Terms and Conditions for the use of "Wave"

The purpose of these general conditions of use hereinafter the “GCU” is to define the terms of use of the “Wave” service, offered by WAVE TRANSFER LIMITED, a private limited liability company under the Ugandan law, hereinafter referred to as Wave UG.

Wave UG provides the technical platform and a network made up of sub-agents and merchants, for the management of business operations and the distribution of electronic money through the “Wave” service. Wave UG will issue Electronic Money and enter into contracts with the network of sub-agents and merchants it will canvass.

The user of the Wave service, hereinafter referred to as the Customer, expressly undertakes to comply with these General Terms and Conditions of Use of such service, as well as all their subsequent amendments that may occur under the use of the Wave service after authorization from the Bank of Uganda.

The Wave GCU are hereinafter referred to as “the Agreement”. The Agreement defines the conditions under which Wave UG will provide Electronic Money services and mobile applications to you upon request. These conditions affect your rights and it is your responsibility to read them carefully. By accessing and using the Wave electronic money application, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

These terms and conditions of use form a “standard form contract” between Wave Transfer Limited and the User of the Wave App. The act of registering and using the Wave application means that you expressly agree to be bound by this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement set out below, please do not access the Wave app.

The Customer’s subscription to the Wave service or the download of the Wave mobile application implies acceptance of these General Terms and Conditions of Use. These can be modified if necessary by Wave UG with authorization from the Bank of Uganda. The continuation of the use of the Wave service after the amendment of these GCUs will be considered as tacit acceptance of the changes made by Wave UG.

1. Definitions

The words “you” and “your” refer to the person who accepts the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

The words “Wave UG”, “us” and “our” designate WAVE TRANSFER LIMITED, a company registered in UGANDA;

The word “Wave”refers to the name of the mobile application;

Wave Money”: Electronic money issued and by distributed by Wave UG;

Wave Agent ”: A sub-distributor service provider duly authorized by Wave Transfer Limited;

Customer” or “Holder”or “Subscriber” or “User”: any mobile phone user who chooses to use the Wave service;

"Transaction”: transactions performed via the Wave service;

Electronic Money”: A monetary value representing a claim on the issuing institution, i.e. Wave UG, which is stored in an electronic form, including magnetic; issued without delay against the remittance of funds in an amount which is not less than the monetary value issued; and accepted as a means of payment by natural or legal persons other than the issuing institution. It can be used to carry out transactions without involving bank accounts;

Pin code”: Personal and secret four (4) digit unique and specific code, chosen by the Customer during the procedure for activating their electronic wallet on their cell phone;

Beneficiary”: Refers to the person you designate to receive the funds from the Wave Money transfer;

SMS”: Designates a short message service consisting of a text message;

Wave Account”Designates the unique Electronic Money account associated with any Customer of the Wave service, containing information essential to the identification of the holder and accessible through the mobile Wave Application on your mobile phone;

“ID”: National identity card for Ugandan nationals or passport for foreigners.

2. Scope

This Agreement is applicable to Electronic Money distribution services provided by Wave UG.

3. Wave service registration conditions

3.1 Use of the Wave service is subject to the identification of each Customer on presentation of a valid identity document, as defined under the Ugandan applicable legislation and regulations. You agree to provide complete and accurate information as part of the registration process and you also agree to update this information in a reasonable or necessary manner to keep information complete and accurate at all times.

3.2 The use of Wave services is granted to you subject to our ability to sufficiently verify your identity. If you do not provide accurate and complete information when you register, when you request a mobile transfer payment or when making a deposit or withdrawal, we have the right to prohibit you from using the Wave services or to refuse to process the service request. In addition, we draw your utmost attention to the fact that if you do not provide exact and complete information when registering or when requesting transfer, you may cause errors in your requested mobile transfers for which we shall NOT be held liable.

3.3 You authorize Wave UG to request a credit report and / or obtain information from other third parties and from financial institutions concerning you or the Recipient. Wave UG reserves the right to ask to check your registration information and any other information in connection with a request for services, but has no obligation to do so. You acknowledge that Wave UG relies in good faith on the information you provide.

3.4 Each time you access the Wave Services, you acknowledge that you have confirmed the accuracy and completeness of all registration information provided to Wave UG.

