This policy explains how FicMe subscriptions are billed and renewed, how credits are purchased and used for add-on services, how you cancel, what happens to your data afterwards, and when subscription payments or unused purchased credits may be refunded. It forms part of our Terms of Service.
1. Free to start
Creating a FicMe account is free and stays free. You only pay when you upgrade to a paid plan, add extra entity slots, or add additional linked-client packs, or purchase credits for add-on services. Every paid plan is billed in advance, in South African Rand, for the billing period shown at checkout.
2. Automatic renewal
Paid subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period for a further period of the same length, unless you cancel first. On each renewal we charge the subscription fee to the payment method linked to your account.
If you cancel before the renewal date, the next renewal simply does not happen. Cancelling does not trigger a refund for the period you have already paid for, except in the specific situations described under ‘When we do refund’.
3. Cancel at any time
You can cancel a paid plan at any time from the Billing page in your dashboard. Cancelling stops the next charge. Your plan and its features stay active until the end of the billing period you have already paid for, after which the account moves to the free plan.
4. Your data after cancellation
Cancelling a paid subscription does not immediately delete anything. The lifecycle works like this:
Cancellation. Your paid features stay active until the end of the paid billing period.
Free plan. The account then moves to the free plan. Your documents, entities, members, requests and audit history all remain in your vault, now subject to the free plan's storage, entity and feature limits.
If you are over the free-plan limits, for example, more entities than the free plan allows, nothing is deleted, but the affected items become read-only or unavailable until you upgrade again or reduce usage below the limits.
Eventual deletion. If an account stays inactive on the free plan for an extended period, we may permanently delete its data where the law permits. Any deletion is carried out in line with our Privacy Statement and our legal data-retention obligations (including FICA record-keeping duties), which may require us to keep certain records for a minimum period.
Paying again from the Billing page at any point restores your plan and full access to everything that was retained.
5. No refunds for unused time
Because access is granted immediately for the full billing period, we do not refund the unused portion of a period when you cancel or downgrade. This includes:
Monthly subscription fees already charged;
Additional entity or trust slots added to a plan;
Additional packs of linked clients on an Institution plan; and
Pro-rated upgrade amounts paid mid-cycle.
Downgrades take effect at the end of the current billing cycle rather than immediately, so you keep the value of what you paid for.
his section applies to subscription fees and the subscription components listed above. Refunds of unused purchased credits are dealt with separately under section 7.
6. When we do refund
We will refund the affected amount where:
You were charged more than once for the same billing period, credit purchase or add-on service (a duplicate charge);
You were charged after validly cancelling your plan;
You were charged the wrong amount because of a billing or pricing error on our side;
You request a refund of unused purchased credits that qualify for a refund under section 7;or
A refund is required of us by South African law.
Where only part of a charge was incorrect, we refund the incorrect portion. Approved refunds are returned through our payment provider to the original card or account used for the payment. We cannot refund to a different payment method.
7. Credits for add-on services
Purchasing and using credits. In addition to subscription fees, you may purchase credits to pay for certain add-on services available through FicMe. The purchase price, number of credits and any applicable conditions will be displayed before you confirm your purchase. The number of credits required for an add-on service will be displayed before you authorise that service.
Refunds of unused credits. You may request a refund of all or part of your unused purchased credits by following the procedure in section 12. Refunds are subject to verification of the purchase, payment and available unused credit balance. Cancelling or downgrading your subscription does not, by itself, cause unused purchased credits to be forfeited or automatically refunded.
Calculating the refund. The refund is calculated using the amount actually paid for the unused credits, taking account of any discount applied when they were purchased. Where credits were purchased as a bundle, the refund is calculated proportionately using the price paid for that bundle. A subsequent change in the price of credits does not change the refundable value of credits already purchased.
Promotional and complimentary credits. Credits provided free of charge, including promotional or bonus credits, have no cash refund value. This does not affect any right to a refund of the amount actually paid for purchased credits or any rights you have under applicable law.
