Terms of Service

1. What Rowie Provides

Rowie is a cloud-based point-of-sale platform designed for restaurants, cafés, bars, food trucks, and similar hospitality businesses. The Service includes:

• Contactless payment acceptance via Tap to Pay (iPhone and Android)
• Event ticketing with QR code scanning and wallet passes
• Online ordering through scannable QR menus
• Invoice creation and management
• Sales analytics, team management, and revenue splitting
• Bar tabs — with the customer's recorded consent, their card is saved securely by Stripe and charged once when the tab is closed
• Table service with floor plans and QR ordering at the table
• Reservations and bookings through public booking pages
• Recurring subscription plans you sell to your customers

Rowie is a technology platform. We do not process payments directly. All payment processing is handled by Stripe through its Connect product.

2. Your Stripe Connect Account

To accept payments through Rowie, you must create and maintain a Stripe Connect account. By doing so, you agree to:

• Stripe's Connected Account Agreement and Terms of Service
• Provide accurate business and banking information to Stripe
• Comply with card network rules and applicable financial regulations

Each vendor is the merchant of record for its own sales, which are processed through the vendor's own Stripe connected account. Rowie is a technology platform and does not process, hold, or transmit funds itself. Rowie facilitates the connection between you and Stripe but does not hold, control, or guarantee your funds. Your relationship with Stripe is separate from your relationship with Rowie.

3. Pricing and Fees

3.1 Subscription Plans

Rowie offers a free Starter tier and a paid Pro subscription. Plan features, pricing, and transaction rates are published at rowie.eu/#pricing and may be updated from time to time.

3.2 Transaction Fees

Each transaction is subject to a combined fee consisting of Stripe's processing fee and Rowie's platform fee. Rates vary by country, currency, payment method (tap vs. online), and subscription tier. Rowie does not control Stripe's pricing. If Stripe adjusts its fees, your total rate will change accordingly.

3.3 Displayed Rates Are Base Estimates

Transaction rates displayed on our website and in the app represent base rates for standard domestic card-present transactions. Your actual per-transaction cost may be higher depending on the card type, issuing country, and payment method.

The following factors may result in fees exceeding the displayed base rate:

• International cards: Stripe applies a cross-border surcharge (typically 1%–1.5%) when the cardholder's issuing bank is in a different country from your Stripe account.
• Currency conversion: If a transaction requires currency conversion, Stripe may charge an additional fee (typically 1%).
• Premium and corporate cards: American Express, rewards cards, and corporate/business cards may carry higher interchange rates that increase the total processing fee.
• Card-not-present transactions: Online payments, invoices, and preorders processed without a physical card present typically incur higher Stripe rates than in-person Tap to Pay transactions.
• Disputes and chargebacks: Stripe charges a per-dispute fee regardless of outcome (see Section 4).

Rowie does not set, control, or receive any portion of Stripe's processing fees. For the most current and authoritative breakdown of Stripe's processing rates, refer to stripe.com/pricing and the fee schedule in your Stripe Dashboard.

3.4 Refunds and Platform Fee Retention

When you issue a refund, the refunded amount is debited from your Stripe Connect balance, not from Rowie. When you refund a transaction, Rowie's percentage platform fee for that transaction is returned to you. Per-ticket service fees on event ticket sales are non-refundable and are retained by Rowie.

3.5 Billing Changes

We will give advance notice before changing Rowie's platform fees. You may cancel your subscription if you disagree with the new pricing. Disputes about charges must be raised within 30 days.

4. Chargebacks, Disputes, and Fraud

You are solely responsible for all chargebacks, refunds, disputes, and fraudulent transactions on your account.

This includes:

• All chargeback fees (including Stripe's per-chargeback fee)
• Card network penalties for excessive chargeback rates
• Claims of non-delivery, defective goods, or unauthorized transactions
• Any refunds issued by you or your staff

Your obligations: Implement reasonable fraud prevention, verify customer identity when appropriate, retain transaction records for at least 3 years, and respond promptly to dispute inquiries.

Our rights: If your chargeback rate exceeds 0.9% in any month, we may impose a rolling reserve of up to 30% of volume, require additional compliance steps, pause payment processing, or terminate your account with 30 days' notice. Stripe may independently take similar action under its own terms.

5. Your Account

5.1 Security

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure, for all activity under your account, and for notifying us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.

5.2 Accurate Information

You must provide truthful and current business information, including your legal name, contact details, tax identifiers, and banking information.

