Terms of Service

These Terms govern access to and use of the SPBS Certificate Verification Initiative portal (the “Platform”), provided with Risk Control Services as service partner. By accessing or using the Platform personally or for an organisation, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

1. Eligibility and authorised accounts

The Platform is intended for adults and authorised professional/business use. Accounts are created by authorised administrators; public self-registration is not available. You must provide accurate information, use only your assigned account, keep credentials confidential and promptly report suspected compromise. Your organisation is responsible for deciding who may use its account, shared wallet and company-domain records.

2. Purpose of the service

The Platform supports searches against a configured education-record source, displays authorised results, creates verification or Not Found Certificates, manages credits/payments and supports public certificate verification. It is not an educational institution, degree-awarding body, examination portal, credit bureau or automatic hiring decision system. It does not permit ordinary users to create or alter official student records.

3. Your authority and responsibilities

By performing or requesting a search, you represent that:

• you have a lawful, legitimate and authorised purpose;
• you have obtained any notice, consent or other authority required by law and organisational policy;
• the information submitted is accurate to the best of your knowledge;
• you will use results only for the authorised purpose and protect them from unauthorised disclosure;
• you will apply appropriate human review and will not make an unlawful decision solely from an automated or Not Found result; and
• you will comply with applicable privacy, employment, anti-discrimination and data-protection requirements.

4. Search results and certificates

A search reflects the connected source and the criteria supplied at the time. A unique match is not a guarantee of identity unless your organisation separately confirms that the record belongs to the subject. A No Result or Not Found Certificate means only that no matching record was returned for the submitted criteria; it is not proof of fraud, non-attendance or absence of a qualification.

Verification certificates normally expire after the displayed/configured period measured from the originating search date. Reissuing or downloading an existing certificate does not restart its validity. Public verification may require an email and payment and is subject to time limits and rate limits.

5. Credits, fees and payments

• The current price and quantity shown at checkout or on an invoice apply to that transaction. Prices may change.
• Payments are made in Nigerian Naira through the configured provider, currently Paystack, or through an approved manual-invoice process.
• One credit is charged when a search returns exactly one match and the wallet debit succeeds. A record-request submitted after a no-result search reserves one credit; it is used only if the record is confirmed and is refunded automatically if the record is not found.
• Company users sharing a company domain may share one wallet; a colleague's search may therefore reduce the shared balance.
• Generating a manual invoice does not add credits. Credits are added only after authorised approval.
• Public viewers may be charged the displayed fee to access a verification, unless an exemption applies.

Payment disputes, duplicate charges or suspected incorrect credit deductions must be reported promptly with the relevant reference to info@socpbs.com. Refunds, reversals or corrections are subject to verification, applicable law and any stated payment policy; they are not automatic merely because a user later decides not to use purchased credits.

6. Prohibited conduct

You must not:

• search without lawful authority or use results to harass, discriminate against or harm a person unlawfully;
• submit false information, impersonate another person or misrepresent a result/certificate;
• share credentials, recovery codes or protected records with unauthorised persons;
• circumvent access controls, payment controls, rate limits, expiry notices or company boundaries;
• scrape, systematically extract, harvest or compile Platform data without written permission;
• upload malicious code, interfere with service availability or probe for vulnerabilities without authorisation;
• reverse engineer or copy software/content except where applicable law expressly permits it;
• alter, forge or remove notices from certificates or present an expired certificate as current;
• submit confidential data that is unnecessary for the stated verification purpose; or
• use the Platform in violation of any applicable law, regulation or third-party right.

7. Administrators and company access

Administrators must use their powers only for authorised duties and according to their permissions. User creation, password replacement, credit adjustments, invoice decisions, record-request outcomes, 2FA changes, template changes and remittance statuses may be logged. A Super Admin who directly sets a password must communicate it securely and should require the user to change it after login.

Users on the same company email domain may see company-scoped searches, payments, invoices, transactions and eligible certificates and may use the same wallet. Your organisation accepts responsibility for assigning users to the correct domain.

8. Intellectual property and permitted use

The Platform software, design, text, logos and other content are owned by or licensed to the relevant service owners and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. Subject to these Terms, authorised users receive a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the Platform and download legitimately generated records for their authorised business purpose. No ownership rights are transferred.

9. Third-party services

The Platform relies on third parties such as education-record sources, payment, email, hosting and infrastructure providers. Their services may be governed by separate terms. We are not responsible for third-party sites or for outages, delays or errors outside reasonable control, but will take reasonable steps to operate and secure the Platform.

10. Availability, changes and corrections

The Platform is provided on an “as available” basis. Maintenance, technical faults, source-system changes or events beyond reasonable control may interrupt service. Features, prices and content may be corrected, updated, suspended or discontinued. Where practical, material legal changes will be reflected by updating the date on these Terms.

11. Suspension and termination

Access may be restricted or suspended to protect people, data or systems; investigate suspected misuse; comply with law; address non-payment; or enforce these Terms. Suspension does not automatically erase records, cancel lawful fees, refund credits or remove retention obligations. You may stop using the Platform, and a user may request account deletion, subject to the Privacy Policy and lawful retention requirements.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Platform is provided without warranties that every source record is complete, error-free or continuously available. Users must verify identity, review results and exercise professional judgement. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that qualification, neither the Platform operators nor service partners will be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from unauthorised use, user error, third-party data/service failure or decisions made contrary to these Terms.

13. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, an organisation or user who misuses the Platform agrees to be responsible for claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from its unlawful search, unauthorised disclosure, falsification, breach of these Terms or infringement of another person's rights.

14. Electronic communications and records

You agree that account notices, invoices, payment records, verification records and other communications may be provided electronically through the Platform or email, subject to applicable law. Keep your registered email accurate and retain required records through your organisation's approved processes.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Before commencing formal proceedings, the parties should attempt in good faith to resolve a dispute through written notice and reasonable informal negotiation, except where urgent protective or injunctive relief is required. Courts of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria will have jurisdiction, subject to any binding dispute-resolution agreement separately entered into by the parties.

16. General terms

If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. No partnership, employment or agency relationship is created merely by use of the Platform. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and any applicable written service agreement form the agreement governing use; a signed service agreement prevails to the extent of an express conflict.

17. Contact

Questions, complaints or notices about these Terms should be sent to info@socpbs.com.