Cytonn Lending Terms of Use and Loan Account Agreement
Summary
This User Agreement is a financial services and an end-user license agreement between the person whose duly registered mobile phone number and personal details were used to register and Cytonn Investment Partners Fourteen LLP operating with the trade name Cytonn Lending, with the registration number LLP/2016/114.
Cytonn Lending through the Mobile App and the Web portal allows users to obtain loans. The maximum credit limit of this advance will vary by the investment funds held by the borrower, the individual borrower's credit score and repayment history, among other factors. Charges associated with the loan will include but are not limited to the Service Fee, which typically varies between 5%-15% of the advanced amount per advance period as the Cytonn Lending customer may choose, as well as any associated telecom network distribution costs which are paid by the Cytonn Lending customer directly to his or her telecom provider. The Service Fee and other charges are subject to change as may be determined by Cytonn Lending from time to time, subject however to the thresholds permissible by law. Cytonn Lending will also communicate the Charges and Service Fee applicable to you prior to issuing the loan.
The recipient is then required to pay back the loan plus a Service Fee on the total amount according to the repayment schedule specified at the time of the loan offer. The terms of each loan, including the amount of the advance, repayment schedule, applied Service Fee, and other associated fees will be displayed with the loan offer on the different platforms.
This Agreement (together with our Privacy Policy) sets out the complete terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”) which shall be applicable to the Account (as hereinafter defined) opened by you with Cytonn Lending. By accepting the loan, you acknowledge that you have read, agree with and accept all of the Terms and Conditions, including the following statement:
“I authorize Cytonn Lending to access any information available to assess my application, and also give Cytonn Lending authority to share details of the conduct of my account with a registered Credit Bureau, and I waive any claim I may have against Cytonn Lending its affiliates in respect of such disclosure. I authorize Cytonn Lending to access my credit history from a registered Credit Bureau.”
I accept and agree that by clicking the “I Accept” Button I have read, understood and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions of both the User Agreement Terms and Cytonn Privacy policy (which may be amended from time to time), both available upon request.
These Terms and Conditions and any amendments or variations thereto take effect on their date of publication.
Definitions
1. Account: shall mean the loan account at the Lender which has been registered for use.
2. Customer: shall mean the natural person or legal entity acquiring services from the Lender.
3. Business Day means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or national or public holiday in the Republic of Kenya;
4. Credentials means your personal credentials used to access the App and all other Cytonn Lending platforms and operate your Account;
5. Credit Reference Bureau means a credit reference bureau duly licensed under the Banking Act pursuant to the Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations, 2013, as amended, revised or promulgated from time to time, to inter alia, collect and facilitate the sharing of customer credit information;
6. E-Money means the electronic monetary value depicted in your Account representing an equal amount of cash;
7. Equipment includes your mobile phone handset, SIM Card and/or other equipment which when used together enables you to access the Network;
8. Loan means the principal amount of the loan made or to be made by Cytonn Lending to you under this Agreement from time to time through the App, USSD platform, Web portal or (as the context requires) the principal amount outstanding for the time being of that loan
9. Lender: shall mean Cytonn Lending, Cytonn Investments Management Plc or any of its successors, assigns or affiliates.
10. Products: All the products rendered by the Lender to the Customer and acquired by the Customer from the Lender, whether or not through its digital platforms, agents the among others
11. Facility: shall mean either the loan services or/ and investment services provided to the customers.
12. Platforms: shall mean the phone number, Lender’s and communications software enabling the customer to communicate with the Lender.
13. Request: a request or instruction received by the Lender from the customer to provide a loan product accessed through any of the Lender’s platforms.
