Terms of Service

1. Who these Terms are between

Simply Link is operated by Simply Works LTD (Company No. 16219998), registered in England and Wales, with registered office at 5 The Roundhouse, Fore Street, Bodmin, PL31 2HG (Simply Works, Simply Link, we, us).

These Terms apply to the person, sole trader, company or other organisation that creates or uses a Simply Link merchant account (you, your, Merchant). If you use the Service for an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it.

Simply Link is intended for people and organisations using it for their trade, business, craft or profession. It is not intended as a consumer payment account, bank account or personal money-transfer service.

2. Acceptance and incorporated documents

By creating an account, accepting these Terms when asked, or continuing to use the Service after an applicable update takes effect, you agree to these Terms.

Our Data Processing Addendum (DPA) forms part of these Terms where Simply Works processes Customer Personal Data on your behalf. Our Privacy Policy explains how Simply Works processes personal data for purposes for which we act as a controller. Our Cookie Policy explains our use of cookies, browser storage and analytics.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not create new payment requests or otherwise continue using the merchant Service. Existing legal, payment, dispute and retention obligations may continue after use ends.

3. The Simply Link Service

Simply Link provides software for UK solo professionals and small businesses to create and manage customer payment requests. Depending on your plan and account status, features may include:

• creating, previewing and making payment requests live;
• full-payment, deposit and balance requests;
• secure customer payment links;
• saved customers and services;
• Payment Tracker, activity history and Request Again;
• manual and automatic reminders;
• recurring request generation;
• merchant branding, QR sharing and customer receipts where available; and
• payment processing through Stripe Connect.

Simply Link is a technology platform. We are not a bank and do not provide banking, money-remittance, financial-advice, accounting or tax-advice services. Card payments and connected-account payment services are provided by Stripe under Stripe's applicable agreements.

Features, limits and availability may vary by plan and may change in accordance with section 20.

4. Payment requests and payment links

A Simply Link payment request represents a particular amount or payment obligation associated with a customer or piece of work. It is not a reusable shop product or an unlimited-use checkout link. A recurring request creates a new payment request; it does not automatically charge a customer's card.

When you make a request live, Simply Link publishes a customer-facing payment page at a link that can be opened by anyone who obtains the URL. The link is therefore a bearer link: possession of the URL may allow a person to view the public-facing request information and, while an amount remains payable, to start payment through Stripe.

You are responsible for deciding who receives or can access a payment-request link. Do not publish or include private or sensitive personal information in the request title, description, reminder wording or other content that can be shown through a public or shareable payment page.

Simply Link does not authenticate the identity of the person holding the link as the named or intended customer. A different person may pay on a customer's behalf. You are responsible for deciding whether a payment satisfies the underlying obligation and for resolving any customer-service issue arising from who made the payment.

Payment availability is based on the request's current outstanding amount and payment stage. Once there is no remaining amount due for a payable stage, Simply Link will not intentionally create another checkout for that same settled obligation. Deposit requests may legitimately have separate deposit and balance stages.

5. Accounts and eligibility

To use a merchant account you must:

• be at least 18 years old;
• have legal capacity to enter into these Terms;
• provide accurate, current and complete information;
• use the Service for a lawful business purpose;
• keep your login details and account access secure; and
• notify us promptly if you reasonably suspect unauthorised access or misuse.

You are responsible for activity carried out through your account except to the extent it results from a failure for which Simply Works is legally responsible.

6. Your business and customer responsibilities

You, not Simply Link, are the seller or service provider in your relationship with your customers. You are responsible for:

• the goods or services you advertise, sell or provide;
• prices, deposits, balances, due dates and any applicable taxes;
• delivery, performance, cancellations, returns and customer support;
• the accuracy and lawfulness of content you enter into Simply Link;
• your customer communications and having an appropriate lawful basis to send them;
• issuing any invoice, VAT invoice, tax receipt or other document your business is legally required to provide;
• refund decisions, chargebacks, disputes and reversals relating to your transactions; and
• compliance with laws and professional rules that apply to your business.

A Simply Link payment receipt records a payment reflected by the Service. It is not automatically a VAT invoice, tax invoice or proof that the underlying goods or services were supplied as agreed.

