Terms of Service

1. Introduction

1. Fido Credit Uganda Limited (“Fido”) is an entity incorporated in Uganda and is regulated and licensed by the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority. Fido is primarily engaged in the business of providing Credit Facilities to individuals and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (“MSMEs”). 

2. All applications for a Credit Facility from Fido as well as disbursements, are exclusively made, approved and disbursed electronically.

3. You have voluntarily applied for a Credit Facility or are considering applying for such a Facility from Fido.

4. By using the Fido App you agree to the terms of the End-User License Agreement (“EULA”) set out in the Appendix to this document.
   
   

2. Scope

This document sets out the Terms and Conditions (“Ts & Cs”) that will govern your relationship with Fido. The said Ts & Cs shall apply to you having downloaded the Fido App or while you access our website or other online platforms, to the full extent applicable, whether or not you have applied for a Credit Facility from Fido.

3. Representations and Warranties

You hereby represent and warrant to Fido as follows:

1. You are over 18 years and have legal capacity to enter into a Credit Facility Agreement (the “Agreement”).

2. You are literate and you have personally accessed Fido’s online platforms and/or the Fido App, and fully understand what you are signing up for, including your obligations.

3. Where You have applied for a Credit Facility or intend to apply for a Credit Facility, the said application was or shall be personally initiated and concluded by You.

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4. Credit Facility Application

1. You shall correctly and fully complete all required digital Know Your Customer (“KYC”), Know Your Business (“KYB”), and application form(s).

2. Fido shall provide You with a pre-agreement disclosure statement (the “Disclosure Statement”) which summarizes the important terms of the Agreement before the Agreement is concluded.

3. Where your application is successful, Fido shall make available to you an amount not exceeding the Commitment Amount. You may draw down any amount under the Credit Facility up to the Commitment Amount, while the Agreement is in effect. 

4. You shall make only one drawdown request at a time; where the amount drawn down is still outstanding, you may not make another drawdown request. If you breach this provision, Fido reserves the sole right to terminate the Agreement, and any amounts including interest and any fees you owe Fido shall be immediately payable. Fido shall not in any way be liable to You for such termination. All losses and damages suffered by You before, during and after the said termination shall wholly be borne by You.

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5. Disbursement

1. Fido shall transfer the amount requested to You only to the account or channel (collectively the “Account”) You provide during the application stage, provided that You own the Account. Fido reasonably expects the transfer to be effected no later than one business day following the date on which the Agreement is concluded. The Agreement shall only take effect after the amount requested has been successfully disbursed (hereinafter referred to as the "Effective Date"). 

2. Where You do not receive the disbursement with the timeframe stipulated in clause 5.1, You are required to notify Fido within three (3) days following the date on which the amount should have been disbursed. Such notification may be done in person at Fido’s offices or via email to info.ug@fidocredit.com, or by contacting our customer support phone number. 

3. Where Fido receives such notification as specified in clause 5.2, Fido reserves the right to request evidence in support of Your claims and may choose to make changes to Your repayment schedule at its sole discretion.

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6. Fees and Interest 

1. The Credit Facility may attract a commitment and other fees (the “Fees”) specified in the Disclosure Statement and the Agreement.

2. The amount drawn down, along with any capitalized fees, (collectively referred to hereinafter as the "Principal") shall attract an interest rate specified in the Agreement, computed as simple interest (hereinafter referred to as the "Interest") for the period during which the amount drawn down remains outstanding.

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7. Repayment

1. The Principal shall become due in full, together with the Fees and the Interest (collectively referred to hereafter as "Repayment Amount"), on the dates set out in the repayment schedule of the Agreement.

2. You shall be responsible for ensuring that the Repayment Amount is paid to Fido by the due date specified in the Agreement. Any payment actually received by Fido after the due date, even if initiated and completed by You (but not received by Fido) before the due date may constitute a late payment at Fido’s sole discretion.

3. Fido only accepts the electronic forms of payments. 

4. You may be required to complete an irrevocable direct debit mandate form, formally instructing Your bank or electronic money operator to transfer money to Fido's advised account until the Repayment Amount is fully paid off. 

