Legal Terms & Conditions of Use
Kindly read and familiarize yourself with our terms and conditions before proceeding with the use of this website. The terms laid out herein govern your conduct and other general use of our platform. By registering on our platform either as an investor or borrower, you agree to abide and be legally liable under these Terms and Conditions of Use. Credence Lending Alliance Ltd or Credencela.com or through instruction from any of our partners or affiliates, reserves the right with or without prior notice to you, to alter or make changes to this website, the services provided and or to these Terms and Conditions of Use. You are, therefore, invited to thoroughly review these Terms and Conditions of Use before you proceed with registration and every time you access this platform.
1. Who We Are Credence - Lending Alliance is a financial technology and solutions company that, through our investors, provides personal and business loan services through our online debt financing or peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace.
2. Agreement: These Terms and Agreements describe the relationship between you, the user, and us, Credence Lending Alliance Ltd (a legal person). It specifies our responsibilities to you as a client. It also governs your use of our website and all the services that are available on the platform. It describes certain risks that may arise as a result of using our services and we urge you to consider such risks carefully before proceeding as you are bound by the provision of this agreement should you decide to use this platform or any of our services.
3. Becoming a Member (Registration): Before you can access some of the features on the website, you may be asked to provide personal, professional and/or demographic information as part of the registration process. You agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself and or your company. Providing any false, misleading, incomplete, distorted, or inaccurate information, upon detection, will void your registration and permanently blacklist you from having access to this website and or any of the services that we provide. We may also escalate it to the authorities is warranted. Furthermore, it is your responsibility to keep any such information that you provided up to date, including your contact details so that we can reliably contact you, whenever the need arises. Similarly, you are required to protect the integrity and confidentiality of your account password as we are not liable for any loss or damage that may arise due to failure on your end to protect your password or account information.
4. User Representation: You signify, certify, consent, and agree that no information or material of any kind, type or shape submitted through your account or otherwise posted or shared by you through the platform will disrupt, violate, impugn or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain libelous, defamatory, fraudulent or unlawful material. You further agree not to directly solicit or request for email addresses or other contact information of users from the Service or the platform by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other communications. In addition, you agree not to use automated scripts to collect information from the Service or the Site for any other purpose. You further agree that you may not use the service or the Site in any unlawful manner or in any other manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the platform. In addition, you agree not to use the Service or the Site to:
i. upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically, religiously or otherwise objectionable;
ii. register more than one User account for the same service, or register a User account on behalf of any group or entity.
iii. impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with or authority to act on behalf of any person or entity;
iv. upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
v. upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make publicly available on the Site any private information of any third party, including, without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and credit card numbers;
vi. upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other malicious or tracking computer codes, files or programs designed to track, interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or any information that infringes the intellectual property rights of others;
vii. intimidate or harass another User;
viii. upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create a liability or violate any sovereignty: state, national or international law;
ix. use or attempt to use another person's account, service or system without authorization from that person and or the Company, or create a false identity on the Service or the Site.
5. Age Restriction In order to register for our Services: you represent and warrant that you are at least 21 years of age and are legally able to enter into a legally binding contract.
6. Identity Authentication You authorize us: directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries we consider necessary to validate your identity. This may include asking you for further information, requiring you to provide personal information, or take further steps to confirm ownership of any furnished information, including financial instruments, or verifying your Information against third party databases or through other sources.
7. Assignment: You may not transfer or assign any rights or obligations you have under this Agreement without our prior written consent which is in our sole and absolute discretion to grant or decline. Whereas, we reserve the right to transfer or assign this Agreement or any right or obligation under this Agreement at any time.
8. General Disclaimer:The service is provided to you "as is," without any representation or warranty, expressed or implied, of any kind, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, noninfringement, or fitness for any particular purpose. We do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the service, the suitability of the content or the reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information displayed or distributed through our service. You acknowledge that any reliance on any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. Furthermore, we are not responsible for for the goods procured through our affiliates or partners whether in terms of quality or warranty. In so much we do our utmost best to ensure a safe and reliable business platform, we do not warrant that the functions contained in the materials will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this Site is free of viruses or other harmful components.
9. Communications and Notices to You: By accepting these Terms of Use, you expressly consent to be contacted by us, our agents, representatives, affiliates, or anyone on our behalf for any and all purposes, at any telephone number, or physical or electronic address you provide or at which you may be reached. You also agree that we may contact you in any way, including through SMS messages (text messages), calls using pre-recorded messages or artificial voice, and calls and messages delivered using auto telephone dialing system or an automatic texting system. Automated messages may be played when the telephone is answered whether by you or someone else. In the event that an agent or representative calls, he or she may also leave a message on your answering machine, voice mail, or send one via text. You agree that we may provide notice to you by posting it on our website or emailing it to the email address listed in your account. Such notice shall be considered to be received by you within 24 hours of the time it is posted on our website or emailed to you unless we receive notice that the email was not delivered. If the notice is sent by mail, we will consider it to have been received by you three business days after it is sent.
