bridGe Terms of Service

bridGe is a Google Forms add-on that requests an M-Pesa payment from a form respondent when they submit your form, and records the outcome against their response. bridGe is a software service that instructs payments through Safaricom’s M-Pesa platform. bridGe is not a bank, and is not a licensed payment service provider or deposit-taking institution. M-Pesa services are provided by Safaricom PLC under their own terms.

You choose one of two settlement arrangements per form, and this determines whether bridGe ever handles your money:

• Direct settlement. You provide your own Paybill, Till, or bank account, and respondents’ payments settle straight into it. bridGe never takes custody of these funds and cannot withdraw from your account.
• Managed settlement. Payments are collected into bridGe’s own Paybill and we then pay you the balance due to your M-Pesa number. In this arrangement bridGe holds your funds temporarily between collection and payout. We aim to pay out promptly, but a payout may be delayed by matters outside our control, including M-Pesa availability and transaction limits.

• bridGe charges a service fee of 1% of each successful payment, unless we have agreed a different rate with you in writing.
• On Managed settlement, the fee is deducted before we pay you, and a minimum fee applies to smaller payments to cover the cost of disbursing your payout (for example, a minimum of KSh 6 on payments up to KSh 1,500, rising for larger amounts). The applicable minimum is shown to you when you set up payments.
• On Direct settlement, your money never passes through bridGe, so the fee cannot be deducted. Instead the fees accrue and we invoice you periodically (by default weekly; the schedule may be adjusted). Invoices are sent to your registered email address with a link to pay, and are payable on receipt. We do not issue an invoice until the accrued amount reaches a minimum threshold; smaller balances simply carry forward to a later invoice.
• Safaricom’s own M-Pesa transaction charges are set by Safaricom and are separate from our service fee.
• We may change our fees on reasonable notice. Changes do not apply to payments already processed.

• Provide accurate payment-destination details. You are responsible for money misrouted because of details you entered incorrectly — we cannot verify that an account you enter belongs to you, and payments sent to a wrong destination are generally irrecoverable.
• Only collect payments you are lawfully entitled to collect. Do not use bridGe for unlawful, fraudulent or deceptive purposes, or for anything prohibited by Safaricom or Google.
• Meet your own obligations to your respondents, including delivering whatever they paid for, issuing refunds, and meeting your tax, receipting and regulatory duties.
• Tell your respondents clearly what they are paying for, and keep your account and credentials secure.
• Pay invoices issued to you for accrued service fees.

Every payment is authorised by the respondent on their own device using their M-Pesa PIN. bridGe requests the payment; it cannot complete one without that authorisation, and never sees the PIN.

Refunds are a matter between you and your respondent. bridGe does not process refunds, reversals or chargebacks. Where a payment settled directly into your account, only you can refund it. If a respondent contacts us about a payment made through your form, we may direct them to you.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted service. bridGe depends on Google and Safaricom systems and may be unavailable because of their outages, maintenance or changes, or during our own maintenance. We may modify or discontinue features, and will give reasonable notice of material changes where we can.

The service is provided “as is”, without warranties of any kind to the fullest extent permitted by law. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits or lost revenue, nor for outages, errors or delays originating in the M-Pesa or Google platforms or other matters outside our reasonable control. Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the service is limited to the service fees you paid us in the three months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

We may suspend or terminate access where there is non-payment of fees due, suspected abuse or fraud, a breach of these terms, or a requirement imposed on us by Google, Safaricom or the law. Where practical we will tell you first. You may stop using bridGe at any time by turning payments off and removing it from your forms; fees already accrued remain payable.

We may update these terms from time to time. The effective date above shows when they last changed, and continuing to use bridGe after an update means you accept the revised terms. Where a change materially affects you, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you.

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya, and the courts of Kenya have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them. We would ask you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the matter directly.

info@itedasolutions.com