Terms and Conditions

PART ONE - Merchant Processing Service

1 General

1.1 Our Services enable you to accept payment card transactions (“Transaction(s)”) for your customers (“Cardholder”) with the use of your compatible mobile device, our App and a Terminal (which will not be needed for manually entered transactions). We provide an updated list of all compatible mobile devices and the accepted payment cards on our website.

1.2 You can use the Services either through a Terminal provided by us or by manual entry of the payment card information. When you accept Transactions using one of our Terminals, the Terminal will be used to process and authorise Transactions between the payment card and our servers.

1.3 We may provide you with card-not-present payment services that enable you to accept e-commerce payments through a third-party application (a “Partner Application”) i.e. through a mobile application or a website, provided to you by a partner (the “Partner”) under a separate commercial relationship between you and the Partner. Details on Partners are available upon request. In case you only accept e-commerce Payments, the provisions of this Agreement relating to Card Readers and procedures relating to a card being presented by the payer do not apply to you.

We are only responsible for the payment services provided by us as part of the partner application. We are not responsible for the functionality of the Partner Application or any service provided to you or card holders by the Partner.

If agreed between you and the Partner, we may charge fees that not only cover our transaction fees but also include a charge on behalf of the Partner to collect funds that you owe to a Partner under the separate commercial agreement you have with the Partner (the “Partner Charge”).

1.4 We will cause any funds resulting from your Transactions to be credited to us and will pay out any amounts owed to you under these Terms to your bank account after we have received them ("Payout"). Before each Payout we will deduct the applicable fees (“Fees”). In case you select a pricing plan (“Plan”) you shall pay any applicable recurring fees based on the Plan you select. Our current Fees and Plans are listed on our website.

1.4.1 By accepting these terms, you declare and confirm to us that we may charge different fees for different card products as per the fee schedule.

1.4.2 We will provide you with access to ongoing account statements. By accepting these terms, you confirm and acknowledge that we will aggregate fee information by brand, application, payment instrument categories and rates of interchange fees applicable to the transaction, as applicable, and that we make this information available to you periodically, at least once per month and in a manner which allows you to store the information and reproduce it in unchanged form.

1.5 Our obligations under these Terms are limited to providing you with an Account and the Services. We will use all reasonable means to provide the Services to you twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, all year. We may, however, suspend at our reasonable discretion the Services to be provided to you or limit the duration of the Services in order to perform maintenance services or if required by law or if you have failed to comply with material obligations under these Terms or if there is, in our view, a reasonable suspicion of money laundering and/or terrorist financing.

1.6 We provide you with a Transaction history and further analysis systems, if applicable.

1.7 We reserve the right to appoint a third party in order to fulfil some or all of our obligations under these Terms.

2 SumUp Account

2.1 To use the Services of SumUp you must register and sign up for a SumUp Account (“Account”). You confirm that all information submitted by you about you and/or your business is valid at the time of entering into these Terms. Upon successful sign-up, you will receive a confirmation email to your primary, registered email address. You may open only one (1) Account, unless we explicitly approve the opening of additional Accounts or sub Accounts. You must ensure that the information recorded on your Account is always accurate and up to date.

2.2 You must choose a reasonably descriptive identification name that - if different from your company name - clearly identifies you or your business. You must also provide your correct contact phone number. The identification name and the contact number may appear on the Cardholder’s credit or debit card statement.

2.3 When you have registered and signed up for an Account and accepted these Terms, we may perform a credit check on you and may require you to supply additional documentation in order for us to be able to carry out any necessary checks in accordance with applicable anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws and regulations as determined by us in our sole discretion. We shall obtain such credit information and make such additional checks and you shall assist us in that regard to the extent necessary.

2.4 The decision as to whether your identity has been properly verified according to section 2.3 will be made entirely by us at our sole discretion. Until you have been successfully identified and verified by us, these Terms constitute a preliminary agreement that binds you fully and we reserve the right to terminate or not to start to provide any Services under these Terms at any time during this period.

