PRODUCT.md §10.8

Merchant Services Agreement

Effective 16 September 2026. Binding long-form text is in PRODUCT.md. This page is the public copy.

Applies when the operator takes card payments for Owlaw plans, staff seats or phone-minute charges through PayFast Aggregation.

- The firm is the merchant of record for client fee invoices unless an order form says otherwise. The operator is the merchant of record for Owlaw subscriptions and minute charges.
- Chargebacks: keep the engagement and invoice that support the debit.
- PCI: this repository does not store a raw card number. Checkout is hosted by PayFast. The server stores the PayFast token, not the card.
- VAT: the operator issues its own tax invoice. Plan prices exclude VAT, and PayFast is not asked to add VAT on top.
- The product billing page is not a live merchant until PAYFAST_MERCHANT_ID and PAYFAST_MERCHANT_KEY are set. Sandbox first.
- Trust money is never mixed with subscription charges. Section 86 / IOLTA ledgers are not a payment gateway.