Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Alan Innovations Ltd (“Suwe”, “we”, “us”), the company that operates the Suwe website and mobile app (the “Platform”). By joining the waitlist, creating an account, or using Suwe, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Platform.

Suwe is a hyperlocal bidding marketplace that connects people who need errands or deliveries done (“Requesters”) with independent people who carry them out (“Runners”). A Requester posts a request, nearby verified Runners bid with their price and ETA, the Requester picks one and pays through Paystack, and Paystack pays the Runner’s share to the Runner’s own payout account.

Suwe is a marketplace and technology provider. We are not a courier, logistics or errand company, and we do not perform the errands ourselves. Runners are independent contractors, not our employees or agents. The contract for each errand is between the Requester and the Runner; Suwe facilitates it, arranges payment through our payment provider, Paystack, and sets the rules below.

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract.
• You must provide accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Runners must complete identity verification (NIN check + liveness selfie, then an in-person meeting) before taking jobs, and the bank account their earnings are paid to must be in their own name before they are approved.
• You are responsible for activity on your account and for keeping your login secure.
• One person, one account, unless we agree otherwise.

• Post: a Requester describes the errand: category, details, pickup/drop-off, timing and budget.
• Bid: nearby verified Runners send offers with a price and ETA. Requests may be moderated before going live.
• Choose: the Requester reviews bids, ratings and distance, and selects a Runner - or, for parcel and document requests, uses suwe express and the Platform assigns a nearby Runner automatically at a fixed fare (see “Suwe express” below). They can chat to confirm details.
• Pay: the Requester pays the agreed amount through Paystack, or from their Suwe account (see “Your Suwe account” below), before the Runner begins. On a payment through Paystack, Paystack splits the payment at that moment: Suwe’s fees go to Suwe, and the Runner’s share goes to the Runner’s own Paystack payout account.
• Fulfil & track: the Runner carries out the errand; the Requester can track live and communicate in-app.
• Payout: Paystack pays the Runner’s share to the Runner’s bank on its standard settlement schedule. This happens automatically and does not depend on the Requester confirming the job. If a job goes wrong, the Requester is protected by our dispute and refund process.

For eligible requests (currently parcels and documents), Requesters can choose “suwe express” instead of bidding. The fare is a fixed amount computed by the Platform from the distance of the trip (a base fare plus a per-kilometre rate) and is shown to the Requester before the request is confirmed. Once confirmed, the Platform offers the job to available Runners nearby based on factors such as proximity, availability and rating; the Requester does not select the Runner. A Runner may accept or decline an offer. No payment is collected until a Runner is assigned: once a Runner accepts, the Requester pays the fare through Paystack exactly as with any other request. If no Runner is available, the Requester may post the request as a normal bidding request instead. Runners cannot pay to be assigned, and Suwe’s own fees play no part in the assignment.

An automated assignment is a matching convenience, not a recommendation, endorsement or guarantee of any Runner or of the outcome of any errand. It does not change the contract structure described above: the contract for the errand remains between the Requester and the Runner, and all other rules in these Terms (payments, cancellations, disputes, liability) apply to express jobs exactly as they do to bidding jobs.

On purchase-type requests, the Requester pays the merchant for the items directly; Runners do not buy items with their own money. The Requester's payment through Suwe covers only the service and platform fees. When the Runner has the merchant's bill, they submit a payment request through the Platform - a photo of the merchant's bill, the amount, and the merchant's bank account, whose registered account name the Platform verifies and displays. The Requester then transfers the item amount directly to the merchant and confirms this in the app. A Requester who paid for the job from their Suwe account instead approves the transfer to the merchant in the app with their transaction PIN, and the bank confirms it. A Runner may not ask for item money to be sent to their own account; the Platform refuses the Runner's own payout account and warns the Requester when an account is in the Runner's name.

Direct item payments are made outside the Platform's payment flow, straight from the Requester to the merchant. The Platform records the request, the bill, the account details and every confirmation, but it does not hold, guarantee or have any ability to recover money transferred to a third-party account. Requesters must only ever transfer to the account shown inside the Platform's payment card, and never to details shared by chat, phone or any other channel.