2.5 The Services are payment and e-money services and the Account is not a bank account.  The funds held in the Account do not constitute deposits and do not earn any interest.  The Account is not covered by a compensation scheme. Your Account will be registered on one of our servers. We will hold an amount equal to any amounts owed to you by us separated from our own funds, but together with the amounts held on behalf of other Accounts, in a segregated bank account and such funds will be safeguarded in accordance with our obligations under the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011. In the event that we become insolvent, any funds that we have been received by us are protected against the claims made by our creditors.

2.6 If there is no activity in your SumUp Account for two (2) years, consecutively, we will be entitled to send a notification to your registered email address and in case you do not respond to our notice within thirty (30) days and state that you want to keep your Account, we will automatically close your Account. You will still be able to redeem your funds at any time by contacting Customer Care (by email at [email protected] or via our online chat facility available on our website - https://sumup.com.mt/contact/.

3 Restrictions of Using the Services

3.1 In order to use our Services you require a compatible mobile device (except for 3G devices) and Internet connection services supplied to you by third parties. Such third parties may charge you a fee for using a mobile device and/or Internet connection to access the Services and you are solely responsible for the payment of such fees.

3.2 By accepting these Terms you confirm that you are a natural person or legal entity acting only in your own commercial or professional capacity (and not in a personal capacity) and at the time of signing these Terms are duly authorised to conduct business in one or more of the countries supported by us (“Territories”). We provide and will update from time to time a list of the Territories on our website. If you are a natural person, you must be eighteen (18) years or older to use the Services. We may require at any time that you provide evidence of your age.

3.3 By accepting these terms you also agree to the network rules (“Network Rules”) as set forth by the credit card organisations including, but not limited to Visa, MasterCard and American Express (together, “Card Schemes”). The Network Rules may require that some of our merchants enter into a separate agreement with one of our acquiring bank partners or the Card Schemes themselves depending on their volume of Transactions. If you are such a merchant we will notify you and provide you with a separate agreement at such time. In case of any conflict between these Terms and such an acquirer agreement, the terms of the acquirer agreement shall prevail for the purposes of resolving this conflict.

3.4 Without explicit prior authorisation by us, you are not entitled to accept Transactions related to goods and/or services, (i) that are not provided for your own account or are provided by order of any third party other than you; (ii) that are not provided in the ordinary course of your business as identified to us, including accepting repayments of a credit previously granted or of a cash payment previously made by you to the Cardholder; (iii) involving or being connected to any illegal content, content that is subject to protection of minors according to applicable law or instructions for making weapons or explosives; (iv) that are related to gambling services, whether illegal or not, under any applicable laws; (v) that are related to sex shops or pornographic entertainment (except for adult entertainment magazines); (vi) that are related to weapons or illegal drugs or products; (vii) that are related to alcohol or tobacco to the extent that alcohol and tobacco represent the only products sold by your business; (viii) that we reasonably believe to be capable of damaging any of the Card Schemes' or our reputation; (ix) that are prohibited under any laws or regulations applicable to you, to the cardholder or to any of your products or services, or which are otherwise illegal. We shall at our sole discretion decide whether your use of the Services shall be deemed attributable to any of the above products or services and therefore not in accordance with the Terms. We reserve the right in our sole discretion, to add categories of prohibited transactions or business categories by adding such categories either to these Terms or an acceptable use policy published on the Support Centre of our website.

3.5 If you submit to us or attempt to submit to us any Transaction we believe is in violation of these Terms or the law and/or exposes us, other users of our Services or our processors to harm (including without limitation fraud, brand or reputational damage or criminal acts) we reserve the right not to authorise, to suspend or reverse the Transaction; and/or to close or suspend your Account; and/or to report the transaction to the relevant law enforcement agency; and/or to claim damages from you; in case we apply any of the above.

4 Terminals & Software

4.1 You can purchase or lease our Terminals at a purchase price or lease terms as determined by us from time to time or as published on our website. Separate terms may apply for the purchase of Terminals.

4.2 You can use only one Terminal per Account. Upon request we may supply you with additional Terminals for any additional Account or sub-Accounts as authorised by us.

4.3 You are not allowed to sell, rent, license or transfer the Terminal to a third party or allow the use of the Terminal by a third party. You are also not allowed to modify the software or the hardware of the Terminal in any way. You must not use the Terminal for any purpose other than accepting Transactions.

