Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and CoopWave ("CoopWave," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your access to and use of the CoopWave cooperative finance management platform, including all related software, services, features, and websites (collectively, the "Service").

By registering for an account, accessing the Service, or clicking "I agree," you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you are using the Service on behalf of a cooperative, organization, or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service. Your continued use of the Service following any updates to these Terms constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

CoopWave is a cloud-based, multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform designed to help cooperatives, SACCOs, Njangi groups, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and agricultural cooperatives across Africa manage their financial operations efficiently and transparently.

The Service provides, among other features:

• Member registration, profile management, and member group administration
• Savings account management, including deposits, withdrawals, and interest calculations
• Loan origination, disbursement, repayment tracking, and arrears monitoring
• Double-entry bookkeeping and OHADA-compliant accounting (general ledger, journal entries, trial balance, financial statements)
• Role-based staff access with configurable permission levels (Admin, Treasurer, Loan Officer, Accountant)
• A self-service member portal for members to check balances and transaction history
• Reporting, notifications, and administrative tools for cooperative management

Each cooperative is given a dedicated, isolated environment (a unique subdomain and a separate database schema) within the CoopWave platform. CoopWave operates as a platform provider and is not a licensed financial institution. The Service is a management and record-keeping tool; CoopWave does not hold, receive, or transmit member funds on behalf of cooperatives.

To register and use CoopWave as a cooperative administrator, you must be at least 18 years of age and have the legal authority to enter into binding contracts on behalf of your cooperative.

During registration, you must provide accurate, current, and complete information about your cooperative, including the cooperative's legal name, location, and a valid email address. You agree to update this information promptly if it changes. CoopWave reserves the right to refuse registration or suspend accounts where inaccurate or misleading information is provided.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You must not share login details with unauthorized persons or allow others to access your account on your behalf without proper authorization within the platform's role system. You must notify CoopWave immediately at info.coopwave@gmail.com if you suspect any unauthorized access to your account.

CoopWave accounts are not transferable. You may not assign, transfer, or sublicense your account or any rights under these Terms to any third party without CoopWave's prior written consent.

The person who registers a cooperative on CoopWave becomes the primary Tenant Administrator for that cooperative's account. The Tenant Administrator holds the highest level of access and bears responsibility for all activity that occurs within their cooperative's account.

As Tenant Administrator, you are responsible for:

• Inviting and managing staff users (Treasurers, Loan Officers, Accountants) and assigning appropriate roles
• Ensuring that all staff members understand and comply with these Terms and any applicable cooperative bylaws
• The accuracy and completeness of all data entered into the platform, including member records, financial transactions, and accounting entries
• Ensuring that the cooperative holds all necessary legal authorizations, licenses, or registrations required to operate as a cooperative under Cameroonian law or the law of any applicable jurisdiction
• Obtaining any required consent from members before enrolling them on the platform and before processing their personal or financial data
• Configuring the platform settings (savings products, loan products, contribution rules) in a manner consistent with the cooperative's bylaws and member agreements

CoopWave is not liable for errors, disputes, or losses arising from incorrect data entry, unauthorized staff actions, or the cooperative's failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations. The platform is a tool; the cooperative remains fully responsible for its own financial and governance decisions.

CoopWave provides a self-service Member Portal that allows individual cooperative members to view their savings balances, loan status, and transaction history. Access to the Member Portal is provided by the cooperative administrator, who enrolls members and sets up their initial login credentials (phone number and PIN).

The Member Portal is a read-oriented informational tool. Members may view their own data but cannot directly alter financial records through the portal. Any discrepancies between what is displayed in the Member Portal and the cooperative's official records should be reported to the cooperative's administrator directly.

Members are responsible for keeping their PIN confidential and for logging out of the portal when using shared devices. CoopWave is not responsible for unauthorized access resulting from a member's failure to secure their own credentials.

The cooperative — not CoopWave — is the data controller with respect to member data. All disputes concerning individual member balances, loan terms, or transaction records must be resolved between the member and the cooperative administrator.

CoopWave offers tiered subscription plans designed to match cooperatives of different sizes and needs. A description of current plans and pricing is available on the CoopWave pricing page at coopwave.cm.