7. Stripe Connect and payment processing

Simply Link uses Stripe Connect. To accept payments you must have an eligible connected Stripe account and comply with the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, Stripe Services Agreement and other Stripe terms that apply to your account and transactions.

Stripe is responsible for its payment-processing services. Stripe may verify your identity or business, refuse or reverse payments, place reserves or holds, delay payouts, request information, or restrict or close a connected account under its own terms and legal obligations. Simply Works does not control those Stripe decisions.

You authorise Simply Works to create and manage Stripe objects and exchange information with Stripe to the extent reasonably necessary to provide Simply Link, collect applicable platform fees, reconcile payment status, support refunds and disputes, manage subscriptions, and meet security, risk or compliance obligations.

Simply Link does not store customers' full card details. Customers enter card details in Stripe's hosted checkout environment.

8. Fees, plans and subscriptions

9. Refunds, disputes and reversals

You are responsible for deciding when a customer is entitled to a refund and for complying with any refund, cancellation or consumer rights that apply to your business. Simply Link may provide tools that help you initiate or record refunds through Stripe but does not determine refund entitlement.

Simply Link's in-product refund flow currently supports full refunds of a payment request rather than partial refunds. If you need functionality not supported by Simply Link, you may need to use Stripe directly where Stripe permits it.

Stripe may debit your connected-account balance or future payouts for refunds, chargebacks, disputes, reversals, Stripe fees or other amounts under the Stripe terms. You are responsible for amounts properly attributable to your transactions and connected account.

10. Acceptable use and restricted activity

You must not use Simply Link for unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, abusive or harmful activity, or in a way that infringes another person's rights. You must comply with Stripe's prohibited and restricted-business requirements that apply to your connected account.

You must not:

• use a payment request to misrepresent the nature, price or recipient of a transaction;
• attempt to evade Stripe, Simply Link or legal risk controls;
• probe, attack, overload or interfere with the Service or another account;
• upload or publish content you do not have the right to use;
• use the Service to facilitate fraud, unauthorised payments or prohibited goods or services; or
• use public-facing fields to disclose private or sensitive personal information unnecessarily.

We may remove or restrict content, payment activity or account access where we reasonably believe this is necessary to prevent fraud or harm, comply with law or Stripe requirements, protect the Service, or enforce these Terms.

11. Data protection and privacy

The Privacy Policy explains how Simply Works uses personal data for purposes for which it acts as a controller.

When you decide to enter or use customer personal data in Simply Link for your customer relationship, you are normally the controller of that Customer Personal Data and Simply Works processes it on your behalf as processor. The Data Processing Addendum governs that processing and forms part of these Terms.

You are responsible for having a lawful basis for Customer Personal Data you provide, giving your customers any privacy information required from you, and complying with data-protection law that applies to your business.

Simply Link is not designed for special category personal data or criminal offence data in public-facing payment-request fields. Do not include health information, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or identification biometric data, sex-life or sexual-orientation information, criminal allegations or convictions, or similarly sensitive information in a shareable payment-request description unless we have expressly agreed otherwise in writing and you have a lawful basis and appropriate safeguards.

12. Your content

You retain ownership of content and data you submit to the Service. You grant Simply Works a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, copy, process, transmit, display and otherwise use that content only as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, maintain and improve the Service, comply with law, and exercise our rights under these Terms.

You confirm that you have the rights and permissions necessary for content you submit and that our permitted use of it under these Terms will not unlawfully infringe another person's rights.

13. Service security, risk controls and account reviews

We use automated and manual measures to protect users, Stripe and Simply Link from fraud, abuse and prohibited activity. These measures may consider account information, transaction behaviour, disputes, chargebacks, payment patterns, device or network signals, business information and content relevant to risk assessment.

Where reasonably necessary, we may request information, pause new payment activity, make payment requests unavailable, restrict features, place an account under review, quarantine open checkout sessions, suspend an account, or terminate access. We will act proportionately where reasonably practicable, but urgent action may be taken without advance notice where necessary to protect users, funds, the Service, or meet legal or Stripe requirements.

You may contact support to ask about an account restriction. We may withhold details where disclosure would compromise security, fraud prevention, legal duties or another person's rights.

