Terms and Conditions

1. Introduction

1.1. Altus Financial Service Limited (“Altus”) is a limited liability company duly incorporated and licensed in Zambia. Altus is primarily engaged in the business of providing Credit Facilities to individuals and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (“MSMEs”).

1.2. Zamtel Mobile Money Limited (“ZMML”) is a limited liability company duly incorporated and licensed in Zambia. ZMML is primarily engaged in the business of providing Mobile Money services to consumers, merchants and agents.

1.3. Zamtel Platform is any channel, such as USSD or a mobile application, through which Zamtel Mobile Money customers can apply for a Zangena Loan.

1.4. All applications for a Credit Facility from Altus on the Zamtel Mobile Money platform, as well as disbursements, are exclusively made, approved and disbursed electronically.

1.5. You (which expression shall apply to a natural or artificial person, depending on the context) have voluntarily applied for a Credit Facility or are considering applying for such a Facility from Altus using the Zamtel Mobile Money platform.

1.6. By using the Zamtel Platform and applying for the Zangena Loan, you agree to the terms of the End-User License Agreement and Altus's Privacy Policy set out in the Appendix to this document.

2. Scope

This document sets out the Terms and Conditions (“Ts & Cs”) that will govern your relationship with Altus through the Zamtel Mobile Money USSD platform. The said Ts & Cs shall apply to you having applied for a Zangena Loan on the Zamtel Mobile Money offered by Altus to the full extent applicable, whether you have applied for a Credit Facility from Altus using the Zamtel Mobile Money Platform.

3. Representations and Warranties

You hereby represent and warrant to Altus as follows:

3.1. You are over 18 years and have legal capacity to enter into a Credit Facility Agreement (the “Agreement”).

3.2. You have personally accessed the Zangena loan offered by Altus through the Zamtel Mobile Money USSD menu, and fully understand what you are signing up for, including your obligations.

3.3. Where You have applied for a Credit Facility or intend to apply for a Credit Facility, the said application was or shall be personally initiated and concluded by You or a person authorized by You.

3.4. In the case of a business credit facility, the company is duly incorporated, and You are duly authorized by the company to apply for the credit facility. You agree that you will be personally liable for all obligations under the credit facility if you do not act with the authorization of the company.

4. Credit Facility Application

4.1. You shall correctly and fully complete all required digital Know Your Customer (“KYC”), Know Your Business (“KYB”), and any other application form(s).

4.2. Altus shall provide You with a pre-agreement disclosure statement (the “Disclosure Statement”) which summarizes the important terms of the Agreement before the Agreement is concluded.

4.3. Where your application is successful, Altus shall make available to you an amount not exceeding the Commitment Amount. You may draw down any amount under the Credit Facility up to the Commitment Amount while the Agreement is in effect.

4.4. You shall make only one drawdown request at a time. Where the amount drawn down is still outstanding, you may not make another drawdown request. If you breach this provision, Altus reserves the sole right to terminate the Agreement, and any amounts, including interest and any fees you owe Altus, shall be immediately payable. Altus shall not be liable to You for such termination. All losses and damages suffered by You before, during and after the termination shall wholly be borne by You.

5. Disbursement

5.1. Altus shall transfer the amount requested to You on Zamtel Mobile Money only to the account or channel (collectively the “Account”) You provide during the application stage, provided that You own the Account. Altus reasonably expects the transfer to be effected no later than one business day following the date on which the Agreement is concluded. The Agreement shall only take effect after the requested amount has been successfully disbursed (the “Effective Date”).

5.2. Where You do not receive the disbursement within the timeframe stipulated in clause 5.1, You are required to notify Altus within three (3) days following the date on which the amount should have been disbursed. Notification may be made in person at Altus’s offices, via email to customerservice@altus.co.zm, or by calling 0760 668 918.

5.3. Where Altus receives such notification, Altus reserves the right to request evidence in support of Your claims and may choose to make changes to Your repayment schedule at its sole discretion.

6. Loan Cancellation Request

6.1. You have the right to make a written cancellation request not later than 24 hours after disbursement. Such a request may be made in person at Altus’s offices or via email to customerservice@altus.co.zm.