Free Trial: Every new cooperative account begins with a 90-day free trial that includes access to all features of the selected plan. No payment information is required to start the trial. At the end of the 90-day trial period, you must select and pay for a subscription plan to continue using the Service. If no plan is selected, access to data entry and management features may be restricted, though you will retain read-only access for a reasonable period to export your data.

Auto-Renewal: Subscriptions are billed on a monthly basis and renew automatically at the end of each billing cycle. By providing payment details and activating a subscription, you authorize CoopWave to charge your designated payment method each month until you cancel. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings or by contacting support, with cancellation taking effect at the end of the current billing period.

Price Changes: CoopWave may adjust subscription pricing from time to time. We will notify you of any price change by email at least 30 days before the new price takes effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date of the price change constitutes your acceptance of the new price.

No Refunds: All fees paid are non-refundable. If you cancel your subscription, you will continue to have access to the Service until the end of your current paid billing cycle, but no refund or credit will be issued for unused days in that cycle. CoopWave does not provide pro-rated refunds for partial billing periods.

Taxes: Subscription prices are stated exclusive of applicable taxes. You are responsible for any value-added tax, sales tax, or other applicable taxes or levies imposed by your local jurisdiction.

CoopWave uses third-party payment processors to handle subscription payments. We do not store or directly process your payment card numbers or mobile money PINs. The processors currently used are:

• Monetbil — for mobile money payments via MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. By making a payment through Monetbil, you agree to Monetbil's terms of service and privacy policy.
• Flutterwave — for card payments via Visa and Mastercard. By making a payment through Flutterwave, you agree to Flutterwave's terms of service and privacy policy.

CoopWave is not responsible for downtime, errors, transaction failures, or delays caused by Monetbil, Flutterwave, or any underlying financial network (MTN, Orange, Visa, Mastercard, or your bank). If a payment fails due to a processor issue, please retry or contact our support team so we can assist in resolving the situation. Your subscription will not be interrupted for a reasonable grace period while a payment issue is being resolved.

All payment disputes or chargebacks must be directed first to CoopWave support before initiating a dispute with your payment provider. Initiating an unjustified chargeback may result in the suspension or termination of your account.

Our Privacy Policy, available at /privacy, describes in detail how we collect, use, store, and share data in connection with the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy.

You retain ownership of all data entered into CoopWave by your cooperative (member records, financial transactions, documents, and other content collectively referred to as "Cooperative Data"). By uploading or entering Cooperative Data, you grant CoopWave a limited, non-exclusive license to store, process, and display that data solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you.

CoopWave will not access, use, sell, or share your Cooperative Data with any third party except as necessary to provide the Service, comply with applicable law, or as expressly permitted in these Terms and our Privacy Policy. Each cooperative's data is stored in a completely isolated database schema; no other tenant can access your cooperative's data.

You are responsible for ensuring that your collection and use of member personal data complies with applicable data protection laws, including but not limited to Cameroonian Law No. 2010/012 on cybersecurity and cybercriminality and any applicable data protection regulations.

The CoopWave platform, including its software, source code, algorithms, user interface design, logos, trademarks, and all related intellectual property, is owned exclusively by CoopWave and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any ownership interest in the Service or any portion thereof.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms and payment of applicable fees, CoopWave grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service solely for the internal management of your cooperative.

You must not copy, reproduce, modify, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works based on any part of the Service. You must not remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices. You must not use the CoopWave name, logo, or trademarks without our prior written permission.

If you provide feedback, suggestions, or ideas regarding the Service, you grant CoopWave an irrevocable, royalty-free license to use and incorporate such feedback without any obligation to you.

You agree not to use the Service for any of the following purposes:

• Any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable local, national, or international law or regulation
• Fraudulent or deceptive activities, including entering false financial records, fabricating member identities, or misrepresenting transaction data
• Money laundering, terrorist financing, or any activity that violates anti-money laundering (AML) or counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations
• Unauthorized access to another cooperative's data, systems, or account
• Uploading or transmitting any viruses, malware, or other harmful code that could damage, disable, or impair the Service
• Attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the platform's systems or networks, or to breach security or authentication measures
• Scraping, harvesting, or collecting user information from the platform without authorization
• Using automated bots, scripts, or other tools to access the Service in a manner that places an unreasonable load on infrastructure
• Reselling, sublicensing, or offering access to the Service to third parties as a commercial bureau service without CoopWave's written consent
• Using the Service in any way that competes with or harms CoopWave's business interests

Violation of any of these prohibitions may result in the immediate suspension or termination of your account, without refund, and may be referred to law enforcement authorities where required.

