Legal
Terms of service
Last updated 9 October 2026
1. What Chama is
Chama is record-keeping software for savings groups. It records and reports on money your group handles elsewhere — through M-Pesa, a bank, or cash. Chama never receives, holds, transfers or lends your money. We are not a bank, a SACCO, a deposit-taking institution or a payment service provider, and nothing in Chama is financial, investment, tax or legal advice.
2. Your group's responsibilities
Your officials are responsible for the accuracy of what they enter, including whether a payment genuinely reached your group's account. A recorded M-Pesa code is a reference your treasurer has typed in; it is not proof of payment, and Chama does not verify it with Safaricom. Confirm money in your own account before confirming an entry.
3. Accounts
You must give accurate details, keep your password to yourself, and be at least 18 years old. You are responsible for what happens under your login. Tell us immediately if you think someone else has access.
4. Subscriptions
Each chama starts with a free trial. After that, access to record new activity requires an active subscription at the published price for your plan. Payments are verified against our receiving account before a plan activates. If a subscription lapses, your records remain readable and exportable for at least 90 days; new entries are paused. Fees already paid are not refundable except where Kenyan law requires it.
5. Acceptable use
Do not use Chama for unlawful purposes, including fraud, money laundering, or any scheme that pays existing members from new members' deposits. Do not attempt to access another group's data, probe our security, or upload malware. We may suspend an account that breaks these rules.
6. Availability and liability
We work to keep Chama available and accurate, but it is provided without warranty of uninterrupted service. To the extent Kenyan law allows, our total liability to a group is limited to the subscription fees that group paid in the twelve months before the claim. We are not liable for losses caused by incorrect data your own officials entered, or by money mishandled outside Chama.
7. Ending the agreement
You may stop using Chama at any time and export your records first. We may end this agreement on 30 days' notice, or immediately for a serious breach. These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya.
8. Changes
If we change these terms materially we will tell group chairpersons in the app at least 14 days beforehand.