14. Intellectual property

Simply Works and its licensors own the Service, software, branding, documentation and original content supplied by us. Except for the limited right to use the Service under these Terms, no intellectual-property rights are transferred to you.

You must not copy, sell, sublicense, reverse engineer, scrape or exploit the Service except to the extent expressly permitted by law or these Terms.

15. Third-party services

Simply Link depends on third-party services including Stripe and infrastructure, database, authentication and email providers. Those providers may have their own terms and privacy documentation. We are responsible for our own obligations but are not responsible for a third party's independent acts, decisions or outages to the extent the law permits.

16. Availability and disclaimers

We aim to provide a reliable Service, but no online service can be guaranteed to be uninterrupted, error-free or available at all times. We may maintain, change, suspend or discontinue features for operational, security, legal or product reasons.

The Service is provided on an "as available" basis. To the extent permitted by law, we do not give warranties beyond those expressly stated in these Terms. Nothing in this section excludes a term that the law says cannot be excluded.

Simply Link is not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. You remain responsible for professional advice appropriate to your business.

17. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. Nothing in these Terms removes either party's direct statutory obligations under data-protection law.

Subject to the paragraph above, neither party will be liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings, goodwill or business opportunity, arising out of these Terms, except where that type of loss was directly caused by a breach and cannot lawfully be excluded.

Subject to the first paragraph of this section, Simply Works' total aggregate contractual liability to you arising from the Service in any 12-month period will not exceed the greater of (a) £100 and (b) the total Simply Link fees and subscription charges paid or payable by you to Simply Works during the 12 months immediately before the event giving rise to the claim.

This section applies only to the extent permitted by applicable law and is intended to allocate risk reasonably for a low-cost business software service. It does not limit rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be limited.

18. Your responsibility for third-party claims

To the extent permitted by law, you will reimburse Simply Works for reasonable losses, liabilities and costs finally incurred as a result of a third-party claim to the extent the claim results from:

• goods or services you sell or provide;
• content or Customer Personal Data you unlawfully submit, publish or instruct us to process;
• your infringement of another person's intellectual-property or privacy rights;
• fraud or unlawful activity by you; or
• your material breach of these Terms or applicable law.

This section does not require you to reimburse us for a claim to the extent it was caused by Simply Works' own breach, negligence or unlawful act.

19. Suspension and termination

You may stop using Simply Link at any time and may cancel Pro as described in section 8. We may suspend or terminate access where we reasonably believe you have materially breached these Terms, created a material security or fraud risk, used the Service unlawfully, failed a required compliance review, or where Stripe or law requires action.

Where reasonably practicable, we will give notice and an opportunity to remedy a remediable breach before permanent termination. We may act immediately where delay would create material risk, facilitate unlawful activity, compromise security or conflict with legal or Stripe requirements.

Termination does not affect accrued payment, refund, dispute, confidentiality, data-protection, intellectual-property or liability obligations that are intended to continue. Customer Personal Data is handled after termination in accordance with the DPA and our applicable legal retention duties.

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes to the Service, law, security, third-party requirements or our business. We will update the date shown at the top of the page.

For a material change that meaningfully increases your obligations or reduces your contractual rights, we will take reasonable steps to give advance notice where reasonably practicable, for example by email or a dashboard notice. We may require you to expressly accept materially updated Terms before continuing merchant-side use of the Service.

Minor, clarifying, legal or technical changes that do not materially disadvantage you may take effect when published or on the date stated in the notice. If you do not agree to a material update, you may stop using the Service and cancel Pro before the updated Terms apply to future use, subject to obligations already accrued.

21. General

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. A delay in enforcing a right does not waive it. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent, except as part of a genuine transfer of your business where we reasonably agree. We may transfer these Terms as part of a merger, reorganisation, financing or sale of the Service or business, provided this does not reduce your mandatory legal rights.

These Terms, together with the documents expressly incorporated into them, form the agreement between you and Simply Works about the Service and replace earlier terms covering the same subject matter from the date these Terms apply to you.

22. Governing law and courts

These Terms and any non-contractual obligations arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory rule that gives another court jurisdiction.