10. Consent to Electronic Transactions and Disclosures: Because Credence Lending Alliance is an internet-based platform, whether you choose to participate on our platform as a borrower, investor or in any other manner, it is necessary for you to consent to transact business with us online and electronically. As part of doing business with us, we also need you to consent to our giving you certain disclosures electronically, either via our Site, your phone number or to the email address you provide to us. By agreeing to the Terms of Use, you agree to receive electronically all documents, communications, notices, contracts, and agreements arising from or relating to your use of the Site and Service, including any loans you may request or receive, your registration as a borrower or investor on our Site, any loans you may fund, notes you have purchased, your earned interests and principals, your use of this Service, and the servicing of your loan, if funded, as either a borrower or investor member of Credence Lending Alliance Ltd.
11. Taxes: The applicable tax laws in Nigeria or any other sovereign jurisdiction we may operate as related to our BORROWERS and INVESTORS are Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax, we may also be required to withhold Stamp Duty as may be required by law; INTEREST EARNED BY INVESTORS are liable to 10% value added tax Withholding. BORROWERS are charged 5% VAT on service charges as applicable. We are obliged by the applicable laws to collect these taxes on behalf of the government and remit as at when due, failure of which attracts severe penalties. Where applicable, the Withholding charges on INVESTORS’ interests may help reduce INVESTORS’ tax liability in the same year. We are not to be held responsible for advising, estimating, calculating and/or remitting any other appropriate taxes that apply to you in Nigeria and abroad outside of our transactions here. You agree to indemnify us to the full extent of the applicable law in the event that any tax authority holds us responsible for any taxes directly or indirectly arising from your use of the site.
12. Suspension or Termination of Access: We have the right to deny you access, and suspend or terminate your access to the Site for any reason, including for any violation by you of these Terms of Use without prior notice to you. In that case, any outstanding fund that is rightly yours at that point shall be remitted to the bank account we have on file for you. Similarly, you shall have 14 days to redeem all and any funds that belong to us, failure which we reserve the right to use every mean at our disposition including taking forceful legal actions against you, your company, any or all of your representatives in pursuit of such funds.
13. Ownership of Site Content: We own the intellectual property rights in the contents and materials displayed on this Site. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from this Site unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Use.
14. Copyright and Trademarks: The Company name, Credence Lending Alliance Ltd, Credencela, the Credence Lending Alliance Logo, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are copyrights and trademarks of the Company or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company or as otherwise set out in these Terms of Use. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on this Site are the trademarks of their respective owners.
15. Limitation of Damages:To the extent permissible by the applicable law, our liability to you for any cause whatsoever, regardless of the form of the action will not exceed ₦9,900. If the dispute is pertaining to a lending transaction, our liability to you shall not exceed the amount of the lending transaction or ₦9,900 whichever is lower. As permitted by applicable law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms which may apply to our Site or any content on it, whether expressed or implied. We will not be liable to any user for any loss or damage, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with the use of, or inability to use our site.
16. Disclaimer: We do not guarantee the accuracy of any User Content or Third-Party Content. Although we provide rules for User conduct and postings, we do not control and are not responsible for what Users post on the Site and are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content you may encounter on the Site or in connection with any User Content or Third-Party Content. We are not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the Site or Service. We cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the Site and/or the Service to obtain a loan. The Site and the Service may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. We assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, User communications. We are not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of emails on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on the Site or combination thereof, including injury or damage to Users or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in connection with the Web and/or in connection with the Service.
17. Dispute Resolution: This Terms of Use shall be governed by the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any dispute arising out of this Agreement, which cannot be settled by mutual agreement/negotiation within 30 days shall be referred to arbitration by a single arbitrator at the Federal Capital Territory Court of Arbitration (“FCTCA”) and governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap A10, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The arbitrator shall be appointed by the Parties, where Parties are unable to agree on the choice of an arbitrator, the choice of arbitration shall be referred to the FCTCA. The findings of the arbitrator and subsequent award shall be binding on the Parties and may be enforced through a Nigerian court of law. Each Party shall bear its cost in connection with the Arbitration.
18. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction: These Terms of Use shall be interpreted and governed by the laws in force in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Parties submit to Arbitration and waive any objections based upon venue.
19. Waiver and Severability: Our failure to enforce a provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the Terms will remain in full effect and an enforceable term or terms will be substituted reflecting our intent as closely as possible.