those jurisdictions.

3. Who can apply for a ChitChat Wallet?

• You need to be at least 18 years old to apply for a wallet. Wallets are for personal use only and may not be used for commercial purposes.
• The Services are available only in those countries where we are legally able to offer them. This means that residents of those countries listed here  which restrict our ability to provide the Services will be unable to apply for a wallet. This list may be updated from time to time.

4. How do I create a ChitChat Wallet?

• You can apply for a ChitChat wallet though this link. Before we open your account, we will need to confirm your identity, which we will do via a third party ID verification platform. You shall be asked to submit personal data, photographs of your passport and/or other proof of identification together with a selfie photograph.
• The personal data which you provide in this process will be subject to the privacy policy of the third party ID verification platform and will not be disclosed to us except where required by law or regulation, including, but not limited to, compliance with anti money-laundering laws or international sanctions.

5. How do I add funds to my wallet?

• Funds may be added to your wallet only from an existing debit card. The maximum balance which you may hold in your wallet at any time is US$5,000.
• Funds may only be stored in your wallet in US dollars. If you transfer funds using a debit card in a different currency, the acquiring bank’s payment gateway will convert the funds into US dollars using the bank’s spot conversion rate published on the date of conversion. We are not responsible for setting the conversion rate or the amount of any fees which your bank may charge for such transactions.

6. Making transfers

• You must ensure that you have sufficient funds in your wallet to complete any transfer you wish to make, including any bank fees payable. ChitChat will not provide any form of overdraft facility.
• You can make transfers from your wallet:
  • to other ChitChat users in US dollars;
  • to mobile wallets in Zambia whereby the wallet holder shall receive Zambian Kwacha, converted at the rate shown in the ChitChat App at the time of making the transfer and which you will be deemed to have accepted by proceeding with the transaction; and
  • via ChitChat’s Remittance Product to bank accounts, cash agents and mobile wallets in these countries.
• We may refuse to make a payment, or reject an incoming payment if:
  • it breaches our legal or regulatory obligations; or
  • We reasonably suspect that the payment is made for the purpose of fraud or any other criminal activity.
• Your access to and use of the Services is subject to our Anti Money Laundering Policy.

7. How long do payments take?

• Transfers to other ChitChat users through Mobile Money are processed instantly (subject to network coverage) and if they are not successful for any reason the funds will return straight away to your ChitChat wallet.
• Transfers to bank accounts and other cash payments are processed instantly (subject to acceptance) by the receiving banks in accordance with their own policies. They may hold the payment for 24 hours in order to complete their checks before they release the funds to the relevant account.

8. Fees and charges

• A fee will be charged in respect of each transfer you make from your wallet and will be deducted from the funds you transfer.
• Details of the fees we charge for transfers are available here.
• We may make changes to our fees from time to time as a result of:
  • law, regulation or industry codes;
  • improvements to the Services and/ or the expansion of Services to additional countries;
  • increases in the costs of operating our business, including as a result of inflation; or
  • additional or increased fees charged by the banking or financial services system.
• We shall notify you of any increase to our fees before such change is introduced.

9. Privacy Policy and Personal Data

• Data protection laws require us to provide you with certain information including who we are, how we process your personal data and for what purposes and your rights in relation to your personal data and how to exercise them. You can find this information in our Privacy Notice. Please read this notice carefully to ensure that you understand how and for what purposes we can use your personal data.
• ChitChat’s services are international and this means that we may need to transfer and store your data in data centres outside your own country. Our privacy policy provides more information about international transfers.

10. Your responsibilities

• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login details and your transactions using the ChitChat Wallet. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that your electronic devices are secure from any type of malware, such as viruses, scams, spam, phishing, and other forms of cyber threats. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • installing and maintaining up-to-date antivirus software;
  • avoiding unsafe networks such as public Wi-Fi networks for making transactions in or accessing your wallet;
  • protecting your login details from unauthorised access; and
  • changing your passwords regularly, using strong, hard-to-guess passwords;
• Your ChitChat Wallet is for your personal use only. Account sharing or sharing of account credentials is strictly prohibited and may result in your access to the Services being withdrawn.
• You are responsible for ensuring that the laws of the country in which you live do not prevent you from opening and using an offshore financial service of the type offered by ChitChat.
• You shall comply with all security requirements and recommendations set out in these Terms, as well as any additional guidance provided by ChitChat to safeguard your wallet and protect you from fraud.
• You are responsible for ensuring that you provide correct and complete details for the beneficiary when setting up a transfer of funds. We have no liability for any transfer based on any inaccurate or incomplete information provided by you.
• You shall notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized transfer from your wallet. Failure to report unauthorized transactions in a timely manner may increase your liability for any resulting losses.
• We shall deliver notifications to you through various channels, including email, SMS, and in-app notifications. It is your responsibility to ensure that we have up-to-date contact information to receive these notifications promptly.
• We shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with the above requirements, including any loss of funds from your wallet. You shall indemnify us and our group companies in respect of the costs of any legal action which we take to enforce these Terms in the event of any breach of these Terms by you.