14. Service Fee means a technology service fee associated with the loan advance
15. Transaction Fees includes any fees and charges payable for the use of the Services as published by Cytonn Lending on the website, mobile app or by such other means as Cytonn Lending shall in its sole discretion determine. Transaction Fees are subject to change at any time at Cytonn Lending’s sole discretion
16. Terms and Conditions refer to this User Agreement together with Cytonn Privacy Policy and the loan advance offer
In addition to the definitions above, unless the context requires otherwise as applies to this
Agreement:
a. A reference to any one gender, whether masculine, feminine or neuter, includes the other two;
b. Any reference to a person, includes, without limitation, any individual, body corporate, unincorporated association or other entity recognized under any law as having separate legal existence or personality;
c. Any word or expression defined in and for the purposes of this Agreement shall, if expressed in the singular, include the plural and vice versa and a cognate word or expression shall have a corresponding meaning;
d. References to a statutory provision include any subordinate legislation made from time to time under that provision and any modification or re-enactment of such provision, as far as such modification or re-enactment applies, or is capable of applying, to this Agreement or any transaction entered into in accordance with that agreement;
e. Unless otherwise specified, references in this Agreement to “clauses” and “Annexures” are to clauses of, and annexures to this Agreement;
f. In this Agreement, unless otherwise provided, any number of days prescribed shall be determined by excluding the first and including the last day or, where the last day falls on a day that is not a Business Day, the next succeeding business day
Scope of License
1. The Customer shall subscribe to the loan product (and/or for any changes to the options available under the facility) by application through the various platforms as prescribed by the Lender from time to time for the use of the facility by visiting the Lender’s website or Mobile App or such other medium(s) as the Lender may from time to time specify.
2. The Lender will from time to time determine or specify at its discretion the scope and features of its loan product and are entitled to modify, expand or reduce the same at any time upon notice to the customer.
3. Customer’s application for a loan shall be accepted only after authentication of the customer through any mode of verification as may be stipulated by the Lender from time to time as may be decided at the discretion of the Lender.
4. Customer, by making a request for transaction from either of the platforms in the format prescribed by the Lender, irrevocably and unconditionally authorizes the Lender to access all its accounts to effect the transaction and also share the information regarding his accounts with the services provider or any third party as may be required for effecting the transaction.
5. The Lender shall endeavor to carry out the instructions promptly, however it shall not be responsible for the delay in carrying out the instructions due to any reason whatsoever including but not limited to failure of operational system, failure at mobile operator end or due to any requirement of law.
6. The Lender’s loan products may, without prior notice be terminated, be suspended or terminated by the Lender for any reason whatsoever, including and without limitation to, invalid data, invalid or suspect instructions, closure of related account(s), breakdown, maintenance, modification, expansion and/or enhancement work caused or initiated by the third party providers such as telecommunications Company(s) concerned in relation to their network or by any service provider in respect of the SMS
Company or any service. The Lender will not assume any liability or responsibility for any such suspension or termination. The Products may be terminated at any time by notice from the customer to any such termination shall be effective within Fourteen (14) days of receipt of the termination notice by the Lender.
7. Customer should know that request to execute transactions, once made through his mobile phone are non-retractable as these are processed instantaneously and on a real time basis. Therefore customer should take sufficient care while making a request for the transaction from his mobile phone
8. The Customer shall be solely responsible for accuracy and authenticity of the request made by him/her for information/transaction. The Lender shall not be liable for consequences arising out of erroneous information provided by the customer.
9. If the customer suspects that there is an error in the information provided to him/her by the Lender, he/she shall advise the Lender as soon as possible. The Lender shall endeavor to correct the error wherever possible on a best effort basis. The Lender shall however not be liable for any inadvertent error which results in providing incorrect information to him.
10. The customer is solely responsible for protecting his PIN and mobile phone. Cytonn Lending shall not be liable for unauthorized use of PIN or mobile phone of the customer. All requests emanating out of customer’s mobile phone with correct PIN shall be treated as genuine request and shall be acted upon by the Lender as such whether or not actually initiated by the customer. The Customer shall in these instances keep the Lender fully indemnified against any and all such claims
11. It shall be the Lender’s endeavor to maintain the secrecy and confidentiality of customer’s accounts to the best of its abilities. The Lender however shall not be liable if the customer’s accounts are compromised on account of breach of secrecy, denial of service or on account of hacking/other technological failures.
12. The customer shall promptly notify the Lender of any changes to information provided to the Lender related to or for the purposes of the Lender’s Products including change of email address or the details of the customer’s designated mobile phone number and the telecommunications Lender providing or servicing it. In addition, the customer shall promptly inform the Lender of any loss or theft of their mobile phone. The Lender shall not be liable for any loss or claim resulting from the relaying of any information pursuant to the products to the designated mobile phone number prior to receipt of any notification of loss or theft.