By accepting a bid on a purchase-type request, the Requester agrees to send the transfer within the payment window shown in the app (approximately seven minutes, extendable once in-app with a reason). While the transfer is owed, the delivery clock is paused for the Runner. If the window lapses without payment or an extension, the Runner may end the job: the request is cancelled and the fees paid are not refunded. The Runner is compensated for the wasted trip from the service fee, and the platform fee is retained. Disputes may still be raised through the normal process, and the recorded payment trail is used to resolve them.

Card and bank payments are processed by Paystack, a licensed payment provider. Suwe does not hold customer funds or Runner earnings: money in your Suwe account is held by 9PSB in your name. When a Requester pays for a job through Paystack, Paystack splits the payment at the point of the transaction: Suwe’s fees settle to Suwe, and the Runner’s share settles to the Runner’s own Paystack payout account. Paystack pays the Runner’s share out automatically on its standard settlement schedule (currently about two working days after payment). Neither the Requester nor Suwe can hold back or redirect it.

A Requester with a Suwe account can instead pay for a job from that account, approving it with their transaction PIN. There is no card processing fee on these payments. The job’s amount is locked in the Requester’s own account until the job is finished, cancelled or refunded, as described under “Your Suwe account” below.

If a job is cancelled or a dispute is decided for the Requester, Suwe pays the refund from its own funds, as described under “Cancellations & refunds” below. On a job paid from a Suwe account, the refund is the locked amount being released back into the Requester’s account at once. Any amount the Runner owes as a result is handled under “Amounts owed to Suwe”.

The total a Requester pays may include the Runner’s bid, the actual cost of any items purchased on the Requester’s behalf, and a transparent Suwe service fee. All amounts are shown before the Requester confirms. We may change our fees over time; the fee applicable to a job is the one shown at the time you accept the bid.

A Suwe account is a bank account provided by Anchor with 9PSB (9 Payment Service Bank). It is opened in your own name after the bank checks your Bank Verification Number (BVN), and it has its own 10-digit account number. Opening one is optional, and you can still pay by card without one. The bank’s own terms, which you accept when you open the account, also apply.

Who holds your money

Money in your Suwe account is held by 9PSB in your name and is insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). Suwe never holds customer funds. You add money by bank transfer to your account number from any bank app. Suwe accounts cannot be topped up by card.

When Suwe may move money from your account

Suwe may instruct a transfer from your Suwe account only:

• when you approve it with your 4-digit transaction PIN: to pay for an errand, to approve a payment to a shop, or to withdraw money; or
• after you confirm delivery, to pay the Runner’s fee to the Runner and Suwe’s fee to Suwe, as they were locked when you paid. The same happens if an errand completes automatically after delivery because you neither confirmed it nor raised a dispute, if you cancel after the free-cancel window (the Runner’s fee and any rush premium only, as set out under “Cancellations & refunds”), or if a dispute is decided for the Runner.

Money locked for an errand

When you pay for an errand from your Suwe account, the amount for it, including the expected payment to a shop and the bank’s charges on it, is locked in your account. It stays in your account, in your name, but you cannot spend or withdraw it while the errand is live. When the errand is finished, the locked money pays the shop, the Runner and Suwe’s fee as described above, and anything left is unlocked. If the errand is cancelled or refunded, the lock is lifted at once.

Fees

Opening a Suwe account and receiving money into it are free. When money leaves your account by bank transfer, for example to pay a shop or to withdraw, the bank’s transfer fee of ₦50 and, on transfers of ₦10,000 or more, stamp duty of ₦50 (paid by the sender under the Nigeria Tax Act 2026) are passed on to you at cost. They are shown as their own lines before you approve, and are never part of Suwe’s fee.