3.5 By using the Wave UG service, you hereby accept to be subject to the transaction limits provided by the Ugandan legislation as follows:

3.5.1 Transaction limits applicable to individual customers electronically registered

  • Maximum single transaction: Uganda Shillings 3,000,000

  • Maximum daily transfer: Uganda Shillings 10,000,000

  • Maximum daily balance: Uganda Shillings 10,000,000

3.5.2 Transaction limits applicable to individual customers electronically registered and physically registered with their verification documents stored in the mobile money account of the customer

  • Maximum single transaction: Uganda Shillings 5,000,000

  • Maximum daily transfer: Uganda Shillings 20,000,000

  • Maximum daily balance: Uganda Shillings 20,000,000

3.6 In all cases above mentioned, the maximum transaction counts should not exceed the maximum daily transfer limits.

3.7 The limits set-forth above may be amended from time to time, pursuant to any modifications brought to the applicable laws and regulations. Wave UG would then inform the Customer of such changes which will become effective per the provisions of the laws and regulations.

4. Description of Wave Money services

Wave services can be used to create and access an electronic wallet on your mobile phone. Activating the Wave Account credited with Electronic Money allows you to perform the following operations:

4.1 Deposit / cash withdrawal from any Wave Agent;

4.2 Transfer money to anyone else via the mobile phone;

5. Wave Accounts

Wave accounts are opened using the Mobile Wave application and with the intervention of a Wave agent for identity verification. To become a Wave user, Wave UG Customers will be subject to the requirements of the Electronic Money issuer. Downloading the Wave app and signing up for a Wave mobile wallet does not create a checking account or any other form of bank account for you or the payee with Wave UG or any of its sub-distributors.

6. P2P mobile money transfers

6.1 To manage your money securely there are transactional and daily limits on your electronic wallet. These limits comply with the National Payment Systems Regulations, 2020. You can access the funds available in your e-wallet at any time using the Mobile Wave app. You shall authorize your transactions with your secret PIN code that you create when you register, or by any other method that we may require from time to time. The balance of your electronic wallet may not at any time exceed your mobile wallet limit in accordance with the provisions of article 3.5 above.

6.2 You agree to pay the amount of money transfer fees and other charges for each transfer initiated or requested in the Wave Application. By requesting a mobile money transfer through the App, you authorize Wave UG to charge your mobile wallet for the requested transfer amount and applicable service charges. You understand and acknowledge that Wave UG has no obligation to process or effect a requested transfer if Wave UG is for any reason prevented from obtaining funds from your e-wallet for the requested transfer amount and charge.

6.3 You represent and warrant that all information you enter into the Wave Application regarding Mobile Money Transfer is accurate and complete. When processing mobile transfers, Wave UG relies on the registration information and mobile money transfer information you provide. You acknowledge that any error (s) or omission (s) in the information, including incorrect identification of the beneficiary (ies), errors and inconsistencies in account numbers are your full and entire responsibility and that Wave UG will have no responsibility for the execution of a mobile money transfer on the basis of inaccurate or incomplete information provided or entered by the User.

6.4 Wave UG reserves the right to establish specific identification and verification requirements for a Recipient so that they can receive funds from a mobile money transfer, subject to respecting your rights and those of the beneficiary or Beneficiaries with regard to the protection of personal data and within the limits authorized by the regulations in force in the fight against corruption, money laundering and the financing of terrorism. You expressly agree that Wave UG may rely in good faith, without further investigation, on identifying information or documentation provided by you or a Recipient, including any code or number identifying the mobile money transfer, when paying funds to the Beneficiary. You acknowledge and agree that Wave UG has the right to refuse to deliver payment to the Recipient if Wave UG cannot sufficiently verify the identity of the Recipient. As long as it is clearly specified in this Agreement that Wave UG has the right to establish specific identification and verification requirements, the inability of the Beneficiary to comply with such requirements provides a reason for Wave UG to have the right to refuse the issuance of mobile money transfer.

6.5 Wave UG has the right to reject your money transfer request or refuse to complete a mobile money transfer request or impose a limitation on your mobile money transfer, without cause or notice in the cases provided by the regulations applicable to the mobile money transfer business. Notwithstanding the above, Wave UG may suspend, delay or reject your mobile money transfer request:

(A) If the value of one or more of your mobile money transfer requests exceeds any transfer limits set for Wave UG Services;

(B) If Wave UG is unable to charge your mobile wallet for the requested mobile money transfer amount and associated charges;

(C) If your request is incomplete or imprecise;

(D) If Wave UG is unable to confirm your identity or verify any registration information or that of a Recipient, including their identity;

(E) If Wave UG has any suspicion of any fraudulent or illegal or irregular acts relating to the requested transaction;

(F) If Wave UG and/or Wave Agents are unable to accommodate your request for any reason; or

(G) For any other reason that Wave UG, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate or necessary.

