Legal

Terms of Service

Draft version · last updated [DATE] · effective from [LAUNCH DATE]

This is a working draft, not a published legal document. It's written to reflect how Birel actually works, so a lawyer has something real to start from – not filler text. Have it reviewed and adapted to your jurisdiction and entity structure before it goes live on the site or is presented to any user.

1. What Birel is – and isn't

Birel ("Birel," "we," "us") operates a verification layer that confirms a single fact about a person or entity – whether their available funds cross a threshold chosen by the party requesting verification (a "Requester") – without disclosing the underlying balance, account, or wallet details to the Requester or to us beyond what's needed to compute that result.

Birel is not:

  • a bank, money transmitter, payment processor, or custodian of funds;
  • a broker-dealer, real estate broker, or party to any transaction between a Requester and a person being verified ("a Prover");
  • a provider of legal, financial, tax, or investment advice;
  • a guarantor that any transaction, sale, or deal referenced by a badge will occur, close, or be honored on any particular terms.

Birel charges flat, per-verification fees. We never take a percentage of any transaction a badge is used in, and we are never a party to that transaction.

2. Accounts and eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) and able to form a binding contract to use Birel. If you use Birel on behalf of an organization, you represent that you're authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

You're responsible for the accuracy of information you provide and for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You must notify us promptly of any unauthorized use of your account.

3. How a verification works

A Requester sets a threshold amount and sends a Prover a unique verification link. The Prover connects a bank account, brokerage account, or cryptocurrency wallet through a regulated third-party channel (see Section 7), or, where available, provides a confirmation from a financial institution directly to us.

Birel receives only the minimum data needed to determine whether the Prover's available funds cross the requested threshold. We do not retain account numbers, full balances, transaction histories, or wallet addresses beyond what is strictly necessary to perform and log the verification (see our Privacy Policy for retention specifics).

Verification results are point-in-time (or, for "live" connections, periodically re-checked) and reflect only the fact requested – never a complete financial profile.

4. Badges: issuance, purpose, expiry, revocation

  • Purpose-bound. Each badge is issued for a stated purpose (e.g., a specific transaction) and should not be represented as valid for an unrelated purpose without re-verification or the Prover's knowing reuse.
  • Time-limited. Badges expire automatically (currently 30 days from issuance unless stated otherwise) and must be treated as invalid after expiry.
  • Revocable. The Prover may revoke a badge at any time. Revocation immediately invalidates every copy of the associated link.
  • Not a guarantee. A badge confirms that a threshold was met at the time of verification. It is not a guarantee of present ability to pay, of good faith, or of the outcome of any transaction.

You agree not to alter, recreate, screenshot-and-represent, or otherwise attempt to reproduce a badge outside of the live page served at our domain. A badge has no validity if displayed by any means other than the live link.

5. Fees and billing

Fees are charged to the Requester (or, on an Agency plan, to the subscribing organization) and only upon a completed verification. An initiated verification that is abandoned before completion (for example, a link that is never opened, or a connection that is never finished) is not billed.

Subscription plans (Starter, Growth, Scale) include a set number of completed verifications per billing period at a discounted per-unit rate; verifications beyond the included amount are billed automatically at the plan's stated overage rate. Unused included verifications do not roll over between billing periods unless we state otherwise in writing.

All fees are flat and fixed per verification or per billing period. Birel does not charge, and will not accept, fees calculated as a percentage of any underlying transaction.

Provers are never charged to complete a verification, view a badge, or have a badge checked by a Requester.

Fees are generally non-refundable once a verification has completed, except as required by applicable law or as we otherwise agree in writing.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • provide false, misleading, or fraudulently obtained information in connection with any verification;
  • attempt to verify funds you do not control, or assist another person in doing so;
  • attempt to circumvent, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the verification process, including by presenting a fabricated or altered badge as genuine;
  • use Birel to facilitate a transaction that is illegal in the relevant jurisdiction, including sanctions evasion or money laundering;
  • scrape, resell, or redistribute badge data or verification results outside of their intended purpose;
  • use Birel in a manner that could reasonably be expected to harm, disable, or overburden our systems or those of our service providers.

We may suspend or terminate access for any account reasonably suspected of violating this section, with or without notice, without liability to you.

7. Third-party services

Birel relies on regulated third parties to perform parts of the verification process, including but not limited to open-banking data aggregators (such as Plaid and equivalent providers in the UK and EU), identity-verification providers, blockchain node providers, and payment processors. Your use of Birel is also subject to the applicable terms of these providers where you interact with them directly (for example, when signing in at your bank through an aggregator's interface).

We are not responsible for outages, errors, or data inaccuracies originating from third-party providers, though we will make commercially reasonable efforts to notify affected users and to remediate where possible.

8. No advice, no guarantee

Nothing on Birel constitutes financial, legal, tax, immigration, or investment advice. A verification badge is a factual statement about a threshold being met at a point in time – it is not a recommendation, endorsement, or assurance regarding any counterparty, transaction, or asset.

Birel does not verify the legality of funds, their source, or their tax treatment unless a specific product expressly states otherwise.

9. Disclaimers of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT ANY VERIFICATION RESULT IS FREE OF ERROR ORIGINATING FROM A THIRD-PARTY DATA SOURCE.

10. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BIREL AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, OR DATA, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR RELIANCE ON ANY VERIFICATION RESULT – INCLUDING LOSSES ARISING FROM A TRANSACTION THAT DID NOT CLOSE, OR FROM A COUNTERPARTY WHOSE FUNDS WERE ACCURATELY VERIFIED AT THE TIME BUT SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME UNAVAILABLE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE FEES YOU PAID TO BIREL IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Birel harmless from any claim, loss, or damage, including reasonable legal fees, arising from your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

12. Termination

You may stop using Birel at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access for breach of these Terms, suspected fraud, or as required by law, with notice where reasonably practicable. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 9–11) will survive.

13. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, unless otherwise required by applicable local law. [Placeholder – confirm final entity jurisdiction and whether arbitration/venue clauses are desired before publishing.]

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified through the Service or by email before they take effect. Continued use of Birel after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to legal@birel.io.

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