Terms & Conditions

1. Who we are, and who you are

A contract between your business and Emerge Group Limited.

We are Emerge Group Limited (company number 8060798, NZBN 9429048472920), Level 9, 110 Symonds Street, Grafton, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. We are a registered financial service provider (FSP1000546). We are not a bank.

You are the business that signs up for EmergePOS. The person who accepts these terms confirms they are allowed to do that on the business’s behalf. Team members you add use the app under your account, and you are responsible for what they do in it.

These terms, our Privacy Policy, and the Stripe and Apple agreements named in section 3 are the whole agreement between us for EmergePOS. If you also hold an Emerge business account, that account has its own terms.

2. Your account, and keeping it safe

Accurate details, careful with logins and devices, and tell us fast if something looks wrong.

• Give us accurate information when you sign up and keep it current. Tell us within 14 days if your legal name, ownership or control, business category, or settlement account changes. We may need to verify you again, and ask you to accept the Stripe agreements again, before a change takes effect.
• Logins are personal. Give each team member their own, rather than sharing yours, and remove people when they leave.
• Keep the devices you use for EmergePOS locked and up to date. Do not take payments on a jailbroken or modified device.
• Tell us straight away at support@emerge.nz if you think someone else has used your account, a device is lost, or a payment looks wrong.
• Anything done in your account using your logins is treated as done by you, unless it happened because we failed to take reasonable care.

3. Card payments, with Stripe

Stripe processes your card payments under its own agreements. We run your Stripe account for you.

Card payments (Tap to Pay, card readers, pay links, invoices and subscriptions) are processed by Stripe. By using EmergePOS you accept the Stripe Services Agreement and the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, and you authorise us to share your details with Stripe and to operate your Stripe account on your behalf: creating it, collecting what Stripe needs to verify you, taking payments, issuing refunds and managing payouts. You do not get a Stripe dashboard. We are your window into Stripe. The payment method acquirer is Stripe New Zealand Limited, NZBN 9429041687628.

If you enable Tap to Pay on iPhone, you also accept Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone terms for that device.

Verification

Stripe and we must know who we are dealing with, under anti-money-laundering law. We will ask for identity and business details, sometimes documents, and we check them against identity and sanctions sources. We keep watching for unusual activity after that. Until you are verified we may not be able to pay you out.

Payouts

Payouts go to the bank account you give us. We hold your first payouts for a short review, usually a few days. We may also hold or delay a payout where we reasonably suspect fraud, where Stripe or a card network requires it, or to cover refunds, chargebacks or a negative balance. We will tell you when we do, unless the law stops us.

Refunds

You can refund a payment from the app. Refunds go back to the card that paid. The fee we charged on the original payment is not returned. We cap refunds at a sensible level and may ask you to verify yourself before a large one.

Chargebacks

If a cardholder disputes a payment, the amount and the card network’s dispute fee come out of your payouts while it is decided. You can give us evidence and we pass it to Stripe. If you win, the amount is returned. Chargebacks and refunds on your sales are your responsibility. Ones caused by our mistake are ours.

Negative balances

If refunds, chargebacks or fees take your balance below zero, you owe us the shortfall. We may deduct it from later payouts.

4. Pay by Bank, with open banking

We ask your customer’s bank to pay you directly. It is free, and it runs under the Customer and Product Data Act.

Where we have switched on Pay by Bank for your business, we request payments from your customers’ banks as an accredited requestor under the Customer and Product Data Act 2025. Every request is made by Emerge Group Limited, in our name. You are not accredited, you get no access to any bank’s systems, and you cannot rely on our accreditation for anything of your own.

• We charge nothing on a Pay by Bank payment.
• The money goes straight from your customer’s bank to your Emerge settlement account, and nowhere else. That account is held on trust for you by Emerge Nominee Limited at a New Zealand bank. The money in it is yours, not ours, and our creditors cannot touch it.
• A payment shows as paid once the customer’s bank has authorised it. The bank then settles it, normally within seconds. If a bank ever authorises a payment but does not settle it, we will tell you and work it through with the bank.
• Banks do not yet offer a refund service. To refund a Pay by Bank payment you pay the money back yourself, to the account it came from, and mark it done in the app. For that purpose only, the customer’s bank releases their account name and number to you.

