Terms of use

Welcome to lendwithcare.org (the "Website") which is operated by CARE International UK ("CARE" or "us" or "we"). The Website connects Lenders with MFIs that work in low-income communities in the developing world to reduce poverty by providing working capital to low income Entrepreneurs.

Please read these terms of use (the "Terms") carefully before using the Website. These Terms govern your use of the Website and your participation in the Programme. By accessing the Website, you signify your agreement to be bound by these Terms.

BY PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAMME YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT THAT YOUR LOAN MAY NOT BE REPAID TO YOU. IF YOU ARE REPAID, YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE A MAXIMUM OF THE AMOUNT ORIGINALLY LOANED AND YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE ANY RETURN ON A LOAN (WHETHER BY WAY OF INTEREST OR A SHARE OF ANY PROFITS MADE).

1. Information about CARE

CARE's registered office is at 10-13 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0RB, United Kingdom, CARE is a registered charity (England & Wales no. 292506) and a company limited by guarantee (registered in England, no. 01911651 with VAT no. 907 9423 07).

2. INTERPRETATION

2.1 For the purposes of these Terms, the following words shall have the following meanings:

"CARE Lender Fund Account" means the CARE bank account used to hold any Lender Loans before they are sent to MFIs or any Loan repayments received from MFIs;

"Entrepreneur" means the person to whom you lend money through the Programme;

"Event of Force Majeure" means an event or circumstance beyond CARE's reasonable control including an act of God, fire, windstorm, flood, explosion, collapse of structures, riot, war, labour disputes, delays or restrictions by governmental bodies;

"Lender" means any person, including you, who lends money through the Programme on the understanding that such money will be lent by CARE to an MFI and on-lent to an Entrepreneur;

"Lender Acount" means the password protected account on the Website which a Lender must open in order to participate in the Programme;

"Lender Balance" means the amount held in the CARE Lender Fund Account for any specific Lender as reflected on their Lender Account on the Website;

"Loan" means the money you lend through the Programme;

"MFI" means an institution or organisation active in Microfinance that operates in the country of, and administers Loans to, the Entrepeneurs;

"Microfinance" means the provision of financial services to low income clients and includes lending of small amounts of capital to individuals; and

"Programme" means the lendwithcare programme for Microfinance operated by CARE and conducted via the Website.

2.2 The headings in these Terms are for ease of reference only and have no legal significance. Reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa. Reference to any party in these Terms includes its permitted assigns and successors in title. the words "includes" and "including" mean includes or including without limitation.

3. Use of the Website

3.1 This Website includes materials which are provided by us on the Website or are on CARE's other websites reached via links on the Website.

3.2 These Terms supersede all other agreements previously applicable to the use of the Website. These Terms may be modified and posted on the Website at CARE's sole discretion from time to time.

3.3 By accessing the Website (whether or not you become a Lender, participate in the Programme or otherwise register to use any CARE service), you agree to be legally bound by these Terms (including the Privacy Policy).

3.4 If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms, you may not use the Website or participate in the Programme.

3.5 By accepting these Terms, you warrant that:

(a)	you are 18 years of age or older; and
(b)	you have the capacity to enter into a legally binding contract.

3.6 You may not:

(a)	use the Website in any way that breaches any law or regulation;
(b)	use the Website in any way which infringes upon the intellectual property or other rights of anyone, or restricts or inhibits their use and enjoyment of the Website;
(c)	use the Website in any way, or to any effect, that is unlawful or fraudulent;
(d)	knowingly transmit any data, or send or upload any material, to the Website that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful program or computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware;
(e)	duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the Website;
(f)	damage or disrupt the Website or any equipment used therefore; or
(g)	attempt to contact, or in any way contact, any other Lender, MFI or Entrepreneur without CARE's prior written consent.

3.7 If you breach these Terms, your permission to use the Website terminates immediately. We retain the right to deny access to the Website to any person at our absolute discretion.

3.8 We reserve the right to make changes or corrections to, or alter, suspend or discontinue any aspect of, the Website or the content or services available through it, including your access to it. Unless explicitly stated to the contrary, any new features including new content, shall be subject to these Terms.