11. Our responsibility to you

We implement security measures for the protection of the integrity of the ChitChat Wallet, including but not limited to robust authentication methods and continuous monitoring of transactions. These measures are designed to help to protect against unauthorized access and fraudulent activities.

12. Limitation of Liability

• Your wallet is for your personal use only and we therefore accept no responsibility for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity suffered by you as a result of using the Services.
• We do not provide financial or tax advice and accept no responsibility for the consequences of any investment decisions involving transfers from your wallet.
• These terms do not affect your legal rights as a consumer in any jurisdiction and do not exclude or limit our liability to you where it is unlawful for us to do so.
• We do not exclude or limit our legal liability to you if to do so would be unlawful. This includes liability for death or personal injury which is caused by our negligence or and liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

13. Term and termination

• These Terms will be effective from the date on which you accept them and will remain in force in respect of your use of the ChitChat Wallet to store and transfer funds.
• We may modify, suspend, or terminate your account and access to or use of the Services at any time if you are in breach of these Terms, if we suspect that you have carried out or attempted to carry out any fraudulent or criminal activity or if we are required to do so by a regulator, law enforcement agency or government agency.
• We may disable your ChitChat Wallet if it remains inactive for an extended period of time.
• If we terminate your account your access to the Services and use of the wallet shall terminate immediately. The termination of your account may involve deletion of content associated with your account from our live databases.
• We shall have no liability to you for any termination of your rights under these Terms, including for termination of your account or deletion of your content. Funds stored in your wallet will be refunded to you within 48 hours following the termination of your account.
• Following termination of your account, the provisions of these Terms which by their nature are meant to survive termination for any reason shall remain in effect.

14. Events outside our control

• We accept no liability for any failure or delay in the performance of our obligations under these Terms if such failure or delay is the result of an event not reasonably within our control and for which we are not responsible.
• Such events include an interruption to the Services due to internet or other service disruptions involving hardware, software or power systems not within our possession or reasonable control; poor quality or interruptions of electrical current; epidemics, pandemics or outbreak of communicable disease; quarantines; international, national or regional emergencies; virus or computer hacker attacks, insurrections or acts of a similar nature; state of war or embargo; acts of terrorism, sabotage or acts of vandalism; earthquakes, explosion, fires, storms, flooding, other natural disasters; water damage; legal or regulatory modifications applicable to supplying our Services, and any other events reasonably beyond our control preventing the normal provision of our Services to you.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms from time to time and shall notify you of any significant changes. If you continue to use the Services following the amendment to the Terms you will be considered to have accepted the changes. If you do not agree to any amendments to the Terms, you must stop using the Services.

16. Availability of the Services

We do not guarantee that the Services will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may restrict the availability of all or any part of the Services for business and operational reasons. We will try when possible to give you reasonable advance notice of any period of unavailability or interruption.

17. Assignments and Transfers

• We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms to any of our group companies, or, in the case of a merger, acquisition or business sale, to the new owner or successor of the business. These Terms will continue to apply to your use of the ChitChat wallet and the services following any such assignment.
• You may not assign or otherwise transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms to any other person without our prior written consent.

18. Validity of these Terms

If any of these Terms is found to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, it shall be deemed to be amended to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If it cannot be made enforceable it shall be deemed severable from these Terms. This shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of these Terms, which shall remain in full force and effect.

19. Waiver

Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be constituted as a waiver of such right or provision. A waiver granted by us on one occasion will not operate as a waiver on other occasions.

20. Applicable Law

• These Terms are governed by English law and the English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute regarding these Terms and their subject matter.
• Your own country’s laws may apply and may in certain circumstances take precedence over these Terms in relation to the protection of your legal rights as a consumer.

21. How to contact us

Please contact us via our Help Center.