Terms of use

Smyl is a product of Sternpay Inc. Ltd (“Smyl”, “we”, “us”), a company registered in England and Wales, company number 15075172, registered office 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX. Smyl is a financial technology product, not a bank.

These terms cover the Smyl app and smylpay.com, including shop pages. By creating an account or using Smyl, you agree to them. If you run a shop on Smyl, the Merchant agreement also applies to your shop.

How we use your personal data is in our Privacy policy.

Shop

A business that has a page on Smyl.

Pay by Bank

Paying a shop straight from your bank account, approved in your own banking app.

My code

The code in the app that shop staff scan at the counter.

Smyl points

Points you earn when you pay by bank, and can spend at shops that take Pay by Bank.

Receipt

The record of a purchase that Smyl keeps in your app.

• You must be 13 or over to have a Smyl account.
• Paying with Smyl needs a UK bank account in your own name.
• You sign in with your email address and a one-time code. There’s no password.
• Keep your email and your phone safe. Anyone who can read your email could sign in as you.
• You can search Smyl without an account.

Search shows which shops near you have what you’re looking for, nearest first. It uses your location or a postcode you type.

Search results never show prices. You see a shop’s prices on its own page.

Each item shows one of three states, with when it was last updated:

• “In stock”: the shop says it has it.
• “Out of stock”: the shop says it has run out.
• “Usually stocked”: the shop normally has it, but hasn’t confirmed today.

Shops keep this up to date themselves, so it can be wrong. If you’re making a special trip, ring the shop first. Shops also set their own prices, opening hours and descriptions, and they are responsible for them.

When you buy something from a shop, your contract is with the shop. Smyl isn’t part of the sale. The shop is responsible for what it sells you, and your consumer rights are against the shop.

How a payment works

1. Staff ring up the sale.
2. They scan your My code, or you scan the code on their screen.
3. You check the shop name and the amount, then approve the payment in your own banking app.
4. The money goes from your bank to the shop’s bank, usually within seconds.

A regulated payment provider makes the payment. Smyl never holds your money and never sees your bank login.

Once your bank has sent a payment, it can’t be cancelled. Check the amount and the shop’s name before you approve. If you’re not standing in that shop, don’t pay.

Every Pay by Bank payment creates a receipt in your app. If you pay by cash or card, the shop can scan your My code to send you a receipt too. A receipt shows the shop, the items if the shop rang them up, and the total. It doesn’t change if the shop later edits its prices.

• You earn 1 Smyl point for every whole £1 you pay by bank. Cash and card payments don’t earn points.
• You don’t earn points at a shop you work at.
• There are daily limits on earning, for each shopper and for each shop, to stop misuse. If a limit has been reached, a payment can earn fewer points or none.
• You can spend points at the counter of any shop that takes Pay by Bank. At least £1 of every sale is still paid by bank.
• We set what points are worth, between 50 and 1,000 points for each £1 off. The current value, or that spending is paused, is shown on our home page and in the app, and checkout always shows what your points are worth before you approve.
• Points have no cash value. You can’t swap them for money or give them to someone else.
• If a purchase is refunded, the points it earned are taken back, and any points you spent on it come back to you.
• We can remove points that were earned by misuse, such as fake sales.
• Points expire if you don’t earn or spend any for 12 months. Earning or spending any points starts the 12 months again. The 12 months pause while points can’t be spent anywhere on Smyl. We’ll remind you at least 30 days before. That is while Pay by Bank isn’t working anywhere on Smyl, or while spending points is paused. If Pay by Bank is paused only in your area while we fix a problem, the 12 months keep running, because you can still spend points at Smyl shops elsewhere.
• Your points end when you delete your account.

Smyl pays the shop the value of the points you spend there. It doesn’t cost the shop anything.

You can follow shops to see their posts and offers, and ask to be told when something you want is back in stock nearby. A shop sees how many people follow it, never who. You can turn notifications off in the app or in your phone’s settings at any time.

You can review a shop you have a Smyl receipt from. The shop can always reply. Reviews must be honest and about your own visit. Our Reviews policy explains the rules.

If you see something wrong on Smyl, such as a fake shop, a misleading item or an abusive review, report it in the app. We look at every report. Our Acceptable use page says what isn’t allowed and what we do about it.

Ask the shop first. Your contract is with them, so a refund comes from them.

Pay by Bank payments don’t have card chargeback protection. If a shop won’t sort something out, tell us and we’ll take it up with them, but we can’t refund you ourselves. If you think you’ve been scammed, contact your bank straight away. Our Refunds and disputes page has the details.

We will provide Smyl with reasonable care and skill. We’re responsible for losses you suffer because we broke these terms, if the loss was foreseeable when you started using Smyl.

We’re not responsible for:

• What a shop sells you, or how it treats you. The sale is between you and the shop.
• Information a shop publishes, such as its stock, prices or opening hours.
• Your bank, or your bank’s app.
• Smyl being unavailable for a time, for example while we fix or improve it.

Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud. Nor does it limit anything else the law doesn’t let us limit. This doesn’t affect your legal rights as a consumer.

You can delete your account at any time in the app: Account, then Delete my account. It happens straight away. Some records, such as receipts, are kept without your name for the time our Privacy policy sets out.

We can limit or close an account that breaks these terms or our Acceptable use rules, or to protect other people or meet the law. Unless the law stops us, we’ll tell you why.

We may change these terms, for example when Smyl changes or the law does. If a change matters to you, we’ll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. If you don’t agree, you can delete your account. The date at the top shows when these terms last changed.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring a claim in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in your own courts.

Email hello@smylpay.com, or use our contact form. In the app, go to Account, then Contact us.