3.9 We will not be liable if for any reason the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.

3.10 If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms.

4. Confidentiality and Rights of Ownership

4.1 CARE owns and retains all trade marks, copyright and other proprietary rights in the Programme, the Website (including name and logo trade marks) and all materials, messages, images or information posted thereon ("Content").

4.2 You may not copy, modify, distribute, publish, transmit, display or sell any material on the Website without written permission from CARE.

4.3 You agree that any images, or information you post on the Website will be considered Content for the purposes of these Terms. By posting such Content you:

(a)	automatically assign all rights in the Content to CARE;

(b)	warrant that such Content does not contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, offensive, hateful or sexually explicit or which promotes violence, discrimination or illegal activities; and
(c)	warrant that such Content does not infringe any third party proprietary right or any applicable law.

5. Participation in the Programme

5.1 By participating in the Programme you hereby agree that we in no way represent, warrant or otherwise guarantee that any Loan you make in relation to the Programme will be repaid, and you understand that any Loans made via the Website bear the risk of non-repayment. You agree that any foreign exchange gains or losses are incidental to the activities of the Website and will be debited from or credited to your Lender Balance as appropriate. You also agree that you will not receive any return (whether by way of interest or a share of any profits made) on any loan.

Loan Disbursement

5.2 All Loans are non-refundable. Loan repayments will not be available to a Lender until and if such amounts are received by the relevant MFI from the Entrepreneur and subsequently by CARE from the relevant MFI.

5.3 If any interest is earned on such funds while they are held in a CARE Lender Fund Account prior to being disbursed to an MFI (or after repayments have been received from an MFI), such interest will be deemed as CARE income and available to CARE to be used for any purposes.

5.4 CARE is merely an intermediary in the Loan making process. MFIs are solely responsible for screening each Entrepreneur, accessing the feasibility of loan applications and posting requests for Loans on the Website.

5.5 Separate to any Loans made via the Website, you may choose to make a donation. You agree that any donation made by you is done freely and is not related to any Loans made on the Website.

Loan Repayment

5.6 If, for any reason, CARE or an MFI is unable to collect Loan repayments from an MFI or an Entrepreneur respectively, your Loan may not be repaid.

5.7 Repayments may be made available to you in periodic instalments or at the end of the term of the Loan, depending on the terms of the applicable Loan and as determined at CARE’s sole discretion.

5.8 Any amounts received by CARE from an MFI as repayment by an Entrepreneur will be made available to the Lenders relating to that Entrepreneur on a pro rata basis.

5.9 None of the Entrepreneur(s), the MFI(s) or CARE will be obligated to make available to you any amount repaid on a Loan you have made except to the extent of any amount that has been received by CARE from an MFI with respect to such Loan by the end of the Loan’s term.

5.10 No interest or other fees or amounts will be due to payable to you or any other Lender in connection with any Loan you make under the Programme. CARE may, however, at its sole discretion, charge MFIs interest on monies advanced to them to cover its own costs. Interest may also be charged by the MFIs when they extend a Loan to an Entrepreneur and any such interest shall be retained by the MFIs.

5.11 Any repaid amounts made available to a Lender may be re-lent or withdrawn via Paypal by the Lender. Sums which are not re-lent or withdrawn will be dealt with as described under the heading "Gifts" which follows.

5.12 The participation in the programme is entirely separate from the making of gifts.

Once the loans have been repaid, the sums in question belong to the lender absolutely. Accordingly, as an entirely separate exercise, the lender may make an absolute gift at any time thereafter to CARE or, as mentioned previously, the sum may be re-lent or withdrawn. If sums are left in a CARE lender fund account these amounts will automatically be treated as having been donated, after completion of the programme to CARE, if a lender:-

(a)	does not log onto the Website;
(b)	does not contact CARE;
(c)	does not have any active Loans; and
(d)	has no outstanding Loans,

all within the preceding 12 months.

We will make at least three attempts to contact the Lender using the contact details supplied before these amounts are automatically donated to CARE by the lender following completion of the programme.

5.12 The Loans and the terms on which they are repaid by the Entrepreneur may be restructured from time to time in response to specific adverse events afflicting Entrepreneurs, such as prolonged drought or flooding, in order to increase the likelihood that the Loan is repaid. You hereby consent (without any notice thereof) to any restructuring of the terms of the Loan at CARE’s sole discretion, including, but not limited to, repayment terms and the length of the Loan. A Lender will be informed of such restructuring via their Lender Account and an email sent to them. The Lender will always bear any losses derived from non-repayment of any Loan.

5.13 An Event of Force Majeure may result in the partial or complete loss of all Loans to a particular Entrepreneur or MFI. The Lender will always bear any such losses.

Loan Records

5.14 CARE handles all personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Please refer to the Privacy Policy.

Making a Loan

5.15 The amount returned to CARE and made available to a Lender upon the repayment of a Loan may potentially be less than the principal amount of the Loan made by a Lender. Should the Loan be repaid in full by both the Entrepreneur and the MFI, the Lender may still suffer losses due to currency exchange rates.

5.16 Any applicable currency exchange losses will be deducted from your Loan repayment and will not be paid by CARE.

6. Gift Vouchers

6.1 lendwithcare gift vouchers ("Gift Vouchers") may be purchased on the Website for a minimum value of £15. Gift Vouchers may be redemed on the Website towards loans.

6.2 Gift Vouchers have no cash redemption value, are non-refundable and cannot be used to purchase Gift Vouchers.

6.3 Gift Vouchers and unused portions of Gift Vouchers expire one year from the date of purchase (the "Expiration Date"), where permissible under applicable law. Any expired Gift Voucher or unused portion thereof will be automatically converted into donations to CARE on the Expiration Date.

6.4 Loans in the Programme made via the Website may not be made by persons under 18 years of age. Please bear this in mind if you are planning to give a Gift Voucher to someone under 18 years of age.

6.5 CARE is not responsible if a Gift Voucher is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without permission.

7. Liability

7.1 You alone are responsible for the decisions you make with respect to the Programme including, the extension of any Loan or posting of any Content.

7.2 Exclusion of Liability

(a)	Subject to paragraph 7.5, CARE excludes all liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise) including any damages, costs, losses or expenses to any person incurred as a result (directly or indirectly) of;
(i)	Accessing the Website, participating in the Programme or making a Loan;
(ii)	any dispute or interaction between any user of the Website and any other person, including any MFI, Entrepreneur, or other use of the Websiite whether online or offline;
(iii)	use of or reliance on any information received, including any Entrepreneur profiles or updates regarding the repayment of any Loan, from any MFI, Entrepreneur, or other users of the Website through the Website or otherwise;
(iv)	use of or reliance on any materials posted on the Website;
(v)	any inaccuracy, error or delay in, omission or transmission or delivery of any third party data due to either any negligent act or omission by CARE or any cause beyond the control of CARE;
(vi)	An Event of Force Majeure;
(vii)	less than 100% of a Loan being repaid;
(viii)	CARE becoming insolvent; or
(ix)	fluctuations in exchange rates, whether caused by any user, MFI, Entrepreneur or other person or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Programme or due to a collapse of a bank or the banking sector or the limitations imposed on taking money out of the a country or any transaction charges or disruptions in the local or international financial markets or changes in the local fiscal laws and regulations, regardless of whether CARE was or was not aware of the risk of such loss.
(b)	CARE does not represent, warrant, guarantee or promise any specific results from the use of the Website or Programme.

7.3 Subject to paragraph 7.5 and without prejudice to paragraph 7.2, to the extent that any part of paragraph 7.2 is found for any reason by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, invalid or illegal, CARE's total aggregate liability to you under or in connection with these Terms shall be limited to the amount of any Loan to which liability applies.

7.4 You agree that the limitations and exclusions set out in these Terms are reasonable having regard to all the relevant circumstances, and the levels of risk and reward associated with CARE's obligations under these Terms.

7.5 Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or limit CARE's liability for:

(a)	death or personal injury resulting from its negligence;
(b)	fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
(c)	any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law,

and this paragraph 7 shall be construed accordingly.

8. No Advice

8.1 You should consult with your accountant and/or tax advisors to determine the appropriate tax treatment of any loss related to non-repayment of a Loan.