13. The Lender may send messages to the customers regarding products/services of the Lender, or any other promotional message that the Lender may consider from time to time.
14. Customer can request for termination of his facility and submit his request in the form prescribed the Lender for this purpose.
15. It shall be the Lender’s discretion to give a reasonable notice for withdrawal or termination of a facility, but the Lender may at its discretion withdraw temporarily or terminate the facility either wholly or partially anytime without giving prior notice to the customer. The facility may be suspended for any maintenance or repair work, any emergency or security reasons without proper notice and the Lender shall not be liable for denial of facility.
16. The Lender may at its discretion change terms and conditions as mentioned here any time as it deems fit. The Lender shall however keep the Customers notified of such changes within a reasonable time following the changes made
17. Any dispute or difference arising out of or in connection with facility shall be adjudicated under the Laws of Kenya. Should any dispute arise between the parties hereto with regard to the interpretation, rights, obligations and/or implementation of any one or more of the provisions of these terms and conditions, the parties shall in the first instance attempt to resolve such dispute by amicable negotiations, should such negotiations fail within fifteen (15) days of the inception of the amicable negotiations, the parties shall refer the matter to Arbitration under the Arbitration Act, 1995. The Arbitral Tribunal shall consist of a sole Arbitrator appointed by the Parties or in default of agreement the Chairman for the time being of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Chapter). The award of the arbitrator shall be final.
Requests Made By a Borrower
1. You hereby irrevocably authorize Cytonn Lending to act on all Requests received by us from you (or purportedly from you) through the System and to hold you liable in respect thereof.
Cytonn Lending may nevertheless refuse to carry out any Requests in its sole and absolute discretion.
2. Subject to its discretion, Cytonn Lending reserves the right to reject any request in relation to a loan application from you even if you have previously been issued with a loan by Cytonn Lending
3. Cytonn Lending shall be entitled to accept and to act upon any Request, even if that Request is otherwise for any reason incomplete or ambiguous if, in its absolute discretion, Cytonn Lending believes that it can correct the incomplete or ambiguous information in the Request without any reference to you being necessary.
4. Cytonn Lending shall be deemed to have acted properly and to have fully performed all the obligations owed to you notwithstanding that the Request may have been initiated, sent or otherwise communicated in error or fraudulently, and you shall be bound by any requests on which Cytonn Lending may act if it has in good faith acted in the belief that such instructions have been sent by you.
5. Cytonn Lending may, in its absolute discretion, decline to act on or in accordance with the whole or any part of your Request pending further enquiry or further confirmation or further information (whether written or otherwise) from you.
6. You agree to and shall release from and indemnify Cytonn Lending against all claims, losses, damages, costs and expenses howsoever arising in consequence of, or in any way related to Cytonn Lending having acted in accordance with the whole or any part of any of your requests (or failed to exercise) the discretion conferred upon it.
7. You acknowledge that to the full extent permitted by law Cytonn Lending shall not be liable for any unauthorized drawing, transfer, remittance, disclosure, any activity or any incident on your account by the fact of the knowledge and/or use or manipulation of your Account PIN, password, ID or any means whether or not occasioned by your negligence.
8. Cytonn Lending is authorized to effect such orders in respect of your Account as may be required by any court order or competent authority or agency under the applicable laws.
Interest & Fees
1. The interest payable by you to Cytonn Lending in relation to any loan shall be displayed by Cytonn Lending on the Mobile App and web portal. Cytonn Lending shall be entitled to set and charge transaction Fees, in connection with your use of the Services and from time to time amend or vary its transaction Fees for the services. If Cytonn Lending decides to start charging transaction Fees or where already applicable, vary or amend them, the transaction fees payable on any new application for Services will be displayed on the Mobile App and web portal. Cytonn Lending will use reasonable endeavors to try notify you of any changes in relation to Transaction Fees within a reasonable period before such changes are implemented including displaying notices of the changes on the Mobile App or Cytonn website.
2. All payments to be made by you under this Agreement shall be made in full without any set off or counter claim and save in so far as required by the law to the contrary, free and clear of and without any deduction or withholding whatsoever. If you are at any time required to make any deduction or withholding from any payment to Cytonn Lending ,you shall immediately pay to us such additional amounts as will result in Cytonn receiving the full amount it would have received had no such deduction or withholding been required.