4.4 Except for any given purchase of the Terminal, at our request, you shall return the Terminal to us, either upon termination or expiry of these Terms or in order to replace an existing Terminal. In case you terminate these Terms, you shall return the Terminal at your own cost.

4.5 You shall install any and all App updates as notified by us to you, to continue using the Services.

5 Your Obligations

5.1 You may initiate payments under these Terms by exclusively using Terminals that were provided to you by us.

5.2 You shall not accept any Transactions where the payment card does not contain all of the elements that are typical for that type of card, where the payment card appears to be manipulated or damaged, or where the payment card has expired.

5.3 Without our permission you must not set a minimum threshold that is higher than euro 1.00 for any Transaction. Furthermore, you will provide Cardholders with at least equal conditions as you provide to those customers who pay in cash for your goods and/or services and that you will not charge Cardholders any additional amounts or surcharges.

5.4 You must monitor your Account and your Transaction history and refund to the respective Cardholder any Transactions that you received in error or the excess where the amount of the Transaction was wrong.

5.5 You shall promptly inform us of any changes in the information that you provided at the time of entering into these Terms, including changes in the type or nature of your business, changes in the product range, any sale or lease of your company or any other change of ownership, any change of the legal form or name of your company, changes of the address or bank account details of the company, a material adverse change in your financial condition and changes in the information that you have provided in accordance with the laws against money laundering or terrorist financing.

5.6 You shall display any SumUp advertisement material that you receive from us in plain view at your business premises. Such material may include stickers for your store, shop or car window with the SumUp logo and/or the Card Schemes’ logos or signs or leaflets required to be displayed by the Card Schemes, law or SumUp.

5.7 You shall make available to the Cardholder a paper-based receipt of the Transaction if required by law or Card Scheme regulations. Additionally, you may provide Cardholders with an option (but not in lieu of a paper-based receipt if such is required by law) to receive a receipt for the Transaction via email or text message.

5.8 You acknowledge that you are solely responsible to ensure that your Account login details are kept secure from any other person, that no user of the Terminal shall manipulate the data input and that there is no unauthorised use of your Account, Terminals or of any other confidential information associated with the use of the Services. If you suspect or know your Account has been used without authorisation you have to notify our customer service through our website immediately (by email at [email protected] or via our online chat facility available on our website - https://sumup.com.mt/contact/) and/or change your login password via our website. We will take reasonable actions to prevent unauthorised use of your data once we receive such notification.

5.9 You are obligated to comply with the applicable provisions of the Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) during the duration of these terms ("PCI Compliance"). In particular, you must comply with these regulations with regards to the storage, processing and transmission of payment card data. Information about the PCI-DSS is available on the website of the PCI Council, https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/.

5.10 You must promptly review any statements (e.g. invoices or settlement statements) provided by us as well as the settlements, refunds, chargebacks or any other transactions, paid or charged to your bank account or the Cardholder. You must object to the statement without undue delay, at the latest within twenty-five (25) business days (“Business Day” means any day from Monday to Friday but not including bank holidays or other public holidays in Ireland) after receipt of the relevant statement or date of the respective payment. Failure to object in time shall be deemed an approval unless an error has been made by us. Where an error has been made by us, you must notify us without undue delay and in any event no later than thirteen (13) months from the debit date of the payment transaction to which the error relates (as more particularly detailed in Clause 27 (Errors and Unauthorised Payments). We reserve the right to reissue corrected statements or correct any payments after the expiration of this deadline. Except as required by law, you shall be solely responsible for keeping records of all Transactions and other data related to your Account and your use of the Services.

PART TWO - Payment Processing

6 Funds

6.1 For the purpose of these Terms, you explicitly authorise us and any financial institution that we work with to hold, receive and disburse funds as set forth in section 1.3 on your behalf. The above authorisation will remain in full force and effect until your Account is closed or terminated. Payouts to your bank account are executed, at least in part, by third party financial institutions (for example, the banks where you and us hold our bank accounts) and we shall not be responsible for the ultimate credit of funds to your bank account once we have paid out the funds to your bank.