Your PIN

Your 4-digit transaction PIN is how you approve payments and withdrawals from your Suwe account. Keep it secret and never share it with anyone. You are responsible for payments and withdrawals approved with your PIN. Five wrong tries lock the PIN for 15 minutes. You can reset it in the app with an SMS code and your sign-in passcode.

Freezing and closing your account

Suwe may freeze your Suwe account if we suspect fraud, or if the bank instructs us to. If we do, we will tell you why. You can close your Suwe account by asking us at hello@thesuwe.com. Any balance is paid out to a bank account in your name.

Disputes on errands paid from your account

If you raise a dispute on an errand you paid from your Suwe account, the money locked for it stays locked until our team decides. If the dispute is decided for you, the lock is lifted and the money is back in your available balance at once. If it is decided for the Runner, the Runner’s fee and Suwe’s fee are paid as if you had confirmed delivery. A payment you already approved to a shop, and the bank’s charges on it, went straight to the shop and cannot be recovered through Suwe, the same as a transfer from your bank app.

• Describe your request accurately and lawfully, with correct addresses and details.
• Only request legal, safe and doable errands (see prohibited uses below).
• Pay promptly and pay the agreed amount, including legitimate item costs.
• Be reachable, confirm completion in good faith once the job is properly done, and raise any problem promptly through the in-app dispute process.
• Treat Runners with respect. Provide any access details (gate codes, etc.) needed to complete the errand.

• Complete identity verification and keep it valid.
• Only bid on jobs you can genuinely carry out, and honour the price and ETA you offer.
• Carry out errands honestly, safely and lawfully, following the Requester’s reasonable instructions.
• Handle items with care and provide proof of delivery where asked. Runners never collect money for items: the Requester pays the shop directly through the app.
• Comply with all applicable laws, including traffic and road-safety laws. You are responsible for your own taxes.

Every Runner must accept the Suwe Runner Agreement before bidding. It explains, first and in full, that taking a Requester’s money or items without delivering is a crime that Suwe reports to the police, sharing the Runner’s verified identity, and pursues to recover the money. Read it in the Runner Agreement.

• Each Runner has a tier and a carry limit: the most item value they may carry across all their open jobs at once. Runners start on Tier 1 and move up by adding guarantors and completing jobs well over time; Suwe may also set a Runner’s tier.
• Requesters only see bids from Runners who can carry their order.
• Runners may add guarantors, whom Suwe phones and visits in person, to move up to the higher tiers.
• While carrying items a Requester has paid for, Runners must keep their data and location on. If Suwe loses sight of a Runner near the agreed delivery time, it contacts the Runner, their guarantors and the Requester.

• Runners must give a bank account in their own name. By adding it, a Runner agrees that Suwe creates a Paystack payout account (a subaccount) for them using those details.
• Each Runner’s share of a job paid through Paystack is paid by Paystack directly to that account, on Paystack’s standard settlement schedule. Suwe does not hold Runner earnings: money in a Runner’s Suwe account is held by 9PSB in the Runner’s name.
• On a job the Requester paid from their Suwe account, the Runner’s share is paid the moment the Requester confirms delivery: into the Runner’s own Suwe account if they have one, otherwise to their bank account by transfer, less the bank’s charges at cost.
• A Runner can withdraw from their Suwe account at any time to a bank account in their own name. The bank’s ₦50 transfer fee, plus ₦50 stamp duty on withdrawals of ₦10,000 or more, is passed on at cost.
• A change of bank account may take effect only for jobs paid after the change.

• If a Requester is refunded for a job after the Runner’s share has been paid out (for example, after a cancellation or a dispute decided for the Requester), or a rush premium is refunded for lateness, Suwe pays that refund from its own funds and the Runner owes Suwe the amount that came from their share.
• Suwe recovers it by taking up to half of the Runner’s earnings on later jobs. It is never taken from item money, which Requesters pay to shops directly. The Runner can see any balance owed, and each deduction, in the app.
• Suwe may settle or write off a balance by agreement, and may suspend a Runner with a large unpaid balance.