3. If you fail to make any payments due to Cytonn Lending at the due date for payment, Cytonn Lending will be authorized to apply late fees on such amount loaned to you at a rate to be communicated to you.
Statements
1. A statement and activity report in respect of your loan will be made available on Request.
Requests shall be made on the Mobile App, via email communicated to you
2. Your statement will show all the details of the last loan transaction or such other number of transactions as determined by Us and initiated from your device. You must check your statement carefully and notify us as soon as possible if it includes any transaction or other entry which appears to you to be wrong or not made in accordance with your instructions.
3. We reserve the right to rectify discrepancies, add and/or alter the entries in your statements, without prior notice to you. We will however inform you of any rectification, additions and or alterations effected on your statements within a reasonable time after the changes are effected.
4. Save for a manifest error, a statement issued to you in respect of your transactions shall be conclusive evidence of the transactions carried out and requested by you from your devices for the period covered in the statement.
Simultaneous Payment Requests in Excess of funds
Where the Lender receives several payment requests at approximately the same time, the total amount of which exceeds the available funds in the customer’s accounts, the Lender may honor the requests in whatever manner thinks fits within the limit of the funds available.
Delay by the Customer in lodging complaints
The Lender is exempt from any liability arising from any matter unless the Customer has made a written complaint to the Lender as soon as reasonably possible and in any case not later than 96 hours from the occurrence of the event
Payments by Third parties
The Lender may credit the Customer with amounts paid by third parties, subject to any payment confirmations and supporting documentation and information that Cytonn may reasonably request from the Customer.
Events of Default
An event of default occurs:
Where any Facility is due and unpaid for thirty (30) days or more, or If any representations or statements or particulars made by you are found to be incorrect; or If you commit any breach or fail to observe, keep or perform any of the terms, conditions covenants or provisions of any other agreement between us and yourself in respect of the Facility; or
If there is reasonable apprehension that you are unable to pay your debts or we receive any notice that you have admitted any inability to pay your debts as they become due; or
If you are convicted under any criminal law in force related to use of the services or any other related services; or
If any judgement or decree in any legal proceedings is passed against you which is not satisfied within seven (7) days of demand, or
If a Garnishee or Attachment Order or a lien created against any of your deposits with us or assets maintained by you is made.
Consequences of Default:
At any time after an Event of Default has occurred which is continuing, we may, without prejudice to any other right or remedy granted to us under any law:
Terminate the Services in accordance with the termination clause herein;
Declare that the Facility (inclusive all fees and charges) and all other amounts outstanding under these Terms and Conditions is immediately due and payable, whereupon you shall be required to settle the Facility with immediate effect; and Submit information concerning the Event of Default to Credit Reference Bureaus as required under the Banking Act or any other regulatory body.
Take reasonable measures including engaging an independent debt-collection agency, to recover the amount in default.
Variation and termination of relationship
The Lender may at any time upon reasonable notice to the Customer, terminate or vary its business relationship with the Customer, and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the Lender may cancel services that the customer should receive.
The Lender may at any time freeze any account of the Customer if and so long as there is any dispute or the Lender has doubts for any reason (whether or not well founded) of the person or persons entitled to operate the same without any obligation to institute interpleader proceedings or take any step of its own initiative for the above reasons
We may at any time, upon notice to you, terminate or vary our business relationship with you and suspend or discontinue your registration and or access to the Service:
If you use the Service or Facility for unauthorized purposes or where we detect any abuse/misuse, breach of content, fraud or attempted fraud relating to your use of the Services;
If your account or agreement with Cytonn Lending is terminated for whatever reason;
If we are required or requested to comply with an order or instruction of or a recommendation from the government, court, regulator or other competent authority to that effect or necessitating it;
If we reasonably suspect or believe that you are in breach of these terms and conditions (including nonpayment of any amount due from you where applicable);
Where such a suspension or variation is necessary as a consequence of technical problems or for reasons of your safety or public access fees;
To facilitate update or upgrade the contents or functionality of the Services from time to time;
Where your account becomes inactive or dormant or is deemed abandoned in line with the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act;
If we decide to suspend or cease provision of the Services for commercial reasons or for any other reason as we may define.
