Terms of Service

1. About these terms

Mizani is provided by Mizani UK Limited ("Mizani", "we", "us" or "our"), a company registered in England and Wales. These terms are a legal agreement between you and us, and they set out the rules for using the Mizani app and website.

By creating an account or using Mizani, you accept these terms, our Privacy Notice and our Acceptable Use Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use Mizani.

Mizani is used by groups and people in the United Kingdom, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and across the wider East Africa region.

2. What Mizani is — and is not

Mizani is a record-keeping platform. It is not a bank, SACCO, microfinance institution, e-money issuer or payment service. Mizani never receives, holds or moves members' money.

Your group keeps its own money — in mobile money, a bank account or a cash box — exactly as it does today. Mizani only keeps the record of contributions, savings, shares, loans and balances that your group enters. The actual money always stays with your group, and your group remains fully responsible for it.

Nothing in Mizani is financial, investment, accounting, tax or legal advice.

3. Your account

To use Mizani, you must:

• be at least 18 years old, or be acting on behalf of a registered group (such as a SACCO or VSLA) with authority to do so;
• sign in using a one-time code we send you — Mizani does not use passwords;
• keep access to your phone, email and account secure, and not share your sign-in codes with anyone;
• give accurate, current information when you register; and
• tell us promptly if you believe someone has accessed your account without your permission.

You are responsible for activity that happens under your account while it is in your control.

4. Your group and its records

Mizani is built around groups. If you set up or administer a group, your group is responsible for:

• the accuracy of the records it enters — contributions, savings, shares, loans, repayments and balances;
• having the authority and consent needed to add members and record their personal data; and
• handling its own money offline, including collecting, safeguarding and reconciling cash, mobile money and bank balances.

For the personal data in a group's member records, the group is the data controller and Mizani is its processor — we handle that data on the group's instructions. For your account and billing information, Mizani is the controller. How we handle personal data is explained in our Privacy Notice.

5. Acceptable use

You must use Mizani lawfully and fairly, and not misuse the service or harm other users. Full details are in our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of these terms.

6. Paid plans

Some features require a paid subscription, which a group or SACCO pays. Plan details, pricing and cancellation terms are set out on our Billing page.

Fees are for use of the Mizani software only. Mizani still never holds, receives or moves member money — paying for Mizani does not change what Mizani is.

7. Availability and changes to the service

Mizani is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We work hard to keep it reliable, but we cannot guarantee it will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free.

Mizani's offline-first records are a convenience, not a substitute for your group's own bookkeeping. Your group should keep its own independent records of money held and transactions made.

We may add, change, suspend or remove features, and we may update the service from time to time to improve it, fix problems or meet legal requirements.

8. Intellectual property

We own (or license) the Mizani app, website, software and brand, including the Mizani name and logo. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use Mizani in line with these terms. You may not copy, modify, resell or reverse-engineer the service except where the law allows.

Members keep their own data. The records and personal information you and your group enter remain yours; we use them only to provide the service and as described in our Privacy Notice.

9. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all implied warranties and conditions, and we are not liable for:

• disputes between group members, or between a group and its members;
• money that is collected, held, lost or mishandled offline — Mizani never touches that money; or
• losses arising from inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date records that users enter.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law (for example, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud). Subject to that, [PLACEHOLDER: liability cap — e.g. our total liability is limited to the fees paid for the service in the 12 months before the claim].

[PLACEHOLDER: indemnity scope — confirm whether users/groups indemnify Mizani for claims arising from their content, records or unlawful use, and the scope of any such indemnity]

10. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to Mizani if you breach these terms or our Acceptable Use Policy, if required by law, or if we reasonably need to protect Mizani or its users. Where practical, we will give notice.

You can stop using Mizani at any time. If your account or your group's access ends, what happens to the records we hold is governed by the retention rules in our Privacy Notice.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will notify you (for example, in the app or by email) before it takes effect. Your continued use of Mizani after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

12. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute, except where mandatory local law in your country gives you other rights.

[PLACEHOLDER: dispute-resolution / arbitration — confirm whether an informal resolution step, mediation or arbitration clause applies before court proceedings]

13. Contact us

Questions about these terms? Email us at privacy@mizaniapp.com.