Terms of Service

Last updated: 10 September 2026

1. Who we are, and accepting these terms

Chatly is operated by Vularis (“Chatly”, “we”, “us”), a business registered in South Africa. By creating an account or using Chatly (the “Service”) you agree to these terms. If you are agreeing on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind that business.

These terms should be read together with our Privacy Policy and our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

2. What the Service does

Chatly connects your WhatsApp Business number to tools for messaging your customers, showing a catalogue, taking orders and collecting card payments. You remain the merchant and the seller of record for everything you sell. Chatly is software you use to run your business — we are not a party to any sale you make, and we do not sell your goods or services.

The Service depends on third parties we do not control, principally Meta (the WhatsApp Business Platform) and Paystack (payments). Their rules, pricing, approval decisions and availability apply to you directly, and a change or outage on their side can affect the Service.

3. Payments: how the money actually moves

This section matters more than any other, so it is written plainly.

Chatly never holds, receives or controls your sales revenue. When your customer pays, Paystack processes that payment and settles it into your own bank account, under a Paystack subaccount created in your business name using the bank details you supply. The split happens at Paystack at the moment of the transaction.

Our fee is a percentage of each sale, deducted by Paystack as part of that split and paid to us. Paystack’s own processing fees apply in addition and are charged as set out on our pricing page. We are not a payment service provider, a bank, or a money remitter, and we do not operate a merchant float or trust account on your behalf.

Because settlement is direct, you are responsible for the accuracy of the bank details you provide. Paystack cannot automatically verify South African account numbers, so an incorrect number can send your money to the wrong account. Chatly blocks payment collection until you have connected a payout account, but we cannot check that the account is the right one, and we are not liable for funds misdirected because of details you entered incorrectly.

Your monthly subscription fee is separate and is charged to you by us.

4. Your obligations as a merchant

You are responsible for fulfilling the orders you accept, for the quality and legality of what you sell, for your own tax obligations, and for complying with the Consumer Protection Act and any other law applicable to your business. You must comply with Meta’s WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and Commerce Policy, and you must have a lawful basis for messaging the customers you message.

You must not use the Service to send unsolicited bulk messages, to sell anything prohibited by Meta’s or Paystack’s policies, to impersonate anyone, or to attempt to interfere with or gain unauthorised access to the Service.

5. Your data and your customers’ data

Your business data, your customer records and your conversation history remain yours. We process them to provide the Service and, in respect of your customers’ personal information, act as an operator on your behalf under POPIA — you are the responsible party for the customer data you collect. You can export your data, and you can ask us to delete it when you leave.

6. Fees, billing and cancellation

Subscription plans are billed monthly in advance at the prices published on our pricing page, and the per-sale percentage is charged as described in section 3. We will give you reasonable notice before changing prices. WhatsApp message fees are charged by Meta directly to the payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account; Chatly does not bill you for them.

You may cancel at any time; cancellation stops future charges from your next billing date. Refunds are governed by our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

7. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these terms, that is being used unlawfully, or where Meta or Paystack require us to. Where circumstances allow, we will tell you first and give you a chance to put it right. On termination you keep the right to export your data for a reasonable period.

You may close your account at any time from the dashboard or by emailing us.

8. Intellectual property

The Service, and its content, features and functionality, remain the property of Vularis and its licensors, protected by South African and international intellectual property law. You keep ownership of your own brand, content, catalogue and customer data.

9. Availability, warranties and liability

We work to keep the Service running but do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we do not control Meta’s or Paystack’s uptime. To the fullest extent permitted by law, and except for liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, our total liability to you in connection with the Service is limited to the subscription fees you paid us in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits or lost business.

Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 where those apply to you.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Where a change materially affects you we will give reasonable notice by email or in the dashboard. Continuing to use the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

11. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction over any dispute. Before going to court, please raise the issue with us — most things are quicker to fix directly.