5.3 Acceptable Use

You may not use Rowie to process payments for illegal goods or services, engage in fraud or deception, process transactions unrelated to your stated business, violate card network rules, or process payments on behalf of third parties without written approval.

6. Taxes and Local Compliance

You are responsible for complying with the laws and regulations that apply to your business in each country where you use Rowie, including those on tax, prices, receipts, invoicing, record-keeping, and point-of-sale systems.

Rowie provides tools to help you calculate, show, and report taxes, including suggested rates, but does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice and does not guarantee that the rates you choose, or Rowie's features, meet every requirement where you operate.

You should check with a qualified adviser that your setup and your use of Rowie are lawful for your business before you rely on them. You are responsible for the rates you set and for reporting and paying any tax due.

7. Account Review and Risk Management

7.1 New Account Verification

New accounts are subject to Stripe's identity and business verification and to Rowie's ongoing fraud monitoring, which may pause payment acceptance pending manual review. You will be notified by email if your account requires additional review or verification.

7.2 Fraud Monitoring and Auto-Pause

Rowie continuously monitors transactions for signs of fraudulent activity, including but not limited to blocked card payments, abnormal transaction velocity, and patterns consistent with card testing. If we detect suspicious activity on your account, we may automatically pause your ability to accept payments, alert our support team, and require additional verification before reinstating your account. We may take this action without prior notice when we believe it is necessary to protect you, your customers, or the platform.

7.3 Payouts

Payouts follow the Stripe payout schedule configured for your connected account. Rowie or Stripe may delay, pause, or reverse payouts where fraud, elevated disputes, or other risk is detected. You can view and manage your payout schedule from your Stripe dashboard, subject to Stripe's eligibility requirements.

7.4 Refund Handling

All refunds for transactions processed through Rowie must be issued from within the Rowie vendor dashboard or from the connected account's own Stripe dashboard. Refunds issued from other locations may be processed against the wrong balance and could result in delays. Rowie is not responsible for incorrect refund handling outside of our supported workflows.

7.5 Platform Fee Disclosure

Rowie's platform fees are set out on the pricing page and, where custom rates apply, in your agreement with Rowie. Platform fees are deducted automatically from each transaction via Stripe.

7.6 Stripe Data Access

Rowie accesses data from your connected Stripe account — including account status, balances, transactions, and disputes — in order to operate the platform, and shares information with Stripe as required under Stripe's terms.

8. Team Pay (Pay Calculation)

8.1 Calculation Tool, Not Payroll or Payments

Team Pay is a pay calculation and reporting tool. It is not a payroll service and not a payment service: Rowie does not pay your staff or move money on your behalf. Rowie does not calculate, withhold, or remit any taxes, social contributions, or other statutory deductions. You remain solely responsible for all tax, employment, social insurance, and reporting obligations relating to the pay of your staff.

8.2 You Are the Employer

Staff members whose pay you calculate with Team Pay are your employees or contractors. They are not employed by, contracted with, or otherwise affiliated with Rowie. You are responsible for determining each staff member's employment classification, complying with applicable labor laws, providing required benefits, and meeting any contractual or statutory obligations.

8.3 Calculation Only, No Fund Transfers

Team Pay is a calculation and reporting tool only. Rowie calculates hours worked, hourly wages, overtime, tip allocations, and totals per staff member. Rowie does not transfer money to your staff, does not hold staff funds, and does not move money out of your Rowie or Stripe balance to pay staff. You pay your staff externally using your own bank transfer, payroll provider, cash, or any method you choose.

8.4 Staff Onboarding

Rowie does not create Stripe Connect Express accounts or any other payment accounts for your staff. Staff members do not onboard with Stripe through Rowie and are not required to link a bank account inside Rowie. You collect any banking or payment details you need for staff externally, under your own data handling practices.

8.5 Pay Run Liability

Once you approve a pay run, Rowie generates a report (including a CSV export) summarizing hours, wages, tips, overtime, and totals per staff member. You use that report to pay your staff through your own external method. Rowie is not liable for incorrect wage calculations, missed or delayed external payments, disputes between you and your staff, or any errors in the amounts you choose to pay. You are responsible for verifying all figures before using the report to issue payments.

9. Referral Program

9.1 Overview

Rowie may offer a referral program that allows eligible users to earn commissions by referring new merchants to the platform. Participation is voluntary and subject to these Terms. By participating, you agree to the conditions in this section.

9.2 Eligibility

To participate, you must have an active Rowie account in good standing and a chargeable connected Stripe account. Rowie reserves the right to restrict eligibility at any time.

