Terms of Service

1. Who we are

SafeGround ("SafeGround", "we", "us") is a platform that helps people in Nigeria and in the diaspora save together, verify land before purchase, manage construction projects, and manage rental property, all through our mobile application (the "App") and this website. By creating an account or using the App, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms").

2. Eligibility and your account

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. SafeGround wallets are individually held and PIN-authorized, and are not designed for use by a minor, with or without a parent's involvement.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials and payment PIN confidential, and for all activity that happens under your account.
• Some features (such as full identity verification, sending money, or requesting land verification) require you to complete identity verification (KYC) by providing your BVN or NIN and uploading a valid ID and a selfie. We may restrict features until this is complete.
• Once your identity is verified, your full name and email become locked and can no longer be changed from within the App, since they are tied to your verified identity. Contact support if this information is genuinely wrong.
• You may only hold one account. Creating multiple accounts, or an account on behalf of someone else without their authorization, is not permitted.

3. Wallet and payments

• Your SafeGround wallet is funded by card top-up or bank transfer to a dedicated virtual account, processed through our licensed payment partner. Card payments are entered directly into our payment processor's secure checkout, never into the App itself — we do not see, receive, or store your card number, expiry date, or CVV, in whole or in part.
• A payment PIN is required to move money out of your wallet — external transfers, group contributions, and every service fee. It is not set automatically when your wallet is created: you must set one yourself from the Wallet section of the App before you can send any money, and we recommend doing this as soon as your wallet is active rather than waiting until you need it.
• A card top-up fee charged by our payment processor is passed through to you at cost and is never marked up by SafeGround. Bank transfer top-ups carry no fee.
• External transfers out of your wallet carry a flat SafeGround fee, disclosed before you confirm the transfer. Transfers between two SafeGround users are free.
• Group (Osusu) contributions, land verification, construction assessment, and property management each carry their own separately disclosed fee or fee package, described in more detail in the sections below and always shown to you in full before you confirm payment.
• External transfers, once confirmed with your PIN, are typically irreversible. Please double-check the recipient before confirming.
• We may delay, hold, or reverse a transaction where we reasonably suspect fraud, error, or a violation of these Terms.

4. Osusu / savings groups

• A savings group ("Osusu") is created and run by its members, not by SafeGround. We provide the tooling (contribution tracking, payout scheduling, and group chat) and hold contributed funds securely, but we are not a party to any agreement between group members.
• A group is set up as one of two kinds, chosen by whoever creates it: a classic rotating Osusu/Ajo, where the full pot for each cycle goes to one member in turn until everyone has been paid, or a fixed-savings group, where each member is simply saving toward their own pot and eventually receives back only what they personally contributed. Which kind a group is affects what you can expect to receive and when — check a group's settings before joining.
• Payout order for a rotating group is either a fixed rotation agreed at group creation, a members-agree method decided by the group, or a random draw, depending on what the group's admin configures.
• A group's admin may enable a late-payment penalty with a grace period and a set amount. If enabled, this is shown on the group before you join and applies automatically to any contribution paid after its grace period.
• If you join a group after its first contribution cycle has started, you may be offered the option to pay a lump sum for the cycles you missed to become eligible for a future payout. If you do not, you are only eligible for payouts funded by cycles you have actually paid into.
• SafeGround charges a small platform fee on each contribution, set by SafeGround and disclosed in the App. Group admins cannot set or change this fee.
• Because a rotating group's payout depends on every member continuing to contribute, a member's late payment or default can delay or reduce what other members receive. We are not responsible for losses caused by a group member's own default, dispute, or misconduct, though we will assist with dispute resolution where reasonably possible and may suspend a group or member's access pending investigation.

5. Land verification

• Land verification is a paid due-diligence service, priced as a package of line items disclosed to you before payment. Our team conducts title verification, survey confirmation, community and family enquiries, and legal review of the documents you or the seller provide, and delivers our findings back to you as a written report with supporting photos and documents.
• Land verification is an assessment based on the information, documents, and site access available at the time of our review. It reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of a land dispute, encumbrance, or title defect. It is not a guarantee of clean title, and SafeGround is not the seller of the land unless expressly stated.
• You are responsible for the final decision to proceed with any land purchase, and for any funds paid directly to a third-party seller outside of the App.

6. Construction projects

• Construction projects submitted through the App are managed directly by SafeGround, not handed off to an independent third-party contractor for us to merely hold funds on behalf of. Our team reviews your request, prices a site assessment, and, once that fee is paid, sets an overall budget and breaks the project into milestones after inspecting the site.
• Milestone funds are not held in escrow pending our verification of completed work. Instead, you release each milestone's funds from your wallet when you are ready for that phase of work to begin, since materials and labor for a phase need to be paid for before that phase can start. Once released, a milestone payment cannot be reversed through the App.
• You can track a project's progress through its review timeline, site photo and video gallery, and per-milestone checklist and documents at any time, and can message us directly with questions or concerns before releasing funds for the next phase.
• Estimated timelines and costs are good-faith estimates from our team based on site conditions known at the time, and may change based on site conditions, material costs, or other factors outside our control. We will tell you about a material change before asking you to fund the affected milestone.

7. Property management

• Properties enrolled in our management service are managed directly by our own team, not handed off to an independent third-party property manager.
• Before we begin managing a property, a management fee package must be paid. This package, its line items, and whether it is billed monthly or quarterly are set by SafeGround and disclosed to you in full before payment.
• Our team conducts a routine inspection and delivers a monthly report covering the property's condition, any issues found, and the status of that period's rent, with supporting photos.
• Where a tenant pays rent directly to SafeGround on your behalf, we remit it to your SafeGround wallet and record it as such in your monthly report. Where a tenant pays your landlord or agent directly, we simply record that this happened based on what you and your tenant tell us — SafeGround does not handle or verify that money.
• You may request an additional property inspection at any time by telling us your reason. One such request per property per month is included at no extra cost; any further request within the same month carries a disclosed transportation fee, since it requires an additional site visit.
• Repair requests we identify are documented with photos and a status you can track. Any documents relevant to your property, such as your tenancy agreement, are uploaded by our team and made available to you to view and download inside the App.

8. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

• Provide false, forged, or misleading identity, land, financial, or property information, including forged land documents or a misrepresented construction or property status;
• Use the App for money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud, or any other unlawful purpose, including structuring transactions to stay under a verification threshold;
• Create more than one account, or create or use an account on behalf of someone else without their authorization;
• Use a stolen, unauthorized, or fraudulently obtained card, bank account, or other payment instrument;
• Attempt to access another user's account, wallet, or data without authorization;
• Join or use a savings group with no intention of paying your contributions, or coordinate with others to unfairly manipulate a group's payout order or random draw;
• Attempt to circumvent our fee structure, identity verification requirements, security controls, or dispute processes;
• Use automated tools, bots, or scraping against the App, or otherwise interfere with its normal operation;
• Harass, threaten, or abuse other users, SafeGround staff, or support channels, including through in-app chat;
• Otherwise violate any applicable law or regulation, including Nigerian anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing rules.

9. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your account for violating these Terms, suspected fraud, or a legal requirement. You may delete your account at any time from within the App; outstanding wallet balances, group memberships, or in-progress services will be settled before deletion completes.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, SafeGround is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses arising from your use of the App, including losses caused by another user, a third-party seller, or a payment processor. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the fees you paid to SafeGround directly related to that claim in the preceding twelve months.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will notify you in the App before it takes effect. Continued use of the App after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent through the Contact Us or Chat Us options inside the App.