You understand and agree that if your mobile money transfer request is rejected for any reason, you will be notified of the rejection by SMS - text message, or on your next online session, or by email, or by any other reasonable means of notification.

Wave UG reserves the right to prevent a Customer that has been involved or seriously suspected to have been involved with any fraud, illegal action or gross breach of the provisions of these CGUs, from using the Wave UG Services until further notice.

You fully agree that if Wave UG refuses to complete a mobile money transfer request for any of the reasons set out in section 6.5 above, Wave UG has the right to be reimbursed for any fees or expenses and has the right to retain any authorized charges, which it may have incurred in connection with the mobile money transfer you requested.

6.6 If Wave UG is unable to complete the disbursement of the mobile transfer money to the Recipient because you have provided incorrect or incomplete information about the Recipient, such as an incorrect phone number or any other error, you will be responsible for any charges, fees, expenses and consequential losses. Wave UG undertakes to return the mobile money transfer to you, deducting the processing costs, losses resulting therefrom due to fluctuations in rates where applicable, service charges and foreign exchange commissions where applicable.

6.7 If you transfer funds to a recipient who does not have a Wave account, Wave will send the recipient an SMS containing a one-time code to enable them to cash the value sent to them. If the recipient has not cashed their voucher within 15 days, Wave shall proceed with the cancellation of the transfer and funds will be returned to you.

7. Security and unauthorized use

7.1 In order to ensure the confidentiality of access to the Wave service, the identification procedure is based on the composition of a personal and secret four (4) digit code (“PIN code”) unique and specific, chosen by the Customer during the activation procedure of their electronic wallet. The validation of each Transaction must be confirmed by this PIN code. The confirmation of a transaction by this code irrevocably and entirely exonerates Wave UG from any liability.

7.2 You are responsible for protecting your PIN, which must be kept secret, and for all transactions that take place on your wallet with your PIN code. It is recommended that you do not communicate this PIN code to third parties; it should be kept very confidential and should never be written on a document. The User must ensure that the PIN code is always dialed out of sight of any individual. Failure to comply with these instructions irrevocably and entirely exonerates Wave UG in the event of fraudulent use of this code.

7.3 If at any time you believe or know that your cell phone or PIN has been stolen or compromised, you can reach our customer service center by the following means:contact@wave.com or on the following numbers: 0800 20 30 64.

7.4 We will block the PIN code within a reasonable time. You will be responsible for all transactions that have occurred in your electronic wallet up to the date of blocking your PIN code.

7.5 If you dispute that any purchase or withdrawal charged to your electronic wallet was authorized by you, you shall prove that it was not authorized by you. Our records will be considered accurate unless proven otherwise.

8. Wave account closure

8.1 The closure of your Wave account is subject to an express request from you addressed to Wave UG or its Agents by any means.

8.2 We may close your Wave account, restrict activity on your account, or suspend access to your account if we suspect that your wallet is being used fraudulently for illegal activities, or if we are called upon to comply with the law, or if you are in violation of this Agreement, or to protect our interests.

8.3 If your account remains inactive for a period of nine (9) successive months, we will inform you that if no activity occurs during the following month, we may have to close your account. If no subsequent activity occurs during that month, the account may be closed at Wave UG sole discretion.

8.4 We may also close your Wave account, subject to an express request from you addressed to Wave UG or our Agents, in the event that you are no longer the owner of the telephone number registered to your account. For the refund of any remaining funds in that account, please contact us at 0800303064

9. Availability of the Wave mobile application

The Wave mobile application is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Typically, your designated Payee is paid instantly through the Wave mobile application. If ever there is a situation whereby your transaction is not delivered instantly to the designated Beneficiary, we will contact you to keep you informed about the delay.

10. Delays or non-execution of Mobile Money Transfer Request.

You agree that Wave UG will not be liable for any delay, failure to perform, or error in the performance of your Mobile Money Transfer request due to insurmountable circumstances beyond Wave UG control, whether caused by strikes, power failures, equipment malfunction, acts or omissions of an intermediary bank if any, war, riots, governmental or judicial regulations, work stoppages or similar events or circumstances. You also agree that Wave UG may refuse to process or delay the processing of any request if it is contrary to any guidelines, rules, policies or regulations of regulatory and/or governmental authorities and any fund transfer system.

