AjoAutomate
Legal

Terms of Service

Effective 7 September 2026 · Applies to the AjoAutomate WhatsApp service and ajoautomate.com

These terms are an agreement between you and AjoAutomate (RC 7088448, 25 Olayemi Odutayo Street, Ikosi Ketu, Lagos State). By setting up a circle with Alaga, joining one through an invite link, or authorizing a card, you accept them. Please read them; they say what we do and, just as importantly, what we do not do.

1. What AjoAutomate is

AjoAutomate is a tool that helps a group of people run a rotating savings circle (an Ajo, Esusu or ROSCA). Through Alaga, our WhatsApp bot, it records who is in a circle, collects each member's contribution on the agreed schedule, keeps the ledger, and transfers each cycle's pool to the member whose turn it is.

AjoAutomate is not a bank, a lender, an investment scheme or a guarantor. We do not hold your money in an account with us, we do not pay interest, and we do not promise that any other member will pay. Money moves between members' bank accounts and cards through Paystack, a licensed Nigerian payment processor.

2. Who can use it

You must be at least 18, able to enter a binding contract, and the lawful holder of the WhatsApp number, card and bank account you use with us. You must give accurate details and keep them up to date.

3. Hosts and members

A host is the person who sets up a circle with Alaga: the circle name, the contribution amount, the number of members and the payout order. The host runs the circle's WhatsApp group, shares the invite link, and makes the decisions this agreement reserves for the host.

A member is anyone who joins a circle through its invite link, confirms their slot and authorizes a card. By joining, you agree to contribute the circle's fixed amount every cycle until every member has received a payout.

The WhatsApp group is created and run by the host. Alaga is not a member of it and is not responsible for anything said or done there.

4. Card authorization and collection

  • At setup, Paystack verifies your card with a ₦100 charge and returns an authorization that lets us charge future contributions to that card. You are authorizing us to charge the circle's contribution amount, or whatever part of it remains unpaid, on each due date for the life of the circle.
  • You may instead pay by bank transfer to the dedicated virtual account number we give you, in full or in part, before the due date. The automatic charge on the due date is reduced by whatever you have already transferred. We do not charge twice for the same contribution.
  • If a charge fails, we may retry it in smaller amounts, and Alaga will message you privately. Keep enough funds available on the due date.
  • You may withdraw a card authorization at any time by contacting us. Doing so while a circle is running stops automatic collection for that circle but does not cancel your obligation to the other members.

5. Payouts

  • When a cycle's full pool has been collected, we transfer it to the bank account of the member whose turn it is, less our fee.
  • If the pool is short because a member has not paid, we do not pay out a reduced amount automatically. We notify the host, who decides whether to wait, to pay out what has been collected, or to take another course. We carry out the host's decision but are not responsible for it.
  • Payouts depend on the bank details you give us and on the banking system. We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by incorrect details or by a bank or Paystack.

6. Fees

Our fee is 1.5% of each payout, deducted from the pool at the moment the payout is made. The ₦100 card verification charge at setup is made by Paystack to confirm your card. There is no subscription and no fee for joining. If we ever change the fee, we will tell every affected member through Alaga before it applies, and it will not apply to circles already running.

7. Defaults and disputes between members

A member who does not contribute owes that amount to the other members of the circle, not to AjoAutomate. We provide the ledger, the reminders and the host's tools; we do not collect debts, arbitrate, or guarantee any member's payment. Disputes between members, or between a member and a host, are between those people, and the host's decisions under section 5 are the host's own.

8. Your responsibilities

  • Keep your phone and WhatsApp account secure. Anything sent to Alaga from your number is treated as coming from you.
  • Never share your ledger links, card details, PINs or one-time passcodes with anyone. We never ask for them.
  • Do not use AjoAutomate for anything unlawful, including money laundering or fraud, and do not attempt to interfere with the service, other members' data or Paystack's systems.
  • Do not join a circle you cannot afford to contribute to for its full length.

9. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep Alaga available at all times but depend on WhatsApp, Twilio, Paystack and our hosting providers, and we may need to pause the service for maintenance. Message limits imposed by WhatsApp may occasionally delay a reminder. We may improve or change features; we will not remove a feature a running circle relies on without notice.

10. Suspension and ending

We may suspend or close your access if you break these terms, if we are required to by law or by a payment provider, or if we reasonably suspect fraud. You may leave a circle only in accordance with what you have agreed with its members; leaving does not cancel contributions already due. We may close a circle that has no active members.

11. Liability

To the fullest extent Nigerian law allows, AjoAutomate is not liable for another member's failure to pay, for decisions made by a host, for losses caused by incorrect details you gave us, or for failures of WhatsApp, Twilio, Paystack or a bank. Our total liability to you for anything arising from these terms is limited to the fees we have received from payouts made to you in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

12. Privacy

How we handle your data is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

13. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any dispute that cannot be resolved by talking to us goes to the courts of Lagos State.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected], or see the contact page.