In return, you agree to:

• use Pay by Bank only for genuine sales by the business we verified, in the category you told us about;
• never mislead a customer about a payment request, what it is for, or who it goes to;
• handle any customer information you receive under the Privacy Act 2020, use it only for that transaction and its refund, and keep it secure;
• send us any privacy complaint or question about a Pay by Bank payment, rather than answering it yourself;
• cooperate with reasonable requests from us, a bank, or the regulator, including about a complaint or a suspected fraud.

We can pause Pay by Bank for your business immediately if we reasonably suspect fraud or deception, if you breach these terms, or if a bank or regulator requires it. That does not affect your card payments unless we say so.

5. Fees

The rates in Manage, Pricing are what you pay. You get 30 days’ notice before they change.

• Our fees are shown in the app under Manage, Pricing, and are taken out of each payment before it reaches you. There is nothing extra to pay Stripe or Apple.
• Pay by Bank is free.
• Fees are in New Zealand dollars and include GST.
• Hardware you buy from us, such as a card reader, is charged separately at the price shown when you order it.
• We will not surprise you with a fee change. You get at least 30 days’ notice by email and in the app, and you can close your account before the change starts.

6. Your customers

They are your customers. Look after them, and their information.

• You are responsible for what you sell: delivering it, your refund policy, giving a receipt when asked, and complying with the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.
• Only add a surcharge where the law allows it, never more than it costs you to accept the payment, and always shown as its own line before the customer pays.
• Refund a card payment to the card, never in cash. Never write down or store a customer’s card details. Keep a fair, clearly stated refund policy.
• Before a customer starts a subscription, make sure they know it will recur and how to cancel it.
• If you sell packs or tickets, we can give your customers a digital pass for their phone’s wallet (Apple Wallet or Google Wallet for packs, Apple Wallet for tickets). You let us, Apple and Google show your business name, logo and brand colours on those passes, and let Apple use pictures of them to promote Wallet. You confirm you have the right to give us that permission. Your packs and tickets stay yours: you honour them and handle refunds.
• If you sell tickets or take registrations, the event is yours. You set its capacity and honour every valid ticket at your door. Each ticket lets one person in, once. Refunds after a cancellation or change are yours to decide and pay. If you cancel it or move its date, time or place, we email the buyers and registrants we have an email for.
• Only send marketing to customers who have agreed to receive it, and honour every unsubscribe. The app helps with this, but the duty under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 is yours.
• The customer details you record are yours: you decide why you collect them, and you are responsible for them under the Privacy Act. We hold them for you and use them only to run the service. Information we collect for our own payment, fraud-prevention, legal and open banking duties is our responsibility, as our Privacy Policy explains.

7. Using EmergePOS fairly

Real sales, from the business we verified, and nothing illegal.

• Use EmergePOS only for genuine sales by the business you told us about. Do not run a different business through it, take payments for someone else, or pay yourself.
• Do not use it for anything on Stripe’s prohibited and restricted businesses list, or for anything illegal, fraudulent, or harmful to others.
• Do not interfere with the service, probe its security, or copy it.
• We may set limits, such as a maximum per payment or per day, to manage risk. The app shows you where a limit applies.

8. Our service

We take reasonable care, tell you the truth about outages, and keep improving things.

• We provide EmergePOS with reasonable care and skill, and we keep it secure.
• It depends on things we do not run: Stripe, banks, card networks, Apple, and your internet connection. We cannot promise it will always be available, and we are not responsible for their outages, but we will tell you what we know when one happens.
• We update the app often. Some updates need you to install the new version before you can keep taking payments.
• We may add, change or retire features. If we retire something you rely on, we will give you reasonable notice.

9. Changes to these terms

30 days’ notice for anything that matters. The current version is always in the app.

If we make a change that matters to you, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice by email and in the app. If you do not want to accept it, you can close your account before it starts. Using EmergePOS after that date means you accept it. A change required by law, or one that only makes things better for you, may take effect sooner.

The current version is always at pos.emerge.nz/terms and in the app under Manage. We keep a record of the version you accepted, and when.

10. Ending things

You can leave any time. We can suspend or close an account for fraud, serious breach, or if a regulator requires it.

