Terms and conditions

These terms are the contract between you and 389 Group Ltd, a company registered in Malawi that trades as Steadi Pay ("we", "us"). They are governed by the laws of the Republic of Malawi, including the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act, 2016, the Consumer Protection Act, and, where a licensed payment partner is involved, the Payment Systems Act, 2016.

By creating a Steadi Pay account, using the merchant portal, the admin console, the hosted checkout, or our API, you agree to these terms. If you use Steadi Pay for a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind that business.

1. What Steadi Pay is

Steadi Pay is software. It lets a customer choose how to pay (Airtel Money, TNM Mpamba, bank transfer or card), routes that payment to a licensed partner, records the result, and reconciles it. We are a technical operator. We are not a bank, a mobile money issuer, or a payment system operator licensed by the Reserve Bank of Malawi.

Money never lands in a Steadi Pay account. Each merchant has their own settlement account and their own credentials at the licensed partner. We never pool merchant funds. We never deduct a fee from a merchant balance or payout.

2. Who may use it

You must be 18 or older and able to enter a contract under Malawian law. Merchant accounts are for businesses operating in Malawi, in Malawi kwacha only. You must give true details: legal name, trading name, contact, phone, and, where we ask for it, TPIN and settlement bank details.

Live payments stay off until you complete the sandbox tests we require and we approve your account. Using live mode without that approval is a breach of these terms.

3. Accounts, keys and access

You are responsible for passwords, authenticator codes, API keys and webhook secrets. Staff accounts use a one-time authenticator code. Keep secrets off shared machines. If you think an account or key is compromised, tell us at support@steadipay.ltd and revoke the key in the portal.

Super admins may view a merchant portal for support, with a recorded reason. They cannot read stored provider secrets. Credentials are write-only after you save them.

4. Payments

A payment is marked successful only after the licensed partner confirms it. Pending, processing or unknown states are not paid. We do not take card numbers, CVVs or PINs. Cards go through the partner's hosted page only.

Refunds, reversals and payouts follow the partner's rules and Malawian payment-system practice. A payout is the merchant's instruction to the partner. We never take our fee out of that payout.

You must not use Steadi Pay for unlawful sales, fraud, or activity that would breach anti-money-laundering law in Malawi, including the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.

5. Fees

Track A (389 Group's own sales) is not charged a Steadi Pay fee. Track B (outside merchants) pays the fee on the plan assigned to the account. Fees are split at collection by the licensed partner, or invoiced monthly. They are never taken from a merchant payout. Quoted amounts include VAT where VAT applies under Malawian tax law.

6. Your apps and webhooks

If you create checkouts from a 389 Group app or your own integration, you must keep API keys secret, verify webhook signatures, and treat customer data under our privacy policy and data protection notice. You must not store card data.

7. Availability and records

We aim for a working service. We do not promise uninterrupted uptime. Scheduled work and provider outages can delay a confirmation. Payment, ledger and ticket records are kept for five years, as required for financial and tax records in Malawi. Ledger rows are not edited or deleted.

8. Closing an account

You may close a merchant account from Settings. Closure stops new payments. It does not erase money history, tickets or audit logs. We keep those for five years. We may suspend or close an account if these terms, the law, or a partner's rules are broken.

9. Liability

We are responsible for running the software with reasonable care. We are not responsible for a licensed partner's failure to collect, settle or reverse a payment, for money that never left a customer's wallet, or for loss caused by a key or password you did not protect. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, death or personal injury, or any liability that Malawian law does not allow us to limit.

For Track B merchants, our liability for a proven software failure is limited to the Steadi Pay fees you paid in the three months before the claim.

10. Changes and contact

We may update these terms. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new date. Continued use after that date is acceptance. Disputes are subject to the courts of Malawi. You can also use the consumer-protection routes available under the Consumer Protection Act.

389 Group Ltd, Lilongwe, Malawi. Email support@steadipay.ltd. Tickets can be opened from the merchant portal.