5. Where You are required to issue a direct debit mandate in favor of Fido, the mandate shall lapse upon Fido receiving all amounts due and owing under the Agreement.

6. Fido shall be responsible for verifying receipt of Your repayment and notifying You if repayment has not been made. The said notification may be via any of the following methods: face-to-face communication, phone call, text message, email, or Your status as presented within the Fido app or through any social media platform.

7. Any Repayment Amount, comprising the Principal, the Fees, and the Interest (whether in full or in part), remaining unpaid after each due date shall be treated as a principal amount and shall attract a daily penalty rate for each day that the amount remains unpaid after the due date, until the You pay the outstanding balance in full in addition to a flat penalty fee and.

8. In the event You become bankrupt, the Agreement shall lapse and any amounts payable by You or due Fido hereunder shall become immediately due and payable in full.

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8. Termination

1. Fido reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, terminate Your application process or the Agreement any time before the Effective Date. 

2. Fido also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Agreement if it is unable to disburse the amount requested due to inaccurate bank/mobile account details provided by You or due to a system failure on the part of Your bank or telecommunication company or due to any other reason attributable to a third party unrelated to Fido. 

3. Upon such termination or cancellation, Fido shall in no way be liable to You for any loss or damage deriving from the termination.

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9. Force Majeure

1. In the event of force majeure, which includes war, civil insurrection, natural disasters, pandemic or any other event which is legally accepted as a force majeure event, which prevents You from fulfilling your repayment obligations under the Agreement (hereinafter referred to as a "Force Majeure Event"), the interest accrued on the outstanding amounts owed to Fido shall be suspended for the duration of the Force Majeure Event provided that You formally notify Fido about the occurrence of the Force Majeure Event within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the Force Majeure Event. 

2. Fido shall have the right to determine whether a Force Majeure Event notified by You qualifies as a Force Majeure Event for the purposes of the Agreement. Where Fido does not accept that an event notified by You qualifies as a Force Majeure Event, Fido shall formally notify You accordingly and, in such event, Your obligations under the Agreement shall continue unabated.

3. In the event of a Force Majeure Event, or the actions or inactions of a third party not under the direct control of Fido, which prevents or frustrates Fido from the effective discharge of any of its obligations under the Agreement, Fido shall not be liable to You for any additional obligations save for the discharge of such obligations as are required to be provided by Fido under the Agreement after such Force Majeure Event or third party action or inaction has been remedied PROVIDED THAT any liability of Fido shall not be excluded by willful acts of negligence on the part of Fido acting alone without attribution of any part of such willful acts of negligence to any third party not under the direct control of Fido.

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10. Disclosure of Information, Data Retention, and Use of Data

1. You agree that Fido may:

1. disclose any information required to be disclosed under the Financial Institutions (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations, 2005, and any other legal and regulatory requirement, to credit bureaus. 

2. query third parties for Your information for KYC purposes and for purposes of aiding Fido make a decision in respect of Your application.

3. report to the appropriate authorities in the case of suspected fraud or unlawful activity and Fido shall cooperate with the lawful authorities in respect of any investigation into any suspected unlawful activity of You.

4. disclose any of your KYC/CDD and loan details, including but not limited to outstanding loan amounts due to Fido, to individuals you have provided as your reference, whether or not such persons have agreed to be your reference. 

5. disclose any outstanding amounts due to Fido to any of Your relatives in the event you become deceased, pursuant only to a request made by Your relatives in order to pay off the outstanding amounts.

6. in accordance with section 7 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2013 of Uganda as may be amended from time to time, maintain records of your transactions and other records required by the Act (including your personal data) as obligated by law, for a period of at least ten (10) years from the date of the transaction, after the end of your business relationship with Fido, and the date evidence of Your identity was obtained, as the case may be.

7. use Your data for the purposes indicated in Fido’s Privacy Policy Statement, including for marking purposes.

2. You agree to hold Fido harmless from any and all claims, demands, costs, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and legal costs) arising out of or in connection with such disclosures, except in the case of negligence or fraud on the part of Fido.

