Terms of Service

These terms are an agreement between DzataTech Solutions (“DzataTech”, “we”, “us”), a company based in Ghana, and the church that registers for ChurchVex (“the church”, “you”). By registering a church or using ChurchVex, the person registering confirms that they are authorised to accept these terms for the church.

1. The service

ChurchVex is web-based church management software. We provide it “as it is” at any given time, and we keep improving it. We may change or remove features, but we will not remove a core feature a church relies on without reasonable notice.

2. Accounts

• The person who registers the church becomes its first administrator, and can give other people sign-ins and roles.
• The church is responsible for everything done under its accounts. Keep passwords private, and turn on two-factor sign-in for anyone with access to finance or member records.
• Tell us straight away at [email protected] if you think an account has been compromised.
• Registrations that claim a place in a denomination’s structure, or claim headquarters status, may be reviewed by DzataTech before they are confirmed.

3. Plans and payment

• Every church starts on a one-month free trial when it registers. When the trial ends the church keeps full access for 7 days, then read-only access until day 30, and is then suspended until it chooses a paid plan. Plans differ in how many members a church can record and how much file storage it gets. Current plans and prices are shown on the pricing page. Prices are in Ghana Cedis (GHS).
• Paid plans are paid in advance, monthly or yearly, by card or mobile money through our payment provider. Nothing renews or charges automatically: each new term is paid for when the church renews.
• Upgrading takes effect immediately. You pay a prorated amount for the rest of your current term.
• Downgrading is not charged when you choose it. The church keeps its current plan until the end of its current term, then renews onto the smaller plan at that plan’s price. You can only downgrade to a plan whose member limit fits your current number of members.
• Cancelling changes nothing immediately: the church keeps its current plan until the end date it already has, and no new period starts. We do not refund the unused part of a paid term. After the end date the church follows the steps below for a term that is not renewed, and it can renew at any time, including after suspension.
• Member limits. There is a small grace margin above each plan’s member limit. Beyond it, a church can’t add new members until it moves to a larger plan. Nothing already recorded is removed.
• If a term ends without being renewed, the church keeps full access for 7 days, then becomes read-only, and is suspended after 30 days. Suspension does not delete the church’s data. Renewing restores access.
• Price changes. We may change plan prices. A church that has already paid for a term keeps its price and limits until the end of that term.

4. SMS credits

SMS is paid for separately, with credits bought inside ChurchVex. Credits are used as messages are sent. Purchased SMS credits do not expire: they stay on your church’s balance for as long as your church has a ChurchVex account, including while a subscription has lapsed. Credits are not refundable for cash. Paid plans may include a one-time bonus of SMS credits on your church’s first paid subscription; a church receives this bonus once, not on each renewal or plan change. SMS is delivered through a licensed SMS gateway; we can’t guarantee delivery to every handset or network, and a message accepted by the network may still fail to arrive.

The church’s SMS sender name must be the church’s own name or a fair abbreviation of it, and is subject to approval before it can be used.

5. Online giving

Online giving through Paystack is available to churches in Ghana. To use it, the church’s settlement account is set up with Paystack through DzataTech, and the church must also accept Paystack’s terms. Gifts are paid out to the church’s settlement account by Paystack. DzataTech charges a platform fee on each gift made online, at the percentage stated on the pricing page, and Paystack’s own processing fees also apply. Both are deducted from the gift before it is paid out. Gifts recorded by hand in ChurchVex carry no fee. The church is responsible for how it uses and accounts for the money it receives.

6. The church’s data

• The church owns its data. DzataTech processes it only to provide ChurchVex, as described in our privacy policy.
• The church is responsible for having a lawful basis, including any consent it needs, for the personal data it records and for the messages it sends to its members. This includes obligations under Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and the laws of any other country it operates in.
• A church can export its member and attendance lists at any time, and can ask us to delete its account and data.

7. Acceptable use

The church must not use ChurchVex to:

• send unsolicited, deceptive or abusive messages, or message people who have asked not to be contacted;
• store or share content that is unlawful, defamatory, or infringes someone else’s rights;
• collect money under false pretences, or launder money;
• try to access another church’s data, probe or overload the service, or get around its limits or security;
• resell ChurchVex without our written agreement.

We may suspend an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these rules. Where possible, we will warn the church first and give it a chance to put things right.

8. Availability and support

We work to keep ChurchVex available and to fix problems quickly, but we don’t guarantee that it will be uninterrupted or free of errors. We may need to take it offline briefly for maintenance. Support is by email and in-app ticket; we aim to reply within two working days.

9. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows:

• ChurchVex is provided without warranties beyond those in these terms.
• DzataTech is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, or for loss of profits, data or goodwill, arising from the use of ChurchVex.
• DzataTech’s total liability to a church in any 12-month period is limited to the amount the church paid DzataTech for ChurchVex in that period.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Ghanaian law.

10. Ending the agreement

A church can stop using ChurchVex at any time, and can ask us to delete its account. We may end this agreement with 30 days’ notice, or immediately for a serious breach of these terms. If we end it without the church being at fault, we will give the church time to export its data.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. We will give church admins notice of significant changes before they take effect. Continuing to use ChurchVex after a change takes effect means accepting the new terms.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana, and the courts of Ghana have jurisdiction over any dispute. [To confirm: dispute-resolution route before court, e.g. mediation or arbitration under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798).]

13. Contact

DzataTech Solutions, Ghana — [email protected] [To confirm: registered company name, number and address.]