Communications
1. All notices, statements, emails and other communications from the Lender may be sent to the last postal and/or email address or telephone number given by the Customer, and the date on the Lender’s copy of any such communication is taken to be the date of such dispatch in the absence of proof of the contrary.
2. Any written communication from the Lender to the Customer including but not limited to any notice given pursuant to this Terms and Conditions shall be sufficient to prove that the letter and/ or email or short message service (SMS) containing the communication was properly addressed or dispatched as the case may be.
3. The Customer has no claim on the Lender for damages resulting from losses, delays, misunderstandings, mutilations, duplications or any other irregularities due to transmission of any communication whether to or from the Customer, the Lender or any third party, by delivery, post, email, telephone, or any other means of communication.
4. Notice/communications will be deemed to have been received five (5) days from the date of posting and/or 24 hours from emailing or through SMS, as the case may be.
Disclaimer of Liability
1. Cytonn Lending is in no way liable for any error or omission in the services provided by any third party service provider (whether appointed by Cytonn Lending or otherwise) to the customer, which may affect the Facility provided.
2. Without limitation to the other provisions of these Terms and Conditions, Cytonn Lending, its employees, agent or contractors, shall not be liable for and in respect of any loss or damage whether direct, indirect or consequential, including but not limited to loss of revenue, profit, business, contracts, anticipated savings or goodwill, loss of use or value of any equipment including software, whether foreseeable or not, suffered by the Customer or any person howsoever arising from or relating to any delay, interruption, suspension, resolution or error of Cytonn Lending in receiving and processing the request and in formulating and returning responses or any failure, delay, interruption, suspension, restriction, or error in transmission of any information or message to and from the Lender.
3. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary stated herein, Cytonn Lending shall not be involved in or in any way be liable to the customer for any dispute between the Customer and a cellular services provider or any third party service provider (whether appointed by Cytonn Lending in that behalf or otherwise).
Indemnity
1. In consideration of Cytonn Lending providing loan services, the Customer agrees to indemnify and keep Cytonn Lending safe and harmless from and against all actions, claims, demands, proceedings, loss, damages, costs, charges and expenses whatsoever which Cytonn Lending / its Affiliates may at any time incur, sustain, suffer or be put to as a consequence of or arising out in good faith for acting on or omitting or refusing to act on any instructions given by use of the Facility or any action arising out of a Force Majeure event, epidemic, Pandemic, Government Directives or any event that is unforeseen and or outside the control of the Parties.
2. The Customer holds Cytonn Lending / its Affiliates, harmless against any loss incurred by the Customer due to failure in the network of the mobile service provider. The Customer agrees to indemnify and hold Cytonn Lending / its Affiliates harmless for any losses occurring as a result of the Customer permitting persons to use the Facility through any means.
Personal Information
1. You understand and agree that Cytonn Lending may access, preserve, and disclose your personal information and the contents of Your account if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation of disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process or protect the rights, property and/or safety of Cytonn Lending, its affiliates or the public.
2. We only use your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please take the time to read our Privacy Policy, as it includes important terms which apply to you.
3. Upon downloading the App, using the USSD or the Web Portal and clicking the “Accept” option with respect to these Terms and Conditions, you will be deemed to have accepted Cytonn’s Privacy Policy, a copy of which is available on the Cytonn System, App and the Cytonn Website
- You hereby agree and authorize us to obtain and procure your Personal Information contained in the IPRS from the Government of Kenya and you further agree and consent to the disclosure and provision of such Personal Information by the Government of Kenya to us
- You hereby further acknowledge and authorize us to verify your Personal Information in our custody against the information received from the Government of Kenya in your respect as contained in the IPRS.
- We reserve the right to request further information from you pertaining to your application to register for the Service at any time. Failure to provide such information within the time we require may result in a decline of your application to register for the Service
- You hereby grant us permission to get you location from our digital platform, SMSes and device details be it from your Mobile App or web portal to help in the loan request appraisal.
Notices
Any notice from the Lender to the customer may be made in such manner and by such means of communication as the Lender shall deem fit, including and without limitation to, use of direct mailing material, advertisement, branch display, electronic communications such as email or via the e-Lendering Products. Any notice from the Customer to the Lender shall be in writing at the following address;
Cytonn Investments Limited, P.O Box 20695-00200 Nairobi Kenya or to the email address
fintech@cytonn.com