3. To improve our app’s functionality and user experience, we employ session replay technology that allows us to analyze how users interact with our app through both quantitative and qualitative data. During this process, all user interactions are recorded in a way that no Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) is visible or stored. All PII is automatically anonymized, ensuring the privacy and security of our users. You agree that Fido may employ session replay technology to analyze your interactions with our app.

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11. Assignment

Fido reserves the right to assign its rights, or any part thereof, under the Agreement to third parties ("Third Party Assignees") having provided reasonable notification of same, PROVIDED THAT any such assignment by Fido to Third Party Assignees shall not be invalidated only by reason that You did not receive prior notification of the assignment.

12. Covenants

1. You shall not use any amount, or any part thereof, disbursed to you by Fido for electronic gambling, money laundering or any unlawful purpose. 

2. Further, you shall not use any amount, or any part thereof, disbursed to you by Fido for any of the excluded activities listed in Schedule 1 of this document.

3. Fido reserves the right to terminate and call up the entire outstanding balance on the Principal, Fees and Interest, where Fido reasonably believes that Your use of the disbursed amount involves an unsanctioned or illegal activity, or unlawful purpose. Fido further reserves the right to report You to the appropriate authorities in such cases.

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13. Default

If You default in any way on Your obligations under the Agreement:

1. Fido may at any time thereafter call up the Repayment Amount or the outstanding balance thereof, and the same shall immediately become due and payable.

2. You shall be liable for the cost of all lawful processes and procedures that Fido may adopt in the recovery of any amount due to Fido and payable by You.

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14. Contact

1. During the application process you shall be required to provide your contact details and other relevant information to Fido to facilitate communication between you and Fido.

2. Fido reserves the right to contact You directly or through any of the contacts hereafter provided by You at any given time. In doing so, Fido may rely on information hereafter provided by You or otherwise obtained by Fido from some other source other than from You.

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15. LIMITATION AND EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY

1. FIDO SHALL TAKE STEPS TO REMEDY ANY ERROR IN ANY ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT SUBMITTED HEREAFTER OR ANY OTHER ERROR RELATING TO OTHER ASPECTS OF FIDO'S ONLINE SERVICES AND RESOURCES UPON FIDO BECOMING AWARE OF THE SAME OR YOU NOTIFYING FIDO OF SUCH ERROR, SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OF THE PURPORTED ERROR BY FIDO.

2. YOU SHALL NOT BE DISCHARGED FROM ANY OF YOUR OBLIGATIONS ASSUMED HEREUNDER AND HEREAFTER BY REASON ONLY OF AN ERROR COMMITTED ON FIDO'S PART, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT SUCH AN ERROR MAY HAVE OCCASIONED LOSSES OR DAMAGES TO YOU.

3. FIDO SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS ON YOUR PART COMMITTED IN THE COURSE OF ACCESSING AND UTILIZING FIDO'S DIGITAL RESOURCES AND SERVICES, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT ANY SUCH ERROR MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT YOU OR THE DISCHARGE OF YOUR OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER AND HEREAFTER, AND YOU SHALL NOT BE DISCHARGED FROM ANY OF YOUR OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER AND HEREAFTER ASSUMED BY REASON OF ANY SUCH ERROR COMMITTED ON YOUR PART.

4. YOU SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFEKEEPING OF ALL YOUR CREDENTIALS (SUCH AS YOUR PIN CODE) USED TO ACCESS FIDO'S DIGITAL SERVICES AND RESOURCES AND FIDO SHALL IN NO WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE ARISING FROM THE ACTIVITIES OF THIRD PARTIES.

5. FIDO SHALL ALSO NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU, WHICH LOSS OR DAMAGE IS AS A RESULT OF THE FRAUDULENT ACT(S) OF THIRD PARTIES WHO HAVE HAD ACCESS TO FIDO'S ONLINE PLATFORM(S) THROUGH YOU OR OTHERWISE.