8.2 You are solely responsible for determining the proper tax treatment for any Loan you make through the Website and the Programme. CARE has not and will not provide any financial, tax or legal advice to you in connection with any Loan you might make or payment you might make in connection with the Programme. Any profit received by an Entrepreneur is incidental to the Programme.

9. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold CARE (and its employees, agents and subcontractors) harmless for any loss (including any special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages), liability, cost, penalty, action, claim, or demand, including, without limit, reasonable lawyer's fees, suffered or incurred by CARE arising from (directly or indirectly) or in connection with your use of the Website and/or any contents thereon (including these Terms), or your participation in the Programme, your violation of any law or right of the third party or arising from a breach of these Terms.

10. Rights of Third Parties

The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply to these Terms and no rights or benefits expressly or impliedly conferred by it shall be enforceable under that Act against you or CARE by any other person.

11. Term and Termination

11.1 These Terms shall remain in full force and effect during your use of the Website or participation in the Programme.

11.2 CARE may at its sole and absolute discretion determine whether or not you are or remain eligible to participate in the Programme. CARE may terminate your participation in the Programme and/or your use of the Website at any time and for any reason, effective upon transmission of notice to you at the email address you provide to CARE. If your participation in the Programme is terminated by CARE, you agree not to use the Website any further or otherwise participate in the Programme.

11.3 You may terminate your participation in the Programme at any time and for any reason by sending a written notice of termination to CARE. Such termination will be effective 14 days after notice is deemed to have been given in accordance with paragraph 12.

11.4 Upon termination, any repaid Loan amounts that have not yet been made available to you by CARE and/or any amounts in your Lender Account, will become the property of CARE.

11.5 Termination will be without prejudice to any accrued rights or remedies CARE may have against you.

12. Notices to CARE

Any communication given or made by you to CARE under or in connection with the matters contemplated by these Terms shall be in writing and shall be delivered personally or sent by fax or by e-mail (with read receipt) or prepaid first class post (air mail if posted from a place outside the United Kingdom) to CARE at:

CARE International UK
10-13 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0RB
Fax: 020 7934 9335
E-mail: horner@careinternational.org
Attention: Tracey Horner

and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made as follows:

(a)	if personally delivered, upon delivery at the address of the relevant party;
(b)	if sent by fax, when despatched;
(c)	if sent by e-mail, when actually received by the intended recipient in readable form;
(d)	if sent by first class post, two business days after the date of posting; and
(e)	if sent by air mail, five business days after the date of posting,

provided that if, in accordance with the above provision, any such communication would otherwise be deemed to be given or made after 5.00 p.m. such communication shall be deemed to be given or made at 9.00 a.m. on the next business day.

13. Entire Agreement

You agree that:

(a)

these Terms, together with the Privacy Policy [insert link to Privacy Policy], constitute the entire and only agreement between you and CARE relating to the Website and participation in the Programme;

(b)

you have not been induced to enter into these Terms in reliance upon any warranty, representation, statement, assurance, covenant, agreement, undertaking, indemnity or commitment of any nature whatsoever other than as are expressly set out in these Terms and, to the extent that you have been, you unconditionally and irrevocably waive any claims, rights or remedies which you might otherwise have had in relation thereto;

PROVIDED THAT the provisions of this paragraph 13 shall not exclude any liability which you may have in respect of any statements made fraudulently by you prior to you agreeing to these Terms or any rights CARE may have in respect of fraudulent concealment by you.

14. No partnership

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and CARE as a result of these Terms, participation in the Programme or use of the Website.

15. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is or becomes for any reason whatsoever invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it will be divisible from these Terms and will be deemed to be deleted from it and the validity of the remaining provisions will not be affected in any way.

16. Waiver

No breach of any provision of these Terms shall be waived or discharged except with the express written consent of CARE. No failure or delay by CARE to exercise any of its rights under these Terms shall operate as a waiver thereof and no single or partial exercise of any such right will prevent any other or further exercise of that or any other right.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute, or claim whatsoever relating to these Terms or its formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and you irrevocably agree that hte courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

These terms of use were last updated on 8 July 2010