Buyer Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what VultPay does

VultPay operates a naira-only escrow and payments service for buyers and sellers in Nigeria, and is operated by Vult Technologies Ltd (RC 9724145), 2A Oshonaike by Coates, Yaba, Ijora, Lagos State. VultPay is a neutral intermediary that holds funds and helps release or refund them under these Terms. We are not the seller, we do not own, inspect, or supply the goods or services being sold, and the underlying contract for what you are buying is between you and the seller. Funds held in escrow are kept with our safeguarding bank / microfinance partner and are not VultPay's money.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract, and you must use VultPay only for lawful transactions and pay using a payment method you are authorised to use. You are responsible for the accuracy of the contact details (name, phone, email) you provide at checkout, which we use to send you transaction updates and, where needed, security codes.

3. How VultPay escrow works

When you pay, your money is held in escrow by our safeguarding partner - it is not paid straight to the seller. The seller is expected to deliver what was agreed, described in the transaction's release conditions. Funds are released to the seller when you confirm you have received what you paid for, or automatically if you neither confirm nor raise a dispute within the auto-release window (see below). If a refund is due under these Terms, the held funds are returned to you instead.

4. Payment and payment methods

You pay through our payment processor using the methods offered at checkout (such as card or bank transfer). Card payments are completed on the processor's secure hosted page. You authorise the charge shown at checkout. We do not store full card details; card data is handled by the processor. A payment is only funded into escrow once the processor confirms it has cleared.

5. Fees

A payment processing fee applies to your payment. The escrow fee is paid by you only if the seller configured the transaction that way (buyer-borne); otherwise the seller pays it out of the released amount. When you bear the escrow fee, the "amount to pay" shown before you pay already includes it, and any processing fee is shown and added at the payment step. The exact figures for your transaction are always displayed before you confirm payment.

6. Confirming receipt and auto-release

Once the seller marks the order delivered, please check what you received and confirm promptly if it is correct - confirming releases the funds to the seller. To protect you, confirming release (and cancelling, below) requires a one-time security check to your email or phone.

If you do not confirm and do not open a dispute within 48 hours (or the window shown on your transaction) of the seller marking the order delivered, the funds release to the seller automatically. Auto-release assumes the order was fine, so if anything is wrong, raise a dispute before the window closes. This does not affect your mandatory rights as a consumer.

7. Cancelling before delivery

Before an order is delivered, you may cancel a funded transaction and be refunded. A cancellation fee may apply and is deducted from your refund; the fee and the net amount you will receive are shown before you confirm the cancellation, which also requires the one-time security check. You cannot cancel once the order has been marked delivered - use the confirm or dispute options instead.

8. Disputes

If something goes wrong before auto-release, you can raise a dispute and submit evidence (such as photos or tracking references) describing the problem. Disputes are decided on the evidence: some are resolved by an automated rule engine and some by a human reviewer. Where an automated decision affects you, you may appeal to a human reviewer within the stated window. A dispute can end in release to the seller, a refund to you, or a split, and the outcome is applied to the held funds accordingly. Our dispute decisions are final as between the parties for the purpose of releasing or refunding the escrow, without affecting any legal rights you have against the seller.

If you paid by card, please raise any problem through VultPay's dispute process rather than starting a card chargeback with your bank where possible, so it can be resolved against the held funds. Pursuing a chargeback in parallel may duplicate or complicate the outcome.

9. Refunds

Refunds happen under specific conditions, not on request alone: you cancel before delivery (minus any cancellation fee), the seller fails to deliver by the deadline, a dispute is resolved in your favour (in whole or in part), or a pooled-funding target is not reached by its deadline. Where a refund is due, it is returned to the original payment method or bank account you paid from, or as otherwise arranged, and processing times may depend on your bank or card provider.

10. Pooled and milestone transactions

Some transactions use pooled or milestone funding. For pooled funding, if the target is not reached by the deadline your contribution is refunded and the transaction does not proceed. For milestone transactions, each milestone is funded, confirmed, disputed, and released independently - confirming or disputing one milestone does not affect the others.

11. Prohibited transactions

You must not use VultPay to pay for anything prohibited by our Acceptable Use policy or by law, including illegal goods or services and transactions intended to launder money or commit fraud. We may refuse, hold, reverse, or refund a payment, and report it where the law requires, if we reasonably believe it breaches these Terms, our Acceptable Use policy, or applicable law.

12. Seller verification and "Confam Verified"

Some sellers display a verification or "Confam Verified" badge indicating that the seller completed our identity checks and that the transaction is protected by VultPay escrow. A badge is a signal, not a guarantee of the seller's goods, services, or conduct - your protection comes from the escrow, confirmation, and dispute process described in these Terms. Always review the release conditions before you pay.

13. Fraud prevention and holds

To meet our anti-money-laundering and anti-fraud obligations, we may verify your payment, delay or decline a transaction, or request additional information. We may also place a hold on funds where we reasonably suspect fraud or a breach of these Terms while we investigate.

14. Your data

We process your personal data as described in the Privacy Policy. In particular, evidence you submit in a dispute becomes part of the transaction record and may be reviewed by our staff or by an automated system, and your transaction data is retained under our retention rules even if you paid as a guest without a full account.

15. Communications

By using VultPay you agree to receive the transactional messages needed to operate the service - such as payment, delivery, and dispute updates and one-time security codes - by email and SMS. These are not marketing. Standard message rates from your provider may apply. Any optional product updates are sent only if you separately opt in.

16. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

VultPay provides the escrow and payments service with reasonable care but does not warrant the quality, safety, legality, or delivery of any goods or services you buy - those are the seller's responsibility. To the fullest extent permitted by law, VultPay is not liable for the seller's acts or omissions or for losses beyond the amount held in escrow for the relevant transaction. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law, including your mandatory rights as a consumer under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA).

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as our service or legal obligations change. The version and effective date are shown at the top, and the Terms that apply to your transaction are those in effect when you pay. Material changes will be brought to your attention where the law requires.

18. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We will try to resolve any dispute with you informally first, so please contact us before taking any other step. Any dispute that cannot be resolved is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Lagos State, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights or forum available to you by law.

19. General

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Acceptable Use policy, are the entire agreement between you and VultPay about your use of the escrow service, and replace any earlier understanding on that subject. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest continue in effect. We may assign or transfer these Terms as part of a reorganisation or transfer of our business; you may not assign yours without our consent. Our not enforcing a term on one occasion is not a waiver of it. These Terms do not create any partnership, agency, or employment between you and VultPay.

20. Contact

For help with a transaction or a question about these Terms, contact VultPay support at support@vultpay.co.