6. FIDO SHALL NOT BEAR ANY LIABILITY TO YOU FOR DAMAGE WHICH YOU MAY SUFFER AS A RESULT OF TRANSMISSION ERRORS, TECHNICAL FAULTS, MALFUNCTIONS, ILLEGAL INTERVENTION IN NETWORK EQUIPMENT, NETWORK OVERLOADS, MALICIOUS BLOCKING OF ACCESS BY THIRD PARTIES, INTERNET MALFUNCTIONS, INTERRUPTIONS OR OTHER DEFICIENCIES ON THE PART OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ALL TOGETHER HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS "SYSTEM ERRORS"). 

7. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ACCESS TO FIDO'S DIGITAL SERVICES AND RESOURCES MAY BE LIMITED OR UNAVAILABLE DUE TO SUCH SYSTEM ERRORS, AND THAT FIDO RESERVES THE RIGHT, UPON NOTICE OR OTHERWISE, TO SUSPEND ACCESS TO ITS DIGITAL SERVICES AND RESOURCES FOR THIS REASON.

8. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL FIDO BE LIABLE FOR A NY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY OF LIABILITY, AND WHETHER OR NOT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FIDO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY BREACH OF CONDITION(S) OR FUNDAMENTAL TERMS(S) OR FOR A FUNDAMENTAL BREACH(S). IN ANY CASE, FIDO’S ENTIRE LIABILITY UNDER ANY PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO YOUR LOAN AMOUNT OUTSTANDING WITH FIDO OR THE MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT GIVEN BY FIDO PURSUANT TO A LOAN AGREEMENT. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS CUMULATIVE WITH ALL FIDO’S EXPENDITURES WITH RESPECT TO THE LIABILITY BEING AGGREGATED TO DETERMINE SATISFACTION OF THE LIMIT.

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16. Accuracy of Representations  

All representations made by You in light of the Agreement are true and accurate as of the Effective Date of the Agreement and You undertake under the Agreement to immediately notify Fido about any changes in any representation made.

17. Amendment

1. The Agreement expresses and incorporates the entire understanding of the Parties in relation to the subject-matter and all the terms of the Agreement and it supersedes and excludes any prior negotiation, understanding, communication or agreement by or between the Parties in relation to the subject-matter or any term of the agreement.

2. Fido reserves the right to amend the Agreement without giving notice to You and the said amendment to the extent that it does not affect the material terms set out in the Agreement shall be binding on You.

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18. Non-Waiver

No exercise or failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right, power or remedy vested in Fido under or pursuant to the Agreement shall constitute a waiver by Fido of that or any other right, power or remedy.

19. Validity, Legality, and Enforceability

If any provision of the Agreement is declared invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall not affect the validity, legality, or enforceability of any other provision of the Agreement and where necessary the Parties shall negotiate a replacement provision.

20. Complaints

All complaints may be directed to our Customer service team on telephone via +256205011100 or through email at info.ug@fidocredit.com. Complaints may also be sent through post to our mailing address at P.O. Box 10109 Kampala, or visiting us at 7th Floor Rumee Building, Plot 19 Lumumba Avenue. 

21. Dispute resolution

Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising under, out of, or in relation to the Agreement, or the breach, termination or invalidity of the Agreement, shall be resolved by recourse to the law courts of Uganda.

22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction 

The Agreement and the relation between the parties shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Uganda. ‍

SCHEDULE 1 - Excluded activities ‍

Any of the following activities:

1. Production of, or trade in, any product or activity deemed illegal under applicable local or national laws or regulations or subject to internationally agreed phase-outs or bans as defined in global conventions and agreements such as certain:

1. hazardous chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and wastes;
2. ozone depleting substances;
3. endangered or protected wildlife or wildlife products; and
4. unsustainable fishing methods such as blast fishing and drift net fishing in the marine environment using nets in excess of 2.5 kilometres in length;
5. Production of, or trade in, arms (i.e. weapons, munitions or nuclear products, primarily designated for military purposes);
6. Production of, use of, or trade in, unbonded asbestos fibres;
7. Production of, or trade in, radioactive materials; or
8. Prostitution.

2. Any businesses, if any of the following activities represents a substantial portion of such business:

1. gambling, gaming casinos and equivalent enterprises;
2. tobacco or tobacco related products; or
3. pornography.