9.3 How Referrals Work

You may share your unique referral link or code with prospective new Rowie users. A valid referral is created when a brand-new user signs up through your link or code. The following do not qualify as valid referrals:

• Self-referrals (accounts tied to your email, organization, or Stripe account)
• Users who already have or previously had a Rowie account
• Referrals obtained through spam, misleading advertising, paid ads bidding on Rowie brand terms, or any deceptive practice
• Fake, duplicate, or fraudulent accounts

9.4 Commission Structure

You earn a commission equal to 10% of the gross platform fees Rowie collects from each valid referred merchant. Eligible fee sources include subscription payments and event ticket platform fees. The earning window is 12 months from the date the referral is activated (the date the referred merchant first generates eligible platform fees; if none arise, 12 months from signup). Commission rates, eligible fee sources, and the earning window duration are subject to change. We will provide advance notice before reducing commission rates or shortening the earning window for existing referrals.

9.5 Clearing Period and Clawbacks

Referral earnings are held in a pending state for 30 days before becoming available for payout. During this clearing period, earnings may be reduced or reversed ("clawed back") if the underlying transaction is refunded, disputed, charged back, or otherwise reversed. Clawbacks may also occur if the referred user's subscription is cancelled or their account is terminated.

Earnings that have already been paid out are not subject to clawback. However, Rowie reserves the right to offset future earnings or withhold future payouts if fraud or program abuse is detected.

9.6 Payouts

Once your cleared (available) earnings balance reaches the minimum payout threshold of €1.00 (or the equivalent in your currency), Rowie will automatically initiate a transfer to your connected Stripe account. Payouts are processed periodically and may take several business days to arrive, depending on your bank and Stripe's transfer schedule. Rowie is not responsible for delays caused by Stripe, your bank, or third parties. Where Stripe does not support transfers to your account's country, Rowie will arrange payment by another reasonable method, and timing may differ.

9.7 Taxes

Referral earnings constitute taxable income. You are solely responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes on your referral earnings. Rowie may be required to report your earnings to tax authorities if they exceed applicable reporting thresholds. You agree to provide any tax-related information Rowie reasonably requests.

9.8 Anti-Abuse and Termination

Rowie reserves the right to investigate suspected abuse of the referral program, including but not limited to self-referrals, fake accounts, incentivized signups that violate these Terms, or any activity intended to manipulate the program. If abuse is confirmed, Rowie may, at its sole discretion:

• Void pending and available (unpaid) referral earnings
• Withhold future referral payouts
• Remove you from the referral program
• Suspend or terminate your Rowie account

9.9 Program Changes and Discontinuation

Rowie may modify, suspend, or discontinue the referral program at any time. If the program is discontinued, you will receive any earnings that have already cleared the 30-day holding period. Pending earnings at the time of discontinuation will be subject to the standard clearing and clawback process before being paid out.

9.10 No Employment or Partnership

Participation in the referral program does not create an employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship between you and Rowie. Referral earnings are not wages, salary, or employee compensation. You are an independent participant and are not authorized to make representations on behalf of Rowie.

10. Liability

10.1 Our Liability Is Limited

Rowie is not liable for chargebacks, refunds, fraud, payment disputes, or service interruptions. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim shall not exceed the fees you paid to Rowie in the 12 months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages of any kind.

10.2 Uptime

We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. We are not liable for lost sales or transactions due to outages.

10.3 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Rowie, its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, losses, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, disputes with your customers, or your business practices.

11. Cancellation and Termination

11.1 By You

You may downgrade or cancel at any time from your account settings. There are no cancellation fees. You remain liable for all fees, chargebacks, and obligations incurred before cancellation.

11.2 By Us

We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if you breach these Terms, we suspect fraud, your Stripe account is terminated, or we are required to do so by law or card network rules.

11.3 After Termination

Outstanding obligations survive termination. Stripe may hold or reserve funds in your connected Stripe account for up to 180 days to cover potential chargebacks; Rowie does not hold your funds. You must stop using the Service and Rowie branding.

12. Data and Privacy

You retain ownership of your business data and transaction records. You grant Rowie a license to use this data to operate the Service and generate analytics. Our collection and use of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. Rowie and Stripe maintain PCI-DSS compliance for payment card data.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated via email before they take effect. Continuing to use Rowie after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. General

• Governing Law: These Terms are governed by the laws of Ireland.
• Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Rowie.
• Severability: If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.
• No Waiver: Our failure to enforce a provision does not waive our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign them freely.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at [email protected].