Questions

If the seller never marks the order shipped, the sale price comes back to you automatically 5 days after you paid.

If it is marked shipped but nothing arrives, tap “Something is wrong” on the order before the 48 hours run out. That freezes the payment so nobody can move it, and a person on our team reviews both sides. We aim to decide within 3 business days.

You are paid automatically 48 hours after you mark the order shipped, unless the buyer reports a problem in that time.

Not Usalama. Payments are held by our payment partner, separately from anything Usalama owns or owes.

Usalama runs the app and the rules. It tells the partner when to pay the seller, or when to return the money to the buyer.

No. If an order is refunded, the sale price comes back to the buyer, but the protection fee does not. It paid for your money being held safely and returned to you, rather than lost to a stranger.

The largest order is 990,000 TZS. The smallest order is 10,000 TZS.

No. Usalama Escrow is not a bank, and it does not hold your money. Payments are held by our payment partner.

Usalama is a company registered in Tanzania that runs the app: it checks who everyone is, records every order, and tells the payment partner when to pay the seller or refund the buyer.

The buyer pays 4.5% of the price, rounded to the nearest shilling. There is no minimum or maximum fee. The seller receives their price in full.

The code stops working 24 hours after the order is created. Nothing is charged.

Anyone 18 or older who lives in Tanzania, has a NIDA number, and has a mobile money account in their own name.

Never. Keep your PIN to yourself. If anyone asks for it, even someone saying they are from Usalama, don’t give it.

It may. Your mobile money provider may charge its own fee for sending money. That charge is theirs, not ours, and we receive no part of it.

No. Usalama does not buy, sell, inspect, store, ship or guarantee goods. The sale is between the buyer and the seller. Usalama protects the payment.