CredChek registry terms of use

Effective date: [[EFFECTIVE DATE]] · Version: [[VERSION]]

These terms apply when you register a belonging, check an item, report a theft or loss, transfer an item, act as someone's witness, or question a report on CredChek. You can do this on the app, on the website at [[VERIFY DOMAIN]], or by SMS, USSD or WhatsApp. CredChek is provided by [[LEGAL ENTITY NAME]] ("we"), [[REGISTERED ADDRESS]], Lagos, Nigeria. Our registry privacy notice explains how we handle your information. If you use our product checks too, the consumer terms also apply to those checks. Shops that register stock also agree to our terms for shops.

1. What CredChek is

CredChek is a registry. Owners record what they own. Anyone can check whether a phone, vehicle or other item has been reported stolen or missing in CredChek.

CredChek is not a title registry, a court, or a police service. We do not block devices or SIM cards, we do not trace or recover items, and we do not decide who owns something in law. What we show is what has been reported to us and what we have checked.

2. What we charge

• Registering, checking, reporting, questioning a report and asking for a correction are free.
• Name check. Verifying your name is optional and paid. The price and the number of attempts it includes are shown before you pay. Payments are not refundable unless the law or the payment provider's rules require it [[COUNSEL]].
• Transfer fee. A completed transfer of an item to someone else may carry a fee. We show who pays and how much before anyone pays. Some kinds of transfer may be free.
• Donations are optional and never change what you can do or how we treat you (section 11).

A payment provider takes every payment. We never see your card or bank details.

3. Reading a result

Results are qualified on purpose.

A check receipt records what we answered at that time. It is not a guarantee.

4. Your account and registrations

• You sign in with your mobile number and a one-time code. Keep your phone and your codes to yourself. You are responsible for what happens in your account.
• Give your real first and last name. An email address and a postal address are optional. We confirm an email with a code before we use it.
• Only register items you own or are entitled to register. Give correct details and photos of the item itself.
• If someone else has already registered the same number, we treat yours as a private claim and a person decides. Nothing changes publicly until then.
• You can change details, and you can remove a registration. We keep a history of changes. We do not delete it to make an item look clean.
• You cannot change numbers or remove a registration while a report or a transfer on the item is waiting or live.

5. Your witnesses

• You name at least the number of witnesses shown when you register. They cover all your items. Name only people you trust who agree to it, and give their correct name and phone number.
• A witness must approve before an item can be transferred out of your account. This protects you if someone takes your phone.
• Witnesses you name at your first registration take effect when they accept. Later changes to your witnesses wait for a set time and we tell you before they take effect, so a stolen phone cannot quickly remove them.
• If you are someone's witness, approve a transfer only if you are sure the owner asked for it. Contact the owner by a way you already know, not through a number in a message. You can stop being a witness at any time.

6. Verified profile and your Certificate of Registration

• You can verify your name with your National Identification Number (NIN). We pass your NIN and name to our identity provider to check against the national record. We keep only a keyed fingerprint of your NIN, never the number itself, so one NIN can verify only one account.
• You must consent before each check. A check that does not match uses one attempt.
• A verified profile shows a verified badge. Only verified owners can download a Certificate of Registration or an Ownership Record Card. They show the name confirmed by the check.
• The certificate and card record who registered an item on CredChek and when. They are not proof of legal ownership or title. Anyone can check a certificate at [[VERIFY DOMAIN]]. Altering or copying one is not allowed and may be an offence [[COUNSEL]].

7. Transferring an item

• When you sell or give an item, transfer its record so the new owner can register it. The new owner starts the request with their own phone. You then approve it with a fresh code, and your witness approves it too.
• Once the approvals and any fee are done, the transfer waits for a set time before it completes. Either of you can cancel while it waits. We may hold a transfer longer, or stop it, if something looks wrong.
• After a transfer completes, the earlier owner can raise a challenge if they did not agree to it. A person decides, and may correct the record.
• Buying from a shop. A shop can pass you the record of what you bought. You sign in with your own phone and accept with a code sent to that phone. The item then becomes your registration under these terms.
• Never approve a transfer because someone told you to on a call or in a message. We will never ask you for a code.