Credits used or reserved for services. Credits properly redeemed for an add-on service already supplied are not refundable merely because you no longer wish to use that service. Where credits are reserved for a service that is still being processed, we will first establish whether the service can be cancelled and whether any charge is lawfully payable under the terms disclosed and accepted when you authorised it. Any remaining unused credits will be released and may be refunded under this section.
Errors and services not supplied. If credits are deducted incorrectly, or an add-on service for which credits were deducted is not supplied, we will correct the deduction and restore the affected credits. Any restored purchased credits may be included in a refund request. This does not limit any right to a refund or other remedy for defective or deficient services under applicable law.
Processing the refund. Credit refunds follow the payment procedure in section 6 and the request procedure and timeframes in section 12. Credits covered by a refund request may be temporarily reserved while the request is assessed, so that they cannot also be used. Refunded credits will be removed from your balance. If a request is declined or withdrawn, any reserved credits that remain available for use will be released. The same payment or credits cannot be refunded more than once.
Your statutory rights. Nothing in this section limits any rights you have under applicable South African law.
8. Failed payments and outstanding amounts
If a scheduled payment fails, your plan continues during a 48-hour grace period while we retry the charge. You can also retry the payment yourself from the Billing page.
A failed payment does not cancel your subscription or remove your obligation to pay, amounts already due remain payable, and cancelling the subscription does not wipe out amounts already owed to FicMe. If payment remains unsuccessful after the grace period, we may restrict, suspend or downgrade paid functionality: the account moves to the free plan, where the limits described above apply.
Nothing is deleted when this happens. As soon as the outstanding amount is successfully paid from the Billing page, your plan and full access resume immediately where applicable.
9. Who may manage the subscription
Because FicMe supports organisations and institutions with multiple users, only an authorised person on the account, such as the account owner, a billing administrator or a designated subscription administrator, may:
Cancel or change the subscription;
Change the billing details or payment method;
Purchase credits or request refunds of unused purchased credits on behalf of the account; and
Add or remove paid subscription components such as entity slots or client packs.
This does not affect ordinary users, who can continue using the application as usual.
10. Price changes
We may change our subscription prices from time to time. If we do:
The new price applies from your next renewal or billing period; never to a period you have already paid for;
We give you reasonable advance notice of material price increases; and
If you do not agree with the new price, you may cancel before it takes effect and your plan simply ends at the close of the current paid period.
11. Chargebacks and payment disputes
If you believe you were charged incorrectly, please contact us first via a support ticket (Billing category) or accounts@ficme.app. We will investigate and process a refund wherever this policy requires one.
Please note that lodging a chargeback with your bank does not by itself create an entitlement to a refund, and we may provide the relevant transaction and subscription information to our payment provider when responding to a disputed transaction. Nothing in this section limits any rights you have under applicable South African law.
12. How to cancel
Sign in and open Billing in your dashboard.
Choose Cancel plan at period end.
Confirm. The Billing page will then show the date on which your plan ends. You can undo the cancellation from the same page at any time before that date.
13. How to request a refund
Refunds are handled by our accounts team and are not automatic. To request one, submit a support ticket using the Billing category from the support page or the Help & manual section of your dashboard, or email accounts@ficme.app.
Please include:
The invoice number or payment reference;
The email address on the FicMe account; and
The reason for the refund request.
For a refund of unused purchased credits, please also indicate the number of credits you wish to have refunded, or confirm that you are requesting a refund of your entire unused purchased credit balance. We will verify the refundable balance against your purchase and usage records.
We acknowledge refund requests within 2 business days and aim to resolve them within 10 business days. Once approved, your bank may take a further 5 to 10 business days to reflect the refund.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified in-app and the "last updated" date above will change. The version in force is the one published when your payment was made.
15. Contact
Billing and refund queries: accounts@ficme.app. General support: submit a support ticket.