TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO FAILOVER SERVICES FOR CARD PAYMENT PROCESSING
INTRODUCTION
These are the terms and conditions (“Terms”) applicable to the failover services provided by Peach Payments to certain select merchants. Reference to the "Merchant" in these terms is a reference to the Merchant who has confirmed in writing via email that it wishes to use the failover service offered to it by Peach Payments.
These Terms must be read with and are subject to the master services agreement for electronic payment processing services (“Agreement”) which governs the terms on which Peach Payments provides payment processing services to the Merchant. However, if there is any conflict between the Agreement and these Terms, these Terms will apply.
In terms of the Agreement, Peach Payments acts as a payment gateway or system operator only for processing card transactions. The Merchant has a direct relationship with an acquiring bank for the acceptance and settlement of card payments ("ISO Model").
These Terms provide for a failover mechanism to ensure continuity in card processing services if there are disruptions in card processing on the ISO Model.
FAILOVER TERMS
If there is any disruption in card processing on the ISO Model, Peach Payments may temporarily switch the Merchant to its aggregation account in order to continue card processing services, but as a third payment provider, or payment facilitator. In this instance, Peach Payments will accept card transactions on behalf of the Merchant and will settle card transaction payments to the Merchant directly ("Failover Service").
This switch may either be at the request of the Merchant, or at the discretion of Peach Payments, based on the assessment of the disruption's severity and anticipated duration.
On receiving the necessary credentials from Peach Payments (or a notification of the failover being added if the Merchant is with WooCommerce or Shopify) for the failover service, Merchant should comprehensively test the failover mechanism in a live environment to ensure its seamless operation and compatibility with Merchant's systems. Peach is not liable for any disruptions, failures, or financial implications arising from issues with the failover mechanism if the Merchant has not adequately tested it or if the Merchant fails to notify Peach of any observed issues during the testing phase.
In addition to the gateway service fee, or processing fee, payable to Peach Payments in terms of the Agreement which will still apply to the processing of transactions under the Failover Service, the Merchant will pay Peach Payments an acceptance fee for successful card transactions (including Scan To Pay or Apple Pay) facilitated by Peach Payments as follows:
During the use of the Failover Service, certain functions such as 3DS may not be available. As a result, the Merchant shall bear the risk of any disputed transaction on any card where authentication is unavailable during this period.
The Failover Services will be provided for an interim period until Peach Payments determines that card processing services on the ISO Model are restored or until Peach Payments determines that the Failover Services are no longer necessary.
In acting as a payment facilitator and accepting card transactions on the Merchant’s behalf, the following provisions apply:
the Merchant appoints Peach Payments to accept the proceeds of card transaction instructions (“Proceeds”) from Payers on the Merchant’s behalf. Payers will make payment to the Merchant, but the Proceeds will be paid to Peach Payments and held on behalf of the Merchant until paid out to the Merchant in terms of the below;
Peach Payments will hold funds accepted on behalf of the Merchant in a separate bank account and will not use these funds for Peach Payments’ own expenses;
the Merchant’s account balance with Peach Payments represents an unsecured debt owed by Peach Payments to the Merchant. Peach Payments is not acting as a bank, trustee, fiduciary or escrow agent in respect of such acquired funds. Interest, if any, accruing on any Proceeds held by Peach Payments shall accrue for the benefit of Peach Payments;
settlement will be in ZAR;
Peach Payments will credit the Merchant’s nominated bank account with the total Proceeds, less any applicable amounts placed on hold due to being the subject of a transaction dispute or fraud investigations, refund amounts, reversals, disputed amounts, and associated fines, penalties, and fees, on a daily basis (T plus 1);
this means that transactions from any given day (T) will be settled and funds transferred to the Merchant on the subsequent business day (T+1). However, settlements will only be made on regular business days. If the next day (T+1) falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the settlement will occur on the next business day;
If proceeds held on the Merchant’s behalf are insufficient to accommodate the above, the Merchant is liable to pay Peach Payments for such amounts;
Peach Payments may delay settlement until it has resolved any uncertainty of the final amount due to be settled by Peach Payments to the Merchant. This may occur where there has been any actual or suspected Dispute, fraud, or compliance violation in relation to the Transaction or the Merchant’s business, or due to there being outstanding, incomplete, or incorrect KYC documentation in relation to the Merchant, or the occurrence of any insolvency event in relation to the Merchant. In addition, Peach Payments might require additional documents from the Merchant evidencing proof of delivery, or a valid issued tax invoice in respect of an order (“Order Verification Docs”). All balances and disbursements are ZAR denominated;
Peach Payments will take reasonable steps to process requested refunds to Payers to the extent that the Payment Method allows for refunds to be processed. The Merchant must provide all information that Peach Payments may require in relation to such a refund request, including proof of sale, delivery, cancellation, and request for a refund. Unless otherwise agreed with Peach Payments, the Merchant must not refund the customer directly but should request a refund from Peach Payments in writing confirming the Transaction and the amount to be refunded. Peach Payments will deduct the refund amount from the next settlement;
Peach Payments is not obliged to settle amounts related to invalid or fraudulent transactions. The Merchant indemnifies Peach Payments against any loss or expenses Peach Payments might incur in connection with invalid or fraudulent Transactions concluded by the Merchant using the Failover Service. A Transaction will be invalid if it is:
illegal for any reason;
processed after the termination or suspension of the Agreement;
the Merchant does not supply the goods and services transacted for within the stipulated period;
the Merchant accepts the transaction without authorisation via the Peach Platform; or
it is fraudulent i.e., not for the supply of goods or services to a genuine customer or represents a transfer of funds rather than the supply of goods or services.
Peach Payments may recover any refund amounts due to a customer, chargeback amounts, invalid transaction amounts, or fraudulent transaction amounts (including any fees, costs, penalties, or expenses Peach Payments may incur because of an invalid, fraudulent or disputed Transaction) or overdue fees via set-off against the daily settlement amount or on demand against presentation of invoice.