6.2. Altus shall accept this request only after full repayment of the full outstanding principal issued to the customer, inclusive of accrued interest and fees, where applicable.

7. Fees and Interest

7.1. The Credit Facility may attract a commitment and other fees (the “Fees”) specified in the Disclosure Statement and the Agreement. You can review the specific loan terms during the application process and accept them.

7.2. The amount drawn down, along with any capitalized fees (the “Principal”), shall attract an interest rate specified in the Agreement, computed as simple interest (the “Interest”) for the period during which the amount drawn down remains outstanding.

8. Repayment

8.1. The Principal shall become due in full, together with the Fees and Interest (the “Repayment Amount”), on the dates set out in the repayment schedule of the Agreement.

8.2. You shall be responsible for ensuring that the Repayment Amount is paid to Altus by the due date specified in the Agreement. Any payment received by Altus after the due date, even if initiated and completed by You before the due date, may constitute a late payment at Altus’s sole discretion.

8.3. Altus only accepts electronic forms of payment from your Zamtel Money wallet.

8.4. You may be required to complete an irrevocable direct debit mandate form, formally instructing your bank or electronic money operator to transfer money to Altus's advised account until the Repayment Amount is fully paid off.

8.5. Where You are required to issue a direct debit mandate in favour of Altus, the mandate shall lapse upon Altus receiving all amounts due and owing under the Agreement.

8.6. Altus shall verify receipt of Your repayment and notify You if repayment has not been made. Notification may be through face-to-face communication, phone call, text message, email, Your status within the Altus app, or any social media platform.

8.7. Any Repayment Amount that remains unpaid after each due date shall attract a daily interest rate, applicable only to the overdue amount, for each day it remains unpaid. Further loan disbursements shall be halted until all outstanding loans are fully repaid, and a lien shall be placed on the relevant mobile money account to automatically deduct any future credits.

8.8. If You become bankrupt, the Agreement shall lapse and any amounts payable by You or due to Altus shall become immediately due and payable in full.

9. Termination

9.1. Altus reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate Your application process or the Agreement at any time before the Effective Date.

9.2. Altus also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Agreement if it is unable to disburse the requested amount due to inaccurate bank or mobile account details provided by You, a system failure on the part of Your bank or telecommunication company, or any other reason attributable to a third party unrelated to Altus.

9.3. Upon such termination or cancellation, Altus shall not be liable to You for any loss or damage deriving from the termination.

10. Force Majeure

10.1. In the event of force majeure, including war, civil insurrection, natural disaster, pandemic, or any other legally accepted force majeure event that prevents You from fulfilling your repayment obligations (a “Force Majeure Event”), interest accrued on outstanding amounts shall be suspended for the duration of the event, provided You formally notify Altus within ten (10) business days of its occurrence.

10.2. Altus shall determine whether an event notified by You qualifies as a Force Majeure Event. Where Altus does not accept the event, it shall formally notify You and Your obligations shall continue unabated.

10.3. Where a Force Majeure Event, or the actions or inactions of a third party outside Altus’s direct control, prevents Altus from effectively discharging its obligations, Altus shall not be liable to You for additional obligations except those required after the event or third-party action has been remedied, provided that Altus’s liability shall not be excluded for its own wilful acts of negligence.

11. Disclosure of Information, Data Retention, and Use of Data

11.1. You agree that Altus may:

1. Disclose information required under the Credit Reporting Act, 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018), its regulations, and other legal or regulatory requirements to credit bureaus.
2. Query third parties for Your information for KYC purposes and to aid its decision on Your application.
3. Report suspected fraud or unlawful activity to appropriate authorities and cooperate with lawful investigations.
4. Disclose Your KYC/CDD and loan details, including outstanding amounts, to individuals You provided as references, whether or not they agreed to be references.
5. Disclose KYC/CDD details, outstanding amounts and other loan details to Your relatives if You become deceased, following a request by Your relatives to pay the outstanding amounts and production of a death certificate.
6. In accordance with section 22 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (No. 46 of 2010, as amended), maintain transaction and other legally required records, including personal data, for at least ten (10) years from the relevant transaction, the end of Your business relationship with Altus, or the date a report was made to the Financial Intelligence Centre, as applicable.
7. Use Your data for purposes indicated in Altus’s Privacy Policy Statement, including marketing and showing other customers who have Your contact that You are registered with Altus.