THE WAVE APPLICATION IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IT IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". WAVE UG MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE WAVE APPLICATION. WAVE UG DOES NOT WARRANT THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE WAVE MONEY APPLICATION OR THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION(S) THEREON AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY FAILURE OF THE WAVE UG APPLICATION TO OPERATE OR FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY INFORMATION(S). NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, IMPLIED, EXPRESS OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND VIRUS-FREE OPERATION, IS MADE IN CONNECTION WITH THE WAVE APPLICATION.

11. Error Resolution Procedure and Cancellation Policy

For error resolution, cancellation of the transaction, questions, complaints or a written explanation of your rights, contact us at contact@wave.com or on the following numbers: 0800 20 30 64.

You have the right to contest errors in your transactions. There is no charge for this service. If you think there is an error, contact us within one hundred and eighty (180) days and provide us with your name, contact information, the name of the Beneficiary, the date of the transfer, and the reasons why you think there was an error. Wave UG will determine if an error has occurred and will respond to you within 8 weeks (56 days). If Wave UG is at fault, you will be entitled to a full refund or you will be entitled to a free return transfer. If there is no error or if Wave UG is not at fault, you will receive a written notice, including the information that Wave UG has reviewed in order to take this decision.

In general, because your designated Beneficiary is paid immediately after the processing of your Mobile Money Transfer, the cancellation of such transfer and/or a refund of a previously paid Mobile Money Transfer will not be processed and Wave UG has no obligation to honor such a request. If, for some unforeseen reason, your designated Beneficiary has not been paid, you can contact us and cancel your Mobile Money Transfer request for a full refund within 30 minutes.

It is expressly agreed that Wave UG shall not be liable for any loss resulting from its inability to cancel or refund a mobile money transfer.

12. Limitation of Liability.

12.1 Wave UG shall make all commercially reasonable efforts to execute the mobile money transfer to the designated Beneficiary in accordance with your instructions. If the transfer is delayed or mishandled as a result of an error or negligence on the part of Wave UG, Wave UG sole obligation to you is to correct the error or refund the amount of the requested Mobile Money Transfer and Wave UG applicable fees.

12.2 Wave UG liability is limited, and any compensation owed by Wave UG shall never exceed the amount of the disputed mobile money transfer or the value of the mobile portfolio and fees applicable to the Wave Service, regardless of the circumstances or reasons for your loss. IN NO EVENT SHALL WAVE UG BE LIABLE FOR ANY PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXPENSES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH A MOBILE MONEY TRANSFER OR THE WAVE APPLICATION EVEN IF WAVE UG OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, LOSSES OR EXPENSES.

12.3 The foregoing constitutes your exclusive remedy under or in connection with this Agreement and the Wave Application. You agree that the foregoing limitation of liability of Wave UG is a reasonable and acceptable response to your recourse in the circumstances of this Agreement and use of the Wave Application.

13. Indemnification.

In consideration of Wave UG agreement to provide you with the Wave Application, you agree to indemnify and hold Wave UG harmless from and against any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, executions, liabilities, losses, damages, costs and expenses - including reasonable attorneys' fees - related to or arising out of (i) any use of the Wave Application, (ii) any breach of this Agreement, or (iii) transactions by Wave UG acting on your request for mobile transfer under this Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing indemnification obligation, you agree to indemnify Wave UG for losses caused by any incomplete or inaccurate information that you provide to Wave UG and for all losses due to your failure to maintain the secrecy and confidentiality of all your identifiers, passwords and codes and due to the unauthorized use of your ID and/or password.

14. Amendments.

Wave UG reserves the right, after approval from the Bank of Uganda, to change the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, by adding or removing provisions in whole or in part, without notice, except as required by law. If we choose to notify you or are required by law to notify you of changes to these terms and conditions, we shall be deemed to have fully complied with this obligation, except as specifically provided by applicable law, by mailing or delivering a notice or e-mail message to the last known telephone number or address we will have on file for you.

Some fees are subject to change without notice.

15. Electronic Communications

To use the Wave Application, you agree to receive and accept these terms and conditions of use, any amendments thereto, as well as all notices relating to the Wave Application by electronic communication (SMS text message or e-mail). In the event that any changes to these terms and conditions of use require prior notice, Wave UG shall notify you by SMS text message or email, to the phone number or email address you provided when registering for Wave services or the phone number or email address last provided, or provide you with a link in an SMS text message or email where you can view the revised or amended agreement.