Disclaimer of Warranties: The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without any warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or uninterrupted availability. CoopWave does not warrant that the Service will be error-free, that all defects will be corrected, or that the Service or the servers hosting it are free of viruses or other harmful components.

No Financial Advice: CoopWave is a software tool. Nothing in the Service constitutes financial, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Cooperatives are solely responsible for their own financial decisions, compliance with applicable law, and the accuracy of their accounting records.

Limitation of Liability: To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, CoopWave and its officers, employees, agents, and contractors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to your use of or inability to use the Service, including loss of data, loss of revenue, loss of profits, or loss of goodwill, even if CoopWave has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

In no event shall CoopWave's total cumulative liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service exceed the total subscription fees paid by you to CoopWave in the three (3) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or liabilities. In such jurisdictions, the above limitations apply only to the extent permitted by applicable law.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CoopWave and its officers, employees, agents, partners, and contractors from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your use of or access to the Service in violation of these Terms
• Any Cooperative Data that you submit or that is submitted through your account
• Any breach by you of any representation, warranty, or obligation under these Terms
• Any claim by a third party (including your cooperative members) arising from your use of the platform
• Your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party

CoopWave reserves the right to assume control of the defense of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense of that matter.

CoopWave strives to maintain high availability of the Service and targets a 99.9% monthly uptime. However, we do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to:

• Scheduled maintenance, upgrades, or system improvements (we will provide advance notice where reasonably possible)
• Unplanned outages, technical failures, or infrastructure issues at third-party hosting providers (Railway, Vercel)
• Internet connectivity issues, force majeure events, or circumstances beyond CoopWave's reasonable control

CoopWave will make commercially reasonable efforts to restore service as quickly as possible in the event of an outage and will communicate significant incidents via email and, where applicable, through the platform's notification system.

CoopWave may at any time modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature, aspect, or portion of the Service with or without notice, provided that CoopWave will give at least 30 days' notice before discontinuing the Service entirely for paying customers.

Termination by You: You may terminate your account at any time by contacting CoopWave support or through your account settings. Upon termination, your subscription will end at the conclusion of the current paid billing period. We recommend exporting all your Cooperative Data before requesting account closure, as CoopWave may permanently delete your data after a 30-day retention period following termination.

Termination by CoopWave: CoopWave reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time and without prior notice if:

• You materially breach these Terms and fail to cure the breach within 10 days of written notice
• You engage in any prohibited activity described in Section 10
• Your subscription payment fails and remains unpaid after a reasonable grace period
• Continued provision of the Service poses a legal, regulatory, or reputational risk to CoopWave

Upon termination for cause, no refund will be issued. Upon termination without cause by CoopWave, a pro-rated refund for the unused portion of the current billing cycle will be provided.

Sections 8 (Data and Privacy), 9 (Intellectual Property), 11 (Disclaimers), 12 (Indemnification), 15 (Governing Law), and any other provisions that by their nature should survive termination, shall continue to apply after termination of these Terms.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Cameroon, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service that cannot be resolved amicably shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts located in Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, CoopWave reserves the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to prevent or stop any actual or threatened infringement of its intellectual property rights or breach of these Terms.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.

CoopWave may update or revise these Terms of Service at any time to reflect changes in our practices, the Service, applicable law, or for any other operational or legal reason. We will indicate the date of the most recent revision at the top of this page.

For significant changes — such as material changes to pricing, data handling, or your legal rights — CoopWave will notify you by email to the address associated with your account at least 30 days before the revised Terms take effect. Minor clarifications or non-material changes may take effect immediately upon posting.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of those revised Terms. If you do not agree with the revised Terms, you must discontinue your use of the Service before the effective date and may request account closure.

Previous versions of these Terms are available upon request by emailing info.coopwave@gmail.com.

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback about these Terms of Service, please contact us using the details below. We will do our best to respond within 5 business days.

Also see our Privacy Policy for information on how we handle your personal data.