6.2 You will not receive interest or any other earnings on any funds in your Account. You irrevocably assign to us all rights and legal interests to any interest and/or other earnings that may accrue or are attributable to the funds in your Account.

6.3 In case you process Transactions where the Cardholder’s payment card details are manually entered into our App or the Cardholders' smartphone for a total amount exceeding our threshold in any trailing seven-day period, SumUp will withhold the amount in excess of this threshold for thirty (30) days before transferring the funds to your Account. If for any reason you are likely to exceed the above-mentioned threshold, you may contact us to ask for an accelerated Payout schedule. Based on a variety of factors, SumUp will consider your request to determine if you qualify for such accelerated Payouts. The threshold for such manually entered Transactions can be found in the fee section of our website.

6.4 We will not make any Payouts of funds related to transactions that have not yet been received by us from the designated financial institutions.

6.5 We shall be entitled to conduct an investigation or resolve any pending dispute related to your Account, and as a result we may restrict access to your funds for the time it takes for us to do so. We also may restrict access to your funds as required by law or court order.

7 Reserve 7.1 For the purpose of securing the performance of your payment obligations under these Terms, you acknowledge and confirm that we shall be entitled at any time to temporarily withhold Payouts to you and to accrue a reserve (“Reserve”). We may withhold a risk-profile-based Reserve at our sole discretion at any time for your use of the Services.

7.2 Notwithstanding section 7.1, the Reserve shall also serve as a security in our favour and we shall be entitled to collect and set off from the Reserve all amounts that you owe us under these Terms, including any Account deficit balance, without prior notice to you in every individual case.

7.3 If you owe us an amount that exceeds the amount of the Reserve, you will immediately, but not later than 3 (three) Business Days of our demand pay us the respective amount. You hereby explicitly authorise us to debit any amounts owed to us, including any costs and expenses incurred in connection with the collection of these amounts, from your bank account used to receive Payouts and/or your credit card or bank account used to purchase any of our Terminals or to set off such amounts against any Payouts owed to you. Your failure to fully pay amounts that you owe us on demand will be a serious breach of these Terms and you will bear all costs associated with collection of such amounts, including without limitation, attorneys’ fees and expenses, collection agency fees, and any applicable interest.

8 Chargebacks

8.1 The amount of a Transaction may be charged back to your Account if the Transaction is disputed, is reversed for any reason by the relevant Card Scheme, our processor, the Cardholder or any of our designated financial institutions, was not authorised or we have any reason to believe that the Transaction was not authorised, or is allegedly unlawful, suspicious, or in violation of these Terms (“Chargeback”).

8.2 You shall assist us when requested, at your expense, to investigate any of your Transactions processed through the Services and acknowledge that your failure to assist us in a timely manner, including providing necessary documentation not later than ten (10) Business Days from our request, may result in an irreversible Chargeback. We reserve the right to charge a fee for investigating and/or mediating any Chargebacks; any fees to be disclosed from time to time on our website.

8.3 If a Chargeback dispute has not been resolved by either the issuing bank or Card Scheme in your favour or if you choose not to contest a Chargeback, we reserve the right to collect from you the original Transaction amount plus the Fees and credit the original Transaction amount back to the Cardholder.

8.4 If we determine that you are incurring an excessive amount of Chargebacks, we are entitled to delay Payouts from the Account to your bank account, keep a Reserve in an amount reasonably determined by us to cover anticipated Chargebacks and related fees or terminate or suspend the Services and close your Account.

9 Refunds and Returns

9.1 Under these Terms and by accepting Transactions with the Services, you shall process returns and provide refunds through your Account in accordance with these Terms and the Network Rules.

9.2 The Network Rules require you - amongst other requirements - to offer and disclose at the time of purchase a fair return and cancellation policy and not to give cash refunds on Transactions, unless required by law, and not to accept cash or any other item of value for making a Transaction refund.

9.3 The amount of the refund must include any and all taxes required to be refunded and cannot exceed the amount of the original Transaction.

9.4 In case of an exchange, partial return or erroneous Transaction or Transaction amount you shall always refund the total amount of the original Transaction first and then initiate a new Transaction for any new goods and/or services sold or amounts actually chargeable.