A record of each transfer payment shall be provided to you by Wave UG through electronic communication on the Wave mobile application. You acknowledge and agree that in order to use the Wave mobile application, you must have a mobile phone; and in order to use the Wave mobile application, you must have an Android or iPhone mobile phone, or a computer equipped with at least: an Internet browser with 128-bit encryption or a disk drive or other electronic storage device. You agree that if you withdraw your consent to receive electronic communications, Wave UG shall terminate your use of the Wave Application. You acknowledge and agree that all messages and SMS text email notifications sent to you regarding the status of mobile transfer payments are only service messages, and will not be considered as official Wave UG documents regarding the transfer payment requested on the Wave Money mobile application. In the event of a conflict, the official Wave UG documents shall have a higher value on all service messages.

16. Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution.

This General Conditions of Use "GCU" are governed by the laws of Uganda. The relations between Wave UG and the Customers of the Wave service are governed by the laws in force in Uganda in general and in particular the National Payment Systems Regulations, 2020. In the event of a dispute, the Parties agree to resort to an amicable settlement within one (01) month from the date of notification of one party's complaint by the other. In the absence of an amicable agreement, any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Uganda, but which we may also pursue before any court of competent jurisdiction.

17. Use of Personal Data; Confidentiality Policy

Your privacy is very important for us. Wave UG will not rent, sell or share your personal information except in accordance with the relevant policy used by Wave UG. Wave UG receives your information through various websites, mobile applications and third parties (the "Services"). By accepting this Confidentiality Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Use, you agree to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Confidentiality Policy, Wave UG’s privacy notice and applicable laws from time to time.

17.1 Collection and Use

We collect "non-personal data" and "personal data" to provide and measure the use of our services and to improve them over time.

Data collected during registration: When you create or reconfigure an account on our services, you provide personal data, such as your name, email address, phone number, and password. You can change your personal data and add additional information as an option in the account settings (mobile application). By registering, you authorize us to collect, store and use this personal data in accordance with the attached Confidentiality Policy.

Data generated during the use of the Services: Our services are designed to allow you to send money. As such, we may collect additional personal data in order to facilitate transactions and to comply with the law.

Data collected through technology: In an effort to improve the quality of the services, we track data provided by your browser or by our services when you use the services, such as the website you are browsing from, the type of browser you are using, how you interact with links through our services, the access time and date, and other data that does not personally identify you. We track this data using cookies or small text files that include a unique and anonymous identifier. Cookies are sent to a user's browser from our servers and are stored on the user's hard drive. Sending a cookie to a user's browser allows us to collect non-personal data about that user and keep a record of the user's preferences when using our services, both on an individual and aggregate basis. You can ask your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to warn you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. We collect this data to help improve our services, including advertising, and to be able to share aggregate statistics.

Data Collected by Third Party Services: Wave UG uses a variety of services hosted by third parties to help provide our services and to help us understand the use of our services, such as Google Analytics. These services may collect data sent by your browser as part of a web page request, such as cookies or your IP address.

17.2 Data Sharing and Disclosure

Wave UG only discloses your personal data in the circumstances described below:

Your Consent: Your data may be shared or disclosed with your consent, such as when you use a third party web application to access your account on our services.

Service Providers / Agents: We hire trusted third party Agents to perform functions and provide services for us. We may share your personal data with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these functions and provide such services, and subject to obligations reflecting the protections of this Confidentiality policy.

Law: We may retain or disclose your data if we believe that it is reasonably necessary on the instructions of judicial or law enforcement authorities or with your express consent to comply with any law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety of any person; to combat fraud, security or technical issues; or to protect the rights or property of Wave UG.

Corporate Transfers: If Wave UG, or substantially all of our assets are acquired, or in the unlikely event that Wave UG goes out of business or goes bankrupt, Customer Personal Data would be one of the assets that is transferable to or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Wave UG may continue to use your Personal Data in accordance with this Policy.

Non-Private or Non-Personal data: We may share or disclose your aggregated or otherwise non-personal and non-private data, such as the number of users who clicked on a particular link.

17.3 Miscellaneous

Amendment to your personal data. If you are a registered Customer of our services, we offer you tools to access or amend the personal information you provide to us that is associated with your account.

Confidentiality Policy: Wave UG may bring changes to its Confidentiality Policy. Wave UG encourages users to regularly consult our Confidentiality Policy for any changes made. If we make a material change to this policy, at our sole discretion, we shall notify you by email to the address associated with your account. Your continued use of our sites and application after any change in this Confidentiality Policy constitutes your acceptance of such change.

18. Agreement Terms and Conditions.

By subscribing to Wave services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the provisions of these General Terms and Conditions of Use. You also confirm that you are able to print or download a copy of these General Terms and Conditions of Use.