Version 2.1.0. Effective 12 June 2026.
Scope: this Payment Policy explains how Employers pay for real-world domestic services booked through Sizoro, how Sizoro's fees work, how tips work, how refunds work, and how invoicing and tax records are produced. It applies on both web and mobile. Read it together with the Terms of Service, Worker Terms, Cancellation and Refund Policy, Dispute Policy, Payout Policy, and Privacy Policy.
1. Single payment provider — Paystack
Sizoro uses Paystack as its sole payment provider for all Employer payments and tips, on both web and mobile. Paystack is a licensed payment service provider in South Africa. We do not use Apple's in-app billing service or Google Play's billing service for these transactions. The bookings paid for through Sizoro are real-world, person-to-person home services delivered offline, which are exempt from Apple App Store Review Guideline 3.1.3(e) and from Google Play's Payments policy that would otherwise require app-store billing. Booking and tip payments are payments for real-world services delivered offline, not payments for digital goods consumed in the app, not stored value, and not a repeating product purchase.
2. What you are paying for
When you pay through Sizoro you are paying (a) the labour subtotal, calculated as the Worker's applicable hourly rate multiplied by the booked duration; (b) a Sizoro Employer booking fee of 5% plus VAT on the labour subtotal, charged as a single VAT-inclusive amount always rounded up to the nearest whole rand; and (c) any tip you choose to add. Sizoro issues a tax invoice for its booking fee at capture showing the VAT portion; the labour subtotal itself carries no VAT, because the labour is supplied by the Worker, who is not a VAT vendor. The price breakdown is shown in full on the Employer's screen before payment, as required by section 49 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. The applicable rate may be a weekday, weekend, or public-holiday rate, and is selected by the same `pickApplicableRate` helper used at booking time.
3. Worker commission
Separately, Sizoro deducts a Worker commission of 5% plus VAT from the labour subtotal, also charged as a single VAT-inclusive amount rounded up to the nearest whole rand. The Worker commission is between Sizoro and the Worker; it does not change the amount the Employer pays. Tips are passed through 100% to the Worker and are not subject to commission and are not rounded.
4. How rounding works
Both the Employer booking fee and the Worker commission are rounded up to the nearest whole rand using `Math.ceil` in the shared pricing helper. For example, a labour subtotal of R20 produces a R1 fee, and a labour subtotal of R100 produces a R5 fee; a labour subtotal of R0.10 still produces a R1 fee. Tips are not rounded. Labour subtotal itself is held to two decimal places.
5. Authorisation and capture
Paystack authorises the Employer's card at booking confirmation. The funds are held in the Employer's own bank account during the booking lifecycle and are only charged ("captured") when the Worker completes the job and the dispute window closes, or when the Employer confirms completion — whichever is earlier. At capture, Paystack routes the Worker's share directly to the Worker's bank-linked Paystack subaccount and the Sizoro fees to Sizoro's main account in the same transaction. Sizoro never holds the funds in between. If the booking is cancelled before capture, the Cancellation and Refund Policy determines whether the authorisation is released (no charge) or partially captured for Worker compensation.
6. Cards and instruments
Paystack supports South African debit and bank cards (Visa, Mastercard, Verve) and bank-transfer rails it makes available from time to time. Sizoro never stores the full PAN of a card. Card details are tokenised by Paystack under PCI-DSS controls. Sizoro stores only the Paystack reference, the last 4 digits, brand, expiry, and metadata needed to display a saved payment method, where the Employer has explicitly chosen to save one. For bookings scheduled more than seven (7) days in the future, Paystack's authorisation hold expires after roughly seven days; Sizoro re-authorises the saved card at T-24h before the booking start time so the authorisation is alive at capture. If re-authorisation fails (card declined, card expired, insufficient funds), the booking is cancelled automatically and you are notified in-app and by email.
7. Failed and reversed payments
If the initial authorisation fails, the booking is not confirmed and the Worker is not committed. Some booking actions may be blocked until an outstanding amount on a booking is settled. If Paystack reverses a capture after the fact (for example, due to a chargeback or bank reversal), Sizoro may pause the affected Worker subaccount, may correct the ledger, and may open a dispute. Chargebacks made in bad faith are a breach of the Acceptable Use Policy.
8. Refunds
Refunds are uncommon under this model because for most cancellations the card authorisation is released (no charge is ever made) or only partially captured for Worker compensation. The Paystack `refund` API is reserved for (a) force-majeure admin overrides where Sizoro reverses a completed capture, (b) Paystack-initiated consumer-protection refunds, and (c) administrative correction of a duplicate capture. Where a refund is processed, Paystack typically settles back to the original card within five (5) to ten (10) South African business days, depending on the issuing bank and card network. Sizoro will issue a refund reference in-app that you can use with your bank. For partial-capture cancellations, the remainder of the authorisation hold is released by the Employer's bank within the same 5–10 business-day window — Sizoro does not initiate a refund in that case because Sizoro never received the funds.
9. Outstanding balances
If an Employer owes an outstanding amount on a booking (for example, an approved extra time or extra task), some booking actions may be blocked until the outstanding amount is paid. "Outstanding amount" refers to an Employer debt on a real-world booking, not a stored-value balance.
10. Tax invoices and tax records
Sizoro provides VAT-compliant tax invoices where the booking is subject to VAT (and Sizoro is registered for VAT). For each completed booking, Sizoro generates an invoice in-app showing the Employer's name, the Worker's profile reference, the labour subtotal, the Sizoro Employer booking fee, the tip (where applicable), the total paid, the VAT amount (where applicable), and the Paystack reference. Workers receive a corresponding earnings statement per booking (see the Payout Policy). These records support SARS audit, personal-tax filings, and dispute review and are retained for at least seven (7) years.
11. Pricing transparency before payment
Before the Employer pays, Sizoro displays in plain language: the worker's applicable hourly rate; the booked duration; the labour subtotal; the Sizoro Employer booking fee of 5% plus VAT (shown VAT-inclusive); the optional tip; and the total. This satisfies the plain-language requirement in section 49 and the disclosure requirements in section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act for fixed-term agreements, where applicable.
12. Service problems and Consumer Protection Act recourse
Nothing in this Payment Policy limits Employers' rights under the Consumer Protection Act, including the implied warranty of quality in section 56. If a service was not provided with reasonable care or skill, see the Dispute Policy for how to claim a remedy, including a refund.
13. Sizoro is not a bank
Sizoro is a marketplace operator. Sizoro does not (a) take deposits, (b) provide lending or financing products regulated under South African consumer lending laws, (c) issue stored-value products, or (d) provide banking services. Sizoro never holds funds owed to third parties at any point under the pre-authorisation + capture-with-split model. The Employer's bank holds the authorisation until capture; at capture, Paystack routes the Worker's share directly to the Worker's bank-linked Paystack subaccount and Sizoro's fees to Sizoro's main account in a single Paystack-level transaction. Worker earnings credited to the subaccount before bank settlement are a Paystack-routed payable, not stored value owned by Sizoro or held in trust by Sizoro.
14. Changes to this Payment Policy
We may update this Payment Policy. Material changes are notified through the app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect.
15. Contact
Payment support: support@sizoro.com. Privacy: support@sizoro.com. Paystack disclosures: see the Privacy Policy.
