Merchant Agreement

1. Overview — What Manuka Pay Does

Manuka Pay is a technology platform that enables you, as a merchant, to accept payments from your customers via QR code. The platform provides:

• A unique payment page URL and QR code for your business.
• A merchant dashboard for managing your payment settings, viewing transactions, handling refunds, and monitoring payouts.
• Integration with Stripe for payment processing and settlement to your connected bank account.

2. Stripe Connect — Your Direct Agreement with Stripe

To use Manuka Pay, you must connect a Stripe account. By doing so, you enter into a direct legal agreement with Stripe that is independent of your agreement with Manuka Pay. This is critical to understand:

• Your Stripe account is governed by Stripe's Connected Account Agreement and Stripe's Terms of Service.
• Stripe performs its own identity verification (KYC/KYB) independently. Manuka Pay cannot override Stripe's account decisions.
• Stripe determines when and how your balance is paid out to your bank account. Manuka Pay has no control over payout timing after settlement.
• If Stripe suspends, closes, or restricts your account for any reason, your ability to accept payments through Manuka Pay is affected. This is outside Manuka Pay's control.
• Stripe may place holds on funds, request additional verification, or apply its own risk controls at any time under its own policies.

Read Stripe's Connected Account Agreement →

3. Fees

Each payment processed through your Manuka Pay payment page incurs two separate fees:

Fee Mode — Who Pays the Fees

You control who pays the fees through your pricing mode setting:

• Fees added at checkout (on top): Fees are added on top of your listed price and paid by the customer. You receive your listed price. This is the default.
• Fees included in price: Fees are absorbed from within your listed price. The customer pays your listed amount; fees are deducted from what you receive.

International Cards and Fee Estimates

For merchants using Fees added at checkout pricing, the fees shown to the customer at checkout are estimates based on the standard domestic card rate. The actual Stripe processing fee is only confirmed after the card is charged.

Payments made with international cards (cards issued outside New Zealand) may attract a higher Stripe processing fee. Where the actual processing fee exceeds the estimated amount shown to the customer, the difference may be partially shared between you and Manuka Pay rather than passed on entirely to the customer. All displayed fees use ceiling rounding (rounded up to the nearest cent).

Fee Changes

Manuka Pay will provide reasonable notice of any change to the Platform Service Fee. Stripe may change their processing fees independently under their own terms.

4. Your Obligations as a Merchant

By registering and using Manuka Pay, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete, and current information during registration and keep it up to date.
• Complete Stripe's identity and business verification process honestly and promptly.
• Only use the platform to accept payments for lawful goods and services permitted by Stripe's Restricted Businesses list and applicable New Zealand law.
• Maintain the security of your login credentials. You are responsible for all activity under your account.
• Not misrepresent your business, products, or services to customers making payments through your payment page.
• Handle refund and dispute requests promptly and fairly.
• Comply at all times with Stripe's Connected Account Agreement and Stripe's Acceptable Use Policy.
• Not attempt to circumvent, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the Manuka Pay platform or Stripe's systems.

5. Platform Limits and Controls

Matihiko Digital Limited operates platform-wide controls that may affect your ability to accept payments. These take precedence over your individual merchant settings:

• Maintenance mode — may temporarily prevent all payment processing across the platform.
• Payments paused — a platform-wide pause that may be applied during technical incidents or compliance reviews.
• Admin account lock — your individual account may be locked by Manuka Pay administrators pending review of a concern.

Manuka Pay aims to provide a reliable service but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability. Payment processing also depends on Stripe's operational status, which is outside Manuka Pay's control.

6. Refunds and Disputes

Refunds

You may issue full or partial refunds to customers through your Manuka Pay dashboard. You are responsible for determining whether a refund is warranted. Manuka Pay provides the technical mechanism to submit a refund instruction to Stripe — it does not adjudicate refund requests on your behalf.

• The Manuka Pay Platform Service Fee is non-refundable once a transaction has been processed.
• Stripe's processing fee is non-refundable under Stripe's current policy.
• Customers typically receive refunded funds within 5–10 business days.

Disputes and Chargebacks

You are responsible for responding to customer disputes (chargebacks) within the deadline provided by Stripe. Dispute outcomes are determined by Stripe and the card networks — not by Manuka Pay. Stripe may apply its own dispute fee per chargeback in accordance with its terms.

7. Termination

Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time:

• You may close your account by contacting us at [email protected]. Termination does not extinguish any outstanding fee obligations or liabilities that arose before termination.
• Manuka Pay may suspend or terminate your account for breach of this Agreement, prohibited use, at Stripe's request, or where required by law. In cases of suspected fraud or prohibited activity, we may act immediately without notice.

Termination of your Manuka Pay account does not automatically close your Stripe account. Your Stripe account relationship is separate and governed by Stripe's own terms.

8. Related Documents

This Agreement is part of a set of legal documents that govern your use of Manuka Pay: