This policy explains when money sent or spent with HaFa can come back to you, and how to ask. It is part of HaFa's Terms of Service. Where the law in your country gives you more protection, you have that protection too.
The short version
- A completed payment to another person is final. Check the name and @tag before you confirm.
- We put it right when a payment went wrong because of us, was fraudulent, or was not made by you.
- Failed payments come back by themselves. You do not need to ask.
- Shop purchases are between you and the seller. If the seller will not help, we will.
- Unused promotion budget is returned automatically.
- Tell us quickly. Report a problem within 60 days of the payment.
1. Payments between people
Payments to another HaFa user by @tag, phone number, QR code or payment link are completed almost instantly. Once completed, they cannot be cancelled or reversed by HaFa, because the money already belongs to the person you paid.
If you paid the wrong person or the wrong amount, ask them to send it back; the chat with them is the quickest way. If they do not, contact us: we will ask the recipient to return it and, where the law allows, help you recover it, but we cannot take money from their wallet without their agreement or a legal reason.
We will refund you, or correct your wallet, when:
- HaFa made a mistake, for example a payment was taken twice, the wrong amount was taken, or the money did not arrive because of an error on our side;
- you did not authorise the payment, for example someone used your account without your permission, and you told us as soon as you found out. If you did not keep your phone, PIN or codes safe, you may have to bear a small part of the loss, up to the limit the law in your country allows; you bear all of it only if you acted fraudulently or with gross negligence;
- you were the victim of fraud that we or our payment partners can confirm, and the money can still be recovered.
2. Failed and incomplete payments
If a payment, cash-out, top-up, airtime purchase or bill payment fails, the money is returned to your wallet automatically, including any fee charged for it. The return shows as its own line in your transactions, and the original payment is marked as reversed. This normally happens within minutes, but a payment partner or mobile-money operator can take up to 3 business days to confirm a failure.
If money has left your wallet and neither arrived nor come back after 3 business days, contact us.
3. Offline payments
Payments made over Bluetooth without a network settle when either phone reconnects. If an offline payment cannot settle (for example, the sender no longer has the money, the same voucher was used twice, or it is more than 10 days old), no money moves: the receiver is not paid and the sender is not charged. HaFa does not cover goods or services handed over for an offline payment that did not settle.
4. Gifts and requests
A money gift that has not been opened within 24 hours goes back to the sender automatically. Once a gift is opened, it is a completed payment. Paying a request is the same as any other payment.
5. Airtime, data and bills
Once the provider accepts an airtime, data or bill payment, it cannot be refunded by HaFa. If the provider did not deliver (for example, airtime did not arrive or a bill payment was not credited), contact us with the reference and we will take it up with the provider. If the provider confirms it failed, the money comes back to your wallet.
6. Cash with agents
Cash deposits and withdrawals with an agent are recorded in your wallet when both of you confirm. If an agent took your cash but your wallet was not credited, or your wallet was debited but you did not receive cash, contact us straight away with the reference; do not settle it privately in cash.
7. Shop purchases
A purchase from a shop on HaFa is a contract between you and the seller. Returns and refunds for the goods themselves, such as wrong, damaged, late or missing items, are the seller's responsibility, following the seller's own returns policy and consumer law.
- Talk to the seller first, in the chat where you ordered. Most problems are solved there.
- If the seller does not help within 7 days, contact us with the order. We will look at the order, the payment and the chat messages you choose to share, and ask the seller for their side.
- If we find the seller at fault (for example, the goods were never sent, or were clearly not what was described), we will ask the seller to refund you, and where the payment is still held or can be recovered, we will return it to you. We may also limit or close the seller's shop.
HaFa cannot see your conversations, so we can only consider messages you send us. Keep the chat and any photos of the goods.
8. Promotions nearby
Businesses that promote an offer nearby pay in advance from their wallet.
- You are charged only for offers that were actually shown.
- Any unspent budget is returned to your wallet automatically when the promotion ends or when you stop it.
- If you stop a promotion before we approve it, or we do not approve it, the whole amount is returned.
- If a promotion was not shown because of a fault on our side, we refund the affected amount.
- If we stop a promotion because it broke our rules, unspent budget is returned, but amounts for offers already shown are not.
9. Fees and currency conversion
Fees are shown before you confirm a payment. When a payment is refunded because of a mistake by HaFa, a failure, or a payment you did not authorise, the fee is refunded too. When a payment is converted into another currency, the refund is made in your wallet's currency at the amount originally taken, so changes in the exchange rate do not cost you. Fees charged by your bank, card issuer or mobile network are theirs and are not refunded by HaFa.
10. How to ask for a refund or report a problem
Contact us through Help in the app, with:
- the payment reference from the receipt (it starts with HF);
- what went wrong, and when;
- for a shop order, the order and any photos.
Report problems within 60 days of the payment. For payments you did not authorise, tell us as soon as you notice; where the law gives you longer (for example, up to 13 months in the United Kingdom and the European Union), you keep that right.
We will confirm we have your request within 2 business days and give you an answer within 15 business days. If we need longer, for example because a partner must investigate, we will tell you why and give you a final answer within 35 business days. We may ask you for more information, and we may hold the amount in question while we investigate.
11. How refunds are paid
Refunds go back to your HaFa wallet, in your wallet's currency. If your account is closed, we will return money you are owed to an account in your name, as the law allows.
12. If you are not happy with our answer
You can ask for our decision to be reviewed by contacting us again. You may also have the right to complain to the financial ombudsman, consumer protection authority or payments regulator in your country, or to the licensed payment partner that processed the payment.
Contact
The operator of HaFa
Support: HaFa's Help page in the app