9.5 Refunds processed through your Account are authorised up to thirty (30) days from the day you initiated the Transaction. We shall collect from you the original Transaction amount plus the Fees and credit the original Transaction amount back to the Cardholder.

9.6 If we determine that you are processing an excessive amount of refunds, we may disable your refund option.

10 Taxes

10.1 You shall be liable for determining, collecting, withholding, reporting and remitting to the appropriate tax authorities any and all taxes assessed, incurred, or required to be collected, paid, or withheld for any reason in connection with the use of our Services. If required to do so by a law or a government authority we shall be authorised but not obligated to report your Account details and history of Transactions to the relevant authorities.

PART THREE – SumUp Prepaid Card

11 General

11.1 SumUp may at its discretion issue you with a Prepaid Card (“Card”) and Wallet (“Wallet”) which is connected to your SumUp Merchant Account. The availability of this service is subject to activation protocols, identity verification and funds availability, and is not universally available to all SumUp customers.

11.2 Transaction fees may be charged for using this service. The fee schedule can be seen here.

11.3 The SumUp Prepaid Card is issued by SumUp Limited, pursuant to the license it holds with Mastercard International Incorporated.

11.4 Use of this Card requires a SumUp Merchant Account and as such all of the Terms listed in PARTs ONE, TWO & FOUR (in addition to this PART THREE) also apply to this Service.

11.5 The SumUp Prepaid Card is intended for businesses and may only be used to make payments for a business registered with SumUp. The SumUp Prepaid Card must not be used for personal use.

12 The Service

12.1 Any SumUp Merchant Account which has a Card attached has the option to receive settlement of card processing funds to their bank account or to their Card. You may choose the appropriate settlement method by accessing your account through the SumUp online portal.

12.2 Where you opt to receive funds on your Card, the funds are stored on in Electronic Money Wallet maintained by SumUp on your behalf for this purpose.

13 Loading funds to the Wallet and Withdrawal of Funds

13.1 Your Wallet may be loaded by opting to receive the proceeds of your merchant card processing directly to your Wallet.

13.2 In addition to funding your Wallet through your merchant processing activity, SumUp may also provide you with the ability to fund your Wallet by uploading funds to it directly through a credit or debit card payment or through a bank transfer.

13.3 Transfers to your Wallet cannot be reversed or cancelled. However, you may request settlement to your bank account at any time.

13.4 The SumUp Prepaid Card may be used to purchase goods and services with any merchant displaying the MasterCard acceptance symbol or to withdraw cash at any cashpoint displaying the MasterCard logo.

13.5 Where purchases are made using a SumUp Prepaid Card, we will process your transaction instructions when we receive the Transaction message from the Merchant. We receive all your other transaction instructions at the time you ask us to complete the relevant transaction.

14 Redeeming Unspent Funds from the Wallet

14.1 You may choose to redeem the balance of funds held in your Wallet to your bank account at any time. This redemption is subject to security and anti-fraud controls and you may be required to confirm your identity beforehand.

14.2 There is no fee associated with the redemption of funds outlined in Clause 14.1.

14.3 Overdrafts are not available on your SumUp Merchant Account.

15 Your Obligations

15.1 You must set a PIN when you Register and activate your Card.

15.2 You should not write or keep your PIN with your Card.

15.3 Never share your PIN with anyone. Subject to Clause 15.4, you are responsible for all authorised transactions initiated and fees incurred by use of your Card. If you permit another person to have access to your Card, Card Number, Account Number, PIN, Virtual Account, or online login credentials, we will treat this as if you have authorised such use and, subject to Clause 15.4, you will be liable for all transactions and fees incurred by those persons.

15.4 As a Payer, where the Card is lost or stolen, or you have failed to keep the security features of your Card safe in accordance with this these Terms, your maximum liability will be limited to €50 or equivalent local value, unless you have acted fraudulently or have with intent or gross negligence failed to comply with these Terms, in which case you may be liable for the entire loss.