• You can stop using EmergePOS whenever you like. Contact us at support@emerge.nz and we will close your account once outstanding payments, refunds and chargebacks have settled.
• We can suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly breach these terms, if we reasonably suspect fraud or illegal activity, if Stripe, a bank or a regulator requires it, or if we stop offering the service. Where we can, we will tell you why. If we stop offering the service we will give you at least 30 days’ notice.
• When an account closes we pay you what you are owed, less anything you owe us, once the period for chargebacks has passed. Stripe may hold some funds after closure to cover chargebacks and other amounts that may still become due. We keep the records the law requires us to keep, and we will give you a copy of your transaction history on request.

11. Who is responsible for what

We are responsible for our mistakes. We are not responsible for your sales, other providers’ failures, or indirect losses, and there is a cap.

• We are responsible for loss you suffer because we breached these terms or were negligent.
• We are not responsible for your goods and services or for disputes with your customers; for the acts or outages of Stripe, banks, card networks, Apple or your internet provider; for loss caused by shared logins or unsecured devices; or for indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits.
• In any 12 months, our total liability to you is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $10,000 if that is more.
• Nothing in these terms limits our liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or anything the law does not let us limit.
• You are using EmergePOS in trade, so we both agree the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply to it. Given everything else in these terms, we think that is fair and reasonable, and so do you.
• You will cover any loss we reasonably suffer because you breached these terms, because of refunds or chargebacks on your sales, or because of a customer claim arising from something you did or failed to do in providing your goods or services.

12. If something goes wrong

Tell us first. If we cannot sort it out, a free, independent scheme can.

• Email support@emerge.nz. We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days, keep you informed, and try to resolve it within ten.
• If you are not happy with how we handled it, you can take it to Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), a free and independent dispute resolution scheme: 0800 347 257, complaints@fscl.org.nz, or fscl.org.nz.
• A privacy complaint can also go to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner: 0800 803 909, enquiries@privacy.org.nz. A concern about how we handle open banking can also go to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which regulates accredited requestors.

13. The legal bits

New Zealand law, New Zealand courts, and the usual housekeeping.

• These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and New Zealand courts decide any dispute about them.
• We may transfer this agreement to a related company, or to someone who buys our business, and we will tell you if we do. You need our consent to transfer yours.
• We send notices to the email address on your account and in the app. You send them to the support address above.
• If part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies. If we do not enforce something straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• Nothing here makes us partners. You appoint us to act for you with Stripe and with banks, as described above, and only for that.

14. If you are paying a business that uses Emerge

We provide the payment page. Your bank or card provider moves the money. The business you paid is your contract.

We are Emerge Group Limited. When you pay a business through an Emerge page, a QR code, a pay link or an invoice, we provide the page and pass your payment to Stripe or to your bank. Your contract for what you bought is with the business, so for anything about the goods, a refund or a receipt, contact them first. If you cannot reach them, we will help.

Paying by card

Your card is processed by Stripe, usually with your bank’s extra check (3D Secure). You are charged the amount shown, and nothing else, unless the business has shown you a surcharge before you pay.

Paying by bank

Emerge Group Limited, an accredited requestor under the Customer and Product Data Act 2025, asks your bank to make one payment of the amount shown to the business shown. You approve it inside your own bank, with your usual login or Face ID. We never see your bank login, your balance or your other transactions. You can decline at any step and nothing is paid. Once your bank has accepted a payment it cannot be cancelled, like any bank transfer.

Refunds by bank

If the business owes you a refund, they pay it back to the account you paid from. For that purpose only, your bank shares that account’s name and number with the business. Nothing else about your account is shared.

Recurring bank payments

If we ever offer an ongoing authorisation, you will set the limits before you approve it, we will remind you at least once a year what you authorised and how to end it, and you can end it at any time with us or with your bank.

Tickets and free registrations

If you buy a ticket or register for an event, the business runs the event. We send your tickets by email and, if you add them, to Apple Wallet. Each ticket lets one person in, once. Refunds and changes are up to the business. If they cancel the event or change its date, time or place, we email you. Registering for a free event costs nothing.

Fees

We charge you nothing.

Problems

Contact the business, or us at support@emerge.nz. For a payment your bank has made, your bank can help too. If we cannot resolve a complaint, Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) (0800 347 257) is free and independent. Our Privacy Policy explains what we hold about you and how to see it.