You may not use Suwe to request, carry, buy or deliver anything illegal or unsafe, or to behave abusively. Prohibited items and conduct include, without limitation:

• Illegal drugs, weapons, explosives, stolen goods, or other unlawful items.
• Prescription medicines outside what the law and the relevant pharmacy allow.
• Cash-carrying or errands designed to launder money or evade the law.
• Anything hazardous, living (people or animals as “cargo”), or that endangers a Runner.
• Harassment, threats, discrimination, fraud, or attempts to take payment or communication off-Platform to avoid payment protection or fees.

The full list of banned items and conduct, and how we enforce it, is in our Acceptable Use Policy.

Nothing is charged until a Requester pays for a job. Refunds are handled as follows:

• Free: cancelling a request before paying, or a request that closes with no bids.
• Full refund: a paid job cancelled within 5 minutes of payment (the free-cancel window shown in the app), a paid job cancelled while the Runner is running late, or a dispute decided in the Requester’s favour.
• Partial refund: a paid job cancelled after the free-cancel window. The Runner keeps their service fee and any rush premium for the time they have put in, and the platform fee and card processing fee are refunded to the Requester.
• No in-app cancellation: once the Requester has paid the merchant for the items, the job cannot be cancelled in the app. The Requester may raise a dispute instead.

Refunds on jobs paid through Paystack are paid by Suwe from its own funds and go back to the original payment method through Paystack. Refunds on jobs paid from a Suwe account are released back into that account at once: the money never left it. To prevent fraud, we may check a cancellation before refunding it; the job is stopped while we check, and we aim to decide within one working day. Direct item payments made to a merchant happen outside the Platform’s payment flow, so Suwe cannot refund them. Full details are in our Refund Policy.

If something goes wrong, you can raise a dispute in the app with a reason and evidence (such as photos). Our team will review the request, the communications, proof of delivery and other evidence, and reach a decision in good faith. You agree to co-operate with the dispute process. A dispute does not stop or delay Paystack’s payout to the Runner. On a job paid from a Suwe account, the money stays locked in the Requester’s account until the dispute is decided (see “Your Suwe account”). If it is decided for the Requester, Suwe refunds the Requester and any amount owed by the Runner is handled under “Amounts owed to Suwe”.

After a job, both parties can rate and review each other. Ratings must be honest and must not be abusive, defamatory or misleading. You keep ownership of content you submit, but grant Suwe a licence to host and display it to operate the Platform. We may remove content that breaches these Terms.

We verify every Runner through Dojah: their NIN is checked against NIMC records and a liveness selfie confirms they are a real person. Runners then meet our team in person, who compare them with the photo on their NIN record, and the bank account their earnings are paid to must be in their own name before they are approved. We take these and other steps to keep the marketplace safe, but we cannot guarantee the conduct of any user. Use common sense, keep communication and payment on-Platform, and report anyone who behaves badly. Keeping activity on Suwe is what lets our dispute and refund process protect you.

The Platform is provided “as is”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Suwe is not liable for the acts or omissions of Requesters or Runners, or for the quality, legality or outcome of any errand; these are the responsibility of the parties to the job. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses. Where we are found liable, our total liability for any claim relating to a job is limited to the Suwe service fee we earned on that job. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under Nigerian law.

You agree to indemnify Suwe against claims, losses and costs arising from your use of the Platform, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of another person.

We may suspend or close accounts that breach these Terms, misuse the Platform, or create risk for other users, including for fraud, prohibited requests, or attempts to take payment off the Platform. You can stop using Suwe at any time; some obligations (like completing an active job, paying what’s owed, or resolving a dispute) survive.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the Nigerian courts. We’ll always try to resolve issues with you directly and fairly first.

We may update these Terms as Suwe grows or as the law changes. When we make material changes, we’ll update the “last updated” date and, where appropriate, notify you. Continuing to use Suwe after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

Questions about these Terms? Contact Alan Innovations Ltd at hello@thesuwe.com, or by post at No 34 Ukpe Street, Osongama Estate, Uyo 520241, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria.