Legal Start a deal

Holding agreement

How Hoolam receives, holds, releases and refunds the money in every deal. It is an agreement between Hoolam, the buyer and the seller, and it applies to each deal from the moment the buyer pays.

Contents
  1. 01Words used in this agreement
  2. 02What Hoolam does, and doesn’t do
  3. 03How a deal starts
  4. 04Our fee
  5. 05Paying in
  6. 06How we hold the money
  7. 07When the seller is paid
  8. 08When the buyer is refunded
  9. 09Cancelling a deal
  10. 10Problems and how we decide
  11. 11Freezing money
  12. 12Our responsibility
  13. 13Messages and records
  14. 14Changes to this agreement
  15. 15The law that applies

In short

  • The buyer pays Hoolam, not the seller. The money stays the buyer’s until it is released.
  • We hold it with Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, a bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We don’t spend it, lend it or invest it.
  • The seller is paid when the buyer says they are happy, or when our team decides a problem in the seller’s favour.
  • If the item never comes, or our team decides for the buyer, the buyer gets back everything they paid, our fee included.
  • Whoever starts the deal pays our fee: 5% of the price, never less than ₦300, never more than ₦5,000.

Words used in this agreement

Hoolam, we, us
HOOLAM DIGITAL PLATFORM LTD, a company registered in Nigeria with RC number 9919417, at 8, Delta Bakery Road, Woji, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Deal
One sale between a buyer and a seller, made through Hoolam on WhatsApp, with its own deal code (for example HL-7K2QD).
Buyer and seller
The two people in a deal. Together, “the parties”.
Price
The amount the buyer and seller agreed for the item, as shown in the deal summary on WhatsApp.
Fee
What Hoolam charges for the deal, explained in section 4.
Held money
The money the buyer paid into a deal, while Hoolam is holding it.
“I’m happy”
The buyer’s confirmation, in the WhatsApp chat, that they received the item as agreed.
Problem
A report from the buyer, in the WhatsApp chat, that something is wrong with the deal. Also called a dispute.
Payment partner
Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, through its Monnify payment service, which receives buyers’ payments, keeps the held money and sends payouts and refunds.

What Hoolam does, and doesn’t do

Hoolam stands in the middle of a deal so neither side has to trust a stranger first. We receive the buyer’s money, hold it, and pass it on only when the deal’s conditions are met.

We are not the seller, we are not the buyer, and we are not a party to the sale itself. We don’t see, inspect or deliver the item. The seller alone is responsible for the item being as described, legal to sell, and delivered. The buyer alone is responsible for paying, receiving the item, and telling us honestly whether it arrived as agreed.

Hoolam is not a bank and does not take deposits. The held money is kept by our payment partner, which is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We don’t pay interest on held money.

How a deal starts

Either side can start a deal in our WhatsApp chat.

  • The seller starts it: the seller describes the item and sets the price. The buyer joins with the deal code or link, sees the summary, and pays.
  • The buyer starts it: the buyer describes what they want and offers a price. The seller has 48 hours to accept, decline or suggest a different price. If the seller suggests a different price, the deal only goes ahead if the buyer accepts it. If the seller doesn’t answer in time, the deal closes and nothing is charged.

Before anyone pays, both sides see the same summary: the item, the price, the fee, what the buyer pays and what the seller gets. That summary is the deal. Once the buyer has paid, the price and fee can’t be changed.

For now, one deal can be up to ₦50,000. We may ask for proof of identity before allowing larger deals, and we may set a different limit for one person.

Our fee

5%of the price
₦300smallest fee
₦5,000biggest fee

Fees are rounded to the nearest ₦100. Whoever starts the deal pays the fee. If the buyer starts it, the buyer pays the price plus the fee and the seller gets the full price. If the seller starts it, the buyer pays just the price and the seller gets the price minus the fee.

The fee is shown in the deal summary before anyone pays. There is no sign-up fee, monthly fee or other charge from Hoolam. Your own bank may charge you for making a transfer; that is between you and your bank. If we change our fees, the change applies to new deals only: a deal keeps the fee it started with.

We take our fee only when the money is released to the seller. If the buyer is refunded, we take no fee.

Paying in

The buyer pays by bank transfer to a one-time account number that we send in the chat for that deal. Each account number is for one payment only and works for a short time (about 40 minutes). If it runs out, the buyer can ask for a new one in the chat. All deals are in Nigerian naira.

  • The exact amount: the deal is paid and the seller is told to send the item.
  • Less than the amount: the deal is not paid. We tell the buyer, and the part that arrived is returned to them.
  • More than the amount: the deal is paid, and the extra is returned to the buyer.
  • Paid twice, or after a deal was cancelled: the money is returned to the buyer.

