Terms of Service
These terms govern use of A-CARD, A-MERCHANT and AFP. They are written to be read. Where a clause matters more than the others, we say so.
01 — The agreement
By creating an account you agree to these terms on behalf of yourself and any organisation you represent. South African customers contract with our South African entity; US customers with our US entity. Which applies is shown at signup and on your invoices.
02 — What the service is
A-CARD issues virtual payment cards and enforces the spending controls you configure. A-MERCHANT is a directory of verified suppliers and the ordering loop attached to it; we are not the seller, the merchant is. AFP routes payments across available settlement rails according to the intent you submit.
Cards are issued by a licensed issuing partner under licence from the card networks. Banking and issuing services are provided by that partner and its sponsoring institution, not by a·card. a·card is not a bank.
03 — Accounts and verification
You must complete identity and business verification before moving money. We may decline, suspend or close an account where verification fails, where screening produces a match we cannot clear, or where the law requires it. We are not always permitted to tell you why, because in some cases disclosing a regulatory decision is itself prohibited.
04 — Agents, credentials and responsibility
Read this one. Actions taken by an AI agent using your credentials are your actions. The controls we provide, total limits, per-transaction ceilings, velocity windows, category rules, department budgets and approval thresholds, are the mechanism by which you limit that exposure. Configuring them is your responsibility; enforcing them is ours.
05 — Acceptable use
We may suspend access immediately for conduct in this section, and will tell you what triggered it where we're permitted to.
06 — Fees
Subscription fees are billed in advance and are non-refundable for a period already started. Transaction, interchange and rail fees are disclosed before a payment executes and passed through at cost. Thirty days' notice before any change to published pricing.
07 — Merchants and orders
A-MERCHANT introduces buyers to suppliers and carries the order state. The contract of sale is between buyer and merchant. Disputes are raised through the platform, recorded against the merchant's reliability record, and we'll help with the evidence, but we are not a party to the sale and do not guarantee merchant performance.
08 — Availability
We target high availability and publish incident status. Enterprise agreements carry a contractual SLA with service credits. Outside those agreements the service is provided without an availability guarantee, though we will always tell you honestly what happened.
09 — Funds custody and safeguarding
a·card does not hold, custody, or take ownership of any funds you deposit through the Service. All funds are held by our issuing partner, a licensed and regulated financial institution ("our Custody Partner"), in a segregated settlement and trust account maintained separately from a·card's own operating funds and from any other customer's funds.
a·card operates the technology layer only. We maintain a real-time ledger recording your ownership interest in the pooled funds held by our Custody Partner, and we determine, according to the spending rules, budgets, and approvals you configure, whether a given transaction is authorized. We do not at any point have the ability to access, move, or apply your funds for any purpose other than executing the instructions you and your authorized agents give through the Service.
Your funds are safeguarded under our Custody Partner's regulatory license and compliance obligations to the relevant financial regulator, not under any license held by a·card. In the unlikely event a·card ceases operations, funds held by our Custody Partner remain your property and are not part of a·card's assets or subject to its creditors.
a·card is not a bank, does not offer interest-bearing accounts, and your balance is not covered by any deposit insurance scheme unless separately stated by our Custody Partner.
10 — Identity verification (KYC and AML)
To comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, the Bank Secrecy Act and equivalent obligations, you must complete identity verification before funding your account. This verification is performed by, or on behalf of, our Custody Partner as part of their regulatory compliance program. We may share the information you provide with our Custody Partner and their compliance service providers for this purpose. See our Privacy Policy for details.
11 — Liability
We do not exclude liability for fraud, gross negligence, or anything the law does not permit us to exclude. Otherwise our aggregate liability is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits or lost business opportunity.
12 — Termination
You may close your account at any time; outstanding holds must settle or expire first. We may terminate for material breach, for conduct under section 05, or where a regulator or partner requires it. On termination we return remaining balances to a verified account in your name, less amounts we are legally obliged to withhold, and retain records for the periods in the privacy policy.
13 — Governing law
South African customers: these terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction.
US customers: these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes are resolved by binding individual arbitration; class actions and jury trials are waived, and you may opt out of arbitration by writing to hello@a-card.cc within 30 days of opening your account.
14 — Contact
Questions about these terms: hello@a-card.cc. Enterprise agreements: enterprise@a-card.cc.