15.5 Some Card transactions may require additional security verification through the Mastercard’s 3d Secure System before they are completed. This may require you to answer security questions, to verify the transaction through the use of a confirmation code received by sms or email, or to verify the transaction by a fingerprint reading taken through a compatible device.

15.6 You are wholly responsible for the use of each Card, Card Number, Account Number, PIN, Virtual Account, or online login credentials according to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

15.7 Contact us at once via customer service at [email protected] or via our online chat facility available on our website https://sumup.com.mt/contact/. If you believe your Card, Card Number, Account Number, PIN, Virtual Account, or online login credentials have been lost or stolen or that someone has transferred or may transfer money from your Card Account without your permission.

15.7.1 Should you suspect that your Card is compromised you may temporarily block it by logging into the SumUp dashboard. You should also contact us in such instances so that our security team can investigate and protect your account.

15.8 Strong customer authentication. In order to process transactions, SumUp requires additional security features and an additional method of authentication is required to verify your identity. The combination of a smartphone associated with your account and a personalised feature, such as your pin or password, serve as the additional method of authentication. You must have both of the above in order to process transactions.

15.8.1 You are obliged to keep your pin and password confidential at all times and to store your smartphone adequately secured against access by third parties. The reason for this is that any person who is in possession of your pin, password or smartphone can use the Services in an unauthorised manner.

15.8.2 The following must specifically be observed in order to protect your pin, password and smartphone:

1.  Your pin and password must not be stored electronically in an unsecured manner.

2. When entering your pin or password it must be ensured that other persons cannot see the information.

3. Your pin or password must not be forwarded outside the SumUp Wallet security procedure, i.e. for instance it should not be sent by e-mail.  

4. Your pin or password must not be stored in the same place as your smartphone.

15.9 Open Banking. You may enable open-banking providers and third-party providers to have access to your account information or to make payments on your behalf, to the extent that they are acting in accordance with your instructions and the applicable regulatory requirements. These providers must be permitted by law to make payments, and will often need to be authorised by a Regulator such as the Financial Conduct Authority. 

15.9.1 If you are considering using an open-banking provider or third-party provider, you should ask them for details of their authorisation status (if in place) and also additionally check this yourself. (You can do this by checking the relevant Regulators online register of authorised companies). If you wish to disable open-banking providers and third-party providers to have access to your account information or to make payments on your behalf, you should contact us or them directly.

15.9.2 Any payment requests we may receive from open-banking providers and third-party providers enabled by you shall be treated as if they were sent to us by you to us and shall be subject to these Terms. If you are expecting open-banking providers or third-party providers to make a payment on your behalf and they do not do this, we assume no responsibility for the nonfulfilment of your payment. 

16 Term, Suspension, Termination of the Wallet & Card Service

16.1 In accordance with applicable anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws and regulations we are required to obtain, verify, and record information for all of our customers. Until this process is complete your service may be partially limited or completely restricted.

16.1.1 If your identity is partially verified, full use of the Card Account will be restricted, but you may be able to use the Card for in-store purchase transactions. Restrictions include: no ATM withdrawals, international transactions, account-to-account transfers and additional loads. Use of Card Account is also subject to fraud prevention restrictions at any time, with or without notice.

16.2 We reserve the right to block, suspend, or cancel your Card or Wallet if, as a result of our policies and processes we detect what we reasonably believe to be fraudulent, suspicious or criminal activity or any activity that is inconsistent with these Terms. In the event we block, suspend or cancel your Card or Wallet, unless there are objectively justified security reasons or it is unlawful for us to do so, we will inform you of the blocking, suspension or cancellation of your Card or Wallet before your Card or Wallet is blocked, suspended or cancelled where possible before or at the latest after your Card or Wallet is blocked, suspended or cancelled.

16.3 We may temporarily suspend your Card or Wallet in the event we detect unusual or suspicious account activity. If we exercise this right, we will incur no liability to you because of any resulting unavailability of the funds in your Card Account and/or Virtual Account, or your inability to use your Card.

16.4 For security reasons, we may limit the amount or number of transactions you can make on your Card. You may not use your Card for illegal online gambling or any other illegal transaction. We may increase, reduce, cancel, or suspend any of the restrictions or add new ones at any time.