We never treat money as received until our payment partner confirms it. A deal that isn’t paid within 72 hours closes. If payment arrives after it closed, we honour it and the deal goes ahead.

How we hold the money

The held money is the buyer’s until it is released. We hold it for both parties, as a neutral stakeholder. We have no right to it and we don’t use it for anything except this deal.

Held money is kept with our payment partner, apart from the money Hoolam uses to run its business. Our records track every deal separately, so the money for each deal can be accounted for at any time. Hoolam staff can’t move held money anywhere except to the seller (on release) or back to the buyer (on refund), and every such step is recorded with the name of the person who took it.

Where the money sits, step by step, is explained on the page Where the money sits.

When the seller is paid

We release the held money to the seller when either of these happens:

  1. The buyer taps “I’m happy” in the chat. The buyer can do this at any time after paying, even before the seller marks the item as sent.
  2. Our team decides a problem in the seller’s favour (see section 9), or, where the buyer has gone quiet, our team is satisfied from the evidence that the item was delivered as agreed (see below).

If the buyer goes quiet

Held money is never released just because time has passed. 24 hours after the seller marks the item as sent, we remind the buyer to confirm. If there is still no answer 72 hours after it was sent, our team contacts both sides. If the buyer doesn’t respond and the seller shows that the item was delivered (for example with proof of delivery or the conversation with the buyer), our team may release the money to the seller. We tell the buyer before we do.

How the seller is paid

We send the seller the price, minus our fee if the seller started the deal, by bank transfer to the Nigerian bank account the seller gave us. The account must be in the seller’s own name. Most transfers arrive within minutes. If a transfer fails or is delayed by a bank, we tell the seller and try again; the money stays held until it arrives.

When the buyer is refunded

We return the held money to the buyer when:

  1. our team decides a problem in the buyer’s favour; or
  2. the seller can’t or won’t send the item after the buyer paid, and the deal is cancelled.

A refund is everything the buyer paid, our fee included. We send it to the bank account the buyer gives us in the chat, which must be in the buyer’s own name. We can only send a refund once the buyer has given us that account.

Where the buyer is to send the item back, our team will say so in the chat and may hold the refund until the seller confirms it was returned.

At present, the held money in a deal goes wholly to one side: all to the seller, or all back to the buyer. We don’t split it.

Cancelling a deal

  • Before the buyer pays, the buyer can cancel and the seller can decline, at no cost. Hoolam can also close an unpaid deal.
  • After the buyer pays, a deal can’t simply be cancelled. It ends with a release to the seller or a refund to the buyer, as above.

Problems and how we decide

If something is wrong, the buyer taps “Problem” in the chat before confirming. From that moment the held money is frozen: it can’t go to the seller until the problem is decided. Problems can also be raised with our team by either side through “Talk to a person”.

A member of the Hoolam team looks at the deal. We may ask both sides for information, photos, videos, proof of delivery or the conversation between them. We decide based on what we have, acting fairly and in good faith, and we explain our decision to both sides in the chat. We are not required to investigate beyond the information we are given.

Our decision settles what happens to the held money. It doesn’t take away any right either party has under Nigerian law, including the right to go to court or to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. How this works in practice is on the page If something goes wrong.

Freezing money

We may freeze held money, or delay a release or refund, where:

  1. a problem has been reported;
  2. we reasonably suspect fraud, a stolen or prohibited item, or a breach of our Terms or Acceptable use rules; or
  3. the law, a court, or a regulator requires it.

We tell the parties when we freeze money, unless the law stops us from doing so. The money stays frozen only until the reason has been dealt with.

Our responsibility

Our job under this agreement is to receive, hold, release and refund the money in each deal as set out here, and we will do that with care. We are not responsible for the item, its quality, legality or delivery, or for what the buyer and seller do or say to each other.

If we fail in our job, the most we are responsible for in a deal is the held money in that deal plus any fee we took for it. Nothing in this agreement limits our responsibility for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit.

Messages and records

We tell you about your deal in the WhatsApp chat, and those messages count as notice to you. Every step of a deal (who did what, and when) is recorded, and those records are what we rely on if there’s a question later.

Changes to this agreement

We may update this agreement. For important changes, such as fees, how money moves, or how problems are decided, we will give at least 7 days’ notice on this website and in WhatsApp before they take effect. A deal that has already started keeps the terms it started with.

The law that applies

This agreement is governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If a court finds any part of it can’t be enforced, the rest still applies. Together with our Terms of service, this agreement is the whole agreement between Hoolam and the parties about holding the money in a deal.