8. Reporting a theft or loss

• Report only what is true, and only for an item you own. A report needs a fresh code from your phone.
• Buyers see only a qualified status, the item's category, brand and model, the month of the report and a case reference. They never see your name, number, place or story. Your description, area and police reference stay private and are seen only by our review staff.
• Publication rules. A report on an item you registered well before the incident date can show to buyers straight away, marked as self-reported. A report on an item registered shortly before the incident, or after it, or one that someone else has claimed, waits for our staff to review. Buyers see "under review" while it waits. Our staff can publish, reject or change the level of any report. The settings that decide "shortly before" are set by us and may change.
• No one can clear a live report alone. You cannot take down a published report yourself, and neither can anyone else. You can tell us the item is recovered, and buyers then see that it was reported and later recovered. You can withdraw a report only while it is waiting for review. To correct a mistake on a live report, contact us and a person will decide.
• Use the safety options if you fear retaliation. Never approach anyone yourself. Tell the police.

9. Found items

If you find an item, you can tell the owner through CredChek without seeing who they are. Leave a number the owner can reach you on. We pass your message to the owner. We do not arrange meetings, and we are not part of any handover. Meet in a safe, public place, or hand the item to the police.

10. False or malicious reports and misuse

Do not report an item you do not own, report to settle a personal or business quarrel, start a transfer for an item you are not buying or receiving, or report to harm someone. If we find a report or transfer is false or made in bad faith, we may:

• reject or remove the report, stop or correct the transfer, and tell the person it concerns what happened to the record;
• close your account, or limit what you can register, report or transfer;
• keep the history of the report, the transfer and the decision;
• pass the matter to the police or other authorities where the law lets us [[COUNSEL]].

You may be responsible under the law for harm a false report or transfer causes [[COUNSEL]].

11. Donations

A donation is a gift. It does not buy anything, does not change your registration or your checks, and is not refundable unless the law or the payment provider's rules require it [[COUNSEL]]. Donating is never required, and we do not treat people who do not donate any differently.

12. Disputes and corrections

If a report on an item looks wrong, you can question it. Start from your check receipt and sign in so you can follow progress. We keep your identity from the registered owner, and we keep theirs from you. Questioning a report does not change what buyers see. Only our decision does. We aim to answer within the time we show you on the dispute. That time is a target, and it may change [[COUNSEL]]. Each decision is written into the item's history.

13. Using checks fairly

Checks are for people who are buying, selling, or looking after an item. Do not:

• scrape, bulk-check or collect numbers, or use the check to build a list of registered items or owners;
• guess numbers one after another, or try to find out who owns an item or where they live;
• get around limits or challenges, use many numbers or devices to do the same, or overload the service;
• use a result to harass, threaten or pressure anyone.

We limit how many checks one person or network can make. If we see harvesting, we can slow, challenge or block the source, and we record that we did.

14. Photos and proof files

You can upload photos of your items, receipts and police papers. Upload only files you have the right to share. Do not include other people's faces or documents unrelated to the item. We re-save every image, which removes hidden metadata, and keep it private. Only you and our review staff can open it. A file used in a report, transfer or dispute stays with that record. You give us permission to keep and use these files to run the registry, decide reports, transfers and disputes, and respond to lawful requests.

15. Your data and closing your account

You can download a copy of your data and close your account from your account page. Closing needs a fresh code, and you must first finish or cancel any transfer in progress. When you close:

• your registrations stop showing as active, and we erase the full item numbers, keeping only keyed fingerprints;
• a published theft report stays visible to buyers for a set time, without any link to you, so a stolen item does not suddenly look clean;
• we keep the history of reports, transfers, disputes and decisions that other people may rely on, and records the law requires, for as long as [[COUNSEL: retention period]].

We may close or limit an account that breaks these terms.

16. Availability

We work hard to keep the service available, but we do not promise it is always available, instant or error free. SMS, USSD and WhatsApp depend on networks and providers we do not control. A failed or busy check is never a statement about an item.

17. Liability

[[COUNSEL TO DRAFT and check against mandatory consumer law, including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018.]] Intended position:

• To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss caused by relying on a result, a certificate, a report or transfer made by another person, or a network or provider failure.
• For paid services, our liability is limited to [[COUNSEL: for example, what you paid for that service]].
• Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
• The person who makes a report or starts a transfer is responsible for it. [[COUNSEL: our position on user-generated reports and any host or intermediary protections]]

18. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of [[the Federal Republic of Nigeria, COUNSEL TO CONFIRM]]. Please contact us at [[SUPPORT CONTACT]] before going to court. [[COUNSEL: dispute forum, and whether mediation or arbitration can bind consumers]]

19. Changes

We may update these terms. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or on the website before it applies, and we will record the version you accept.

Contact

[[LEGAL ENTITY NAME]] · [[SUPPORT CONTACT]] · [[POSTAL ADDRESS]]