3. Fossil Fuel Exclusion

‍Coal‍

1. Coal-fired power plants, including dual-power plants. 
2. Refurbishment, retrofitting and rehabilitation of existing coal power facilities, including dual-power plants.  
3. Coal prospection, exploration, mining, processing and trading.  

 Oil  

4. Upstream oil exploration and production.  
5. Midstream oil, including pipelines. 
6. Downstream oil, including refineries and petrol stations.  
7. Heavy fuel oil (HFO) or diesel-only, dual-fuel HFO or diesel/gas and HFO or diesel/renewable hybrid power plants. 
8. Refurbishment, retrofitting and rehabilitation of existing HFO or diesel-only, dual-fuel HFO or diesel/gas and HFO or diesel/renewable power plants leading to an increase of absolute GHG emissions (i.e. where energy efficiency measures do not compensate for any capacity or load factor increase) and/or where the lifetime of an asset that would be otherwise retired would be substantially increased.  
9. Diesel-only mini grids. 

 Gas  

10. Upstream gas exploration and production.  
11. Midstream/downstream gas (including gas import/export infrastructure and processing facilities) except gas transport, storage and distribution infrastructure where the primary purpose is power generation consistent with a country’s pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 or liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and associated facilities for sourcing, transport, storage, bottling and distribution.  

‍Transport  

1. Transport (road/rail/port) infrastructure where the primary use is fossil fuel transport (primary use means more than 50 per cent of the infrastructure’s handled tonnage

APPENDIX - END-USER LICENSE ‍

1. This End-User License Clause (referred to as the "License Agreement" for the purpose of this clause) governs your use of the mobile banking application ("Application") used to access the online lending service (the "Online Service") of Fido Credit Uganda (SMC) LTD (referred to as the “Licensor” for the purpose of this clause). This License Agreement is a legal agreement between you and the Licensor. By installing, copying or otherwise using the Application, you agree to be bound by the terms of this License Agreement.

2. The Licensor hereby grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited personal license to install and use the Application on your mobile device for your personal use and only to access the Online Service. Such installation must occur in the Republic of Uganda. You will not, and will not allow or cause any third party to: (a) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, or modify the Application, or use the Application to develop functionally similar Applications; (b) copy the Application, except as expressly permitted by this Agreement; (c) sublicense, distribute, export or resell the Application or otherwise transfer any rights; (d) remove any proprietary or intellectual property rights notices or labels on the Application; or (e) otherwise exercise any other right to the Application not expressly granted in this License Agreement.

3. The Licensor owns all right, title and interest in and to the Application. No license or other right in or to the Application is granted to you except for the rights specifically set forth in this License Agreement.

4. This License Agreement is valid until terminated by you or Licensor. Licensor may terminate the License at any time or for any reason. Your rights under this License will terminate immediately if you breach any term of this License. Upon termination of this License, you shall immediately discontinue use of the Application and delete all copies of the Application.

5. You understand and agree that the application is provided on an "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind, and the Licensor hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions with respect to the application, either express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. The Licensor does not warrant against interference with your enjoyment of the application, that the functions contained in, or services performed or provided by, the application will meet your requirements, that the operation of the application will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects in the application will be corrected.

6. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Licensor shall not be responsible for any loss, damage or injury or for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, lost profits, arising from or related to the application and/or the installation or maintenance thereof, failure of electronic or mechanical equipment, errors, configuration or incompatibility problems, problems or delays with intermediate computer or communications networks, or any other problems you experience due to causes beyond our control.

1. This License Agreement and its enforcement shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Uganda. If either party waives any provision of this License Agreement, that waiver is not deemed to be a continuing waiver of the same or any other provision. If any provision of this License Agreement is found to be unenforceable for any reason, that provision will be deemed to be restated to reflect as nearly as possible the original intentions of the parties in accordance with applicable law. The remaining provisions of this License Agreement will not be affected thereby, and each of those provisions will be valid and enforceable to the full extent permitted by law. Any rights not expressly granted in this License Agreement are reserved by the Licensor. Sub clauses C, E, F and G will survive termination of this License Agreement