11.2. You agree to hold Altus harmless from claims, demands, costs, liabilities, losses and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and legal costs, arising from such disclosures, except in the case of negligence or fraud by Altus.

12. Assignment

Altus reserves the right to assign its rights, or any part thereof, under the Agreement to third parties (“Third Party Assignees”), having provided reasonable notification, provided that an assignment shall not be invalidated only because You did not receive prior notification.

13. Covenants

13.1. You shall not use any disbursed amount, or part thereof, for electronic gambling, money laundering or any unlawful purpose.

13.2. You shall not use any disbursed amount, or part thereof, for any excluded activities listed in Schedule 1.

13.3. Altus may terminate and call up the entire outstanding Principal, Fees and Interest where it reasonably believes Your use involves an unsanctioned or illegal activity or unlawful purpose. Altus may also report You to the appropriate authorities.

14. Default

If You default in any way on Your obligations:

14.1. Altus may call up the Repayment Amount or its outstanding balance, which shall immediately become due and payable.

14.2. You shall be liable for the cost of all lawful processes and procedures Altus may adopt to recover any amount due and payable by You.

15. Contact

15.1. During the application process, You shall provide contact details and other relevant information to facilitate communication with Altus.

15.2. Altus reserves the right to contact You directly or through any contacts provided by You at any time, relying on information provided by You or obtained from another source.

16. Limitation and Exclusion of Liability

17. Accuracy of Representations

All representations made by You in light of the Agreement are true and accurate as of the Effective Date, and You undertake to immediately notify Altus about any changes in any representation made.

18. Amendment

18.1. The Agreement expresses and incorporates the entire understanding of the Parties concerning its subject matter and terms, superseding and excluding any prior negotiation, understanding, communication or agreement.

18.2. Altus reserves the right to amend the Agreement without notice to You. An amendment that does not affect the material terms of the Agreement shall be binding on You.

19. Non-Waiver

No exercise, failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right, power or remedy vested in Altus under the Agreement shall constitute a waiver by Altus of that or any other right, power or remedy.

20. Validity, Legality, and Enforceability

If any provision is declared invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration shall not affect any other provision and, where necessary, the Parties shall negotiate a replacement provision.

21. Dispute Resolution

Any dispute, controversy or claim arising under, out of or in relation to the Agreement, or its breach, termination or invalidity, shall be resolved by recourse to the law courts of Zambia.

22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The Agreement and the relationship between the Parties shall be governed by the laws of Zambia.

Excluded Activities

The loan may not be used for any of the following activities:

1. Forced labour or child labour.
2. Activities or materials illegal under host-country laws, regulations or international conventions, or subject to international phase-outs or bans, including hazardous chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and wastes; ozone-depleting substances; and endangered or protected wildlife or wildlife products.
3. Cross-border trade in waste and waste products, unless compliant with the Basel Convention and underlying regulations.
4. Destruction of High Conservation Value areas.
5. Radioactive materials and unbounded asbestos fibres.
6. Pornography and/or prostitution.
7. Racist and/or anti-democratic media.
8. Where a project’s primary financed business activities include alcoholic beverages (except beer and wine), tobacco, weapons and munitions, gambling, casinos or equivalent enterprises.
9. Production of, trade in or distribution of ammunition, weapons or critical components thereof, including nuclear weapons, radioactive ammunition, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, cluster bombs, anti-personnel mines and enriched uranium.
10. Production of, or trade in, radioactive materials.
11. Commercial logging operations or purchase of logging equipment for use in primary tropical moist forests or old-growth forests.
12. Production or trade in wood or forestry products other than from sustainably managed forests.
13. Production, trade, storage or transport of significant volumes of hazardous chemicals, or commercial-scale usage of hazardous chemicals, including gasoline, kerosene and other petroleum products.
14. Production or activities that impinge on lands owned or claimed under adjudication by Indigenous Peoples without their full documented consent.
15. Activities involving significant degradation, conversion or destruction of Critical Habitats.
16. Sex trade and related infrastructure, services and media, including pornography.
17. AI that poses “unacceptable risk” as defined in the EU AI Act 2021.
18. Nuclear power plants, apart from measures reducing environmental hazards of existing assets, and mines with uranium as an essential source of extraction.
19. Biofuel projects that are not environmentally friendly.
20. Mining, prospecting or exploring for Fossil Fuels.
21. Producing, processing or refining Fossil Fuels, or using waste heat from burning Fossil Fuels.
22. Generating power or heat using Fossil Fuels; storing or transmitting that power or heat; or refurbishing or rehabilitating generation plants that use Fossil Fuels.
23. Storing, transporting, distributing or trading in Fossil Fuels, or developing, acquiring, constructing, operating or maintaining related infrastructure.
24. Carbon capture and storage, and carbon capture, use, transport and storage (“CCUS”).
25. Engaging in Fossil Fuel Dependent Heavy Industry.
26. Producing or providing goods, services or outputs for exclusive use in connection with excluded fossil fuel activities.
27. Improving the efficiency, health and safety, or environmental and social standards of a business engaged in excluded fossil fuel activities.
28. Investment in the search, extraction, production, distribution, processing or promotion of coal, oil, natural gas or peat.
29. Activities increasing fossil-fuel use or prolonging the technical or economic lifetime of fossil-fuel heat and power production, except for specified back-up generation, household cooking and processes without feasible alternatives.
30. Coal prospecting, exploration and mining; transport and infrastructure primarily used for coal; coal-fired power plants, heating stations, cogeneration facilities and associated stub lines.
31. Non-conventional prospecting, exploration and extraction of oil from bituminous shale, tar sands or oil sands.
32. Upstream oil exploration and production.
33. Midstream oil, including pipelines.
34. Downstream oil, including refineries and petrol stations.
35. Heavy-fuel-oil or diesel-only, dual-fuel, or fossil/renewable hybrid power plants.
36. Refurbishment, retrofitting or rehabilitation of such power plants where this increases absolute greenhouse-gas emissions or substantially extends an asset’s life.
37. Diesel-only mini grids.
38. Upstream gas exploration and production.
39. Midstream/downstream gas, including import/export infrastructure and processing, except qualifying gas or LPG infrastructure specified in the comprehensive list.
40. Transport infrastructure whose primary use is fossil-fuel transport, meaning more than 50% of handled tonnage.

For the full list of excluded activities, see Altus’s Comprehensive Excluded Activities List.

End-User License

A. This End-User License Clause (the “License Agreement”) governs your use of the mobile banking application (“Application”) used to access Altus Financial Service Ltd’s online lending service (“Online Service”). This is a legal agreement between you and Altus (“Licensor”). By installing, copying or otherwise using the Application, you agree to be bound by it.

B. The Licensor grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited personal licence to install and use the Application on your mobile device for personal use and only to access the Online Service. Installation must occur in Zambia. You will not allow any third party to: (a) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, derive source code from, modify, or use the Application to develop functionally similar applications; (b) copy it except as expressly permitted; (c) sublicense, distribute, export, resell or otherwise transfer rights; (d) remove proprietary or intellectual-property notices; or (e) exercise any right not expressly granted.

C. The Licensor owns all right, title and interest in and to the Application. No licence or other right is granted except those specifically outlined in this License Agreement.

D. The License Agreement remains valid until terminated by you or Licensor. Licensor may terminate it at any time or for any reason. Your rights terminate immediately if you breach a term. Upon termination, you must discontinue use and delete all copies.

E. The Application is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind. The Licensor disclaims express, implied and statutory warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, and does not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation, satisfaction of your requirements, or correction of defects.

F. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Licensor shall not be responsible for loss, damage or injury, or for direct, indirect, special, incidental, exemplary or consequential damages, including lost profits, arising from the Application, installation or maintenance; equipment failure; errors; incompatibility; network problems or delays; or other causes beyond its control.

G. This License Agreement and its enforcement are governed by the laws of Zambia. A waiver is not a continuing waiver. An unenforceable provision will be restated as closely as possible to reflect the parties’ original intentions under applicable law; all remaining provisions remain enforceable. Rights not expressly granted are reserved by the Licensor. Subclauses C, E, F and G survive termination.