Terms & Conditions

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you (an individual or the business entity you represent, "you," "your," or "User") and lockt International Ltd. and its affiliates ("lockt," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of lockt.international, its subdomains, mobile-optimised web application, and all related trade, escrow, dispute-resolution, and finance services (collectively, the "Service" or "Platform").

By clicking "Create Account," checking a box that references these Terms, completing registration, or otherwise accessing or using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Service.

If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a company, cooperative, partnership, or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity, and "you" refers to that entity.

2. Eligibility & Account Registration

To register and maintain an account on lockt, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter binding contracts;
• Register on behalf of a genuine, lawfully operating commercial entity or sole proprietorship engaged in the export, import, farming/production, or freight-forwarding of physical commodities;
• Provide accurate, current, and complete registration information, including legal name, company name, country, and contact details, and promptly update this information if it changes;
• Not be located in, or ordinarily resident in, a country or region subject to comprehensive trade sanctions administered by the United Nations, the United States (OFAC), the European Union, or the United Kingdom, unless you hold a valid licence permitting the transaction;
• Not appear on any sanctions, watch, or denied-party list maintained by such bodies, and not be owned or controlled by a person or entity that does;
• Maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials and be solely responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not authorised by you, except to the extent caused by our gross negligence.

You may register under one primary role — Exporter, Importer, Farmer/Producer, or Freight Forwarder. We may offer additional or combined roles in the future. Each user may hold only one active account unless we expressly approve multiple accounts in writing (for example, for distinct corporate subsidiaries).

We reserve the right to refuse, delay, or revoke registration at our sole discretion, including where we cannot verify your identity or believe your registration poses a legal, regulatory, fraud, or reputational risk to lockt or other users.

3. Identity Verification, KYC & Compliance

lockt operates a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) programme consistent with applicable law and international best practice. As part of registration and on an ongoing basis, you must submit:

• A valid government-issued identity document (national ID, passport, or driver's licence);
• Proof of business registration or incorporation;
• A valid tax identification or PIN certificate; and
• Where requested, a selfie or other biometric verification, and any further documentation we reasonably require to verify your identity, source of funds, or beneficial ownership.

You confirm that every document you submit is genuine, unaltered, and accurately represents you or your business. Submitting a forged, stolen, expired, or materially misleading document is a material breach of these Terms and may constitute fraud under applicable criminal law, and we reserve the right to report such conduct to relevant authorities.

Once submitted, your KYC documents are treated as a fixed part of your compliance record for audit-trail purposes and cannot be self-service replaced through the Platform, including after a rejected submission. To correct or update a KYC document, contact support@lockt.international.

Your account and documents will show one of the following statuses at any time: Pending, In Review, Approved, Rejected, or Suspended. We may, at our discretion, restrict or condition specific functionality — including creating marketplace listings, funding or receiving escrow, withdrawing funds, or accessing trade finance — on your KYC status, and we may re-verify your identity or request additional documentation at any time, including in response to a change in your risk profile, a regulatory requirement, or a dispute.

You authorise lockt and its service providers to perform identity verification, sanctions and watch-list screening, and fraud and credit-risk checks about you and your business, using the information you provide and data from third-party verification providers, credit bureaus, and public registries.

4. Nature of the Service — What lockt Is (and Isn't)

lockt is a technology platform that connects exporters, farmers/producers, importers, and freight forwarders, and that provides tools including a commodity marketplace, messaging, escrow-fund administration, document management, AI-assisted fraud and dispute triage, and access to third-party or lockt-facilitated trade finance. Unless expressly stated otherwise in a separate written agreement:

• lockt is not a party to any trade, sale, purchase, or shipment contracted between users. Every trade is a direct legal agreement between the exporter and the importer (and, where applicable, the farmer and freight forwarder) involved;
• lockt is not a bank, deposit-taking institution, licensed money transmitter, insurer, freight carrier, customs broker, or guarantor of any trade, shipment, payment, or outcome;
• lockt does not inspect, own, take title to, or take possession of any physical goods listed, bought, or sold through the Platform, and is not responsible for the quality, safety, legality, or export/import compliance of those goods;
• lockt does not guarantee that any counterparty will perform its obligations, that goods will be delivered on time or in the condition described, or that payment will occur — our role is to hold and administer escrow funds according to the rules set out in Section 6, and to provide dispute-resolution tools under Section 12;
• Any trust score, verification badge, "AI fraud detection" flag, credit-risk score, or similar indicator shown on the Platform is a decision-support signal only, generated from available data and heuristics, and is not a guarantee of any user's honesty, solvency, or performance.

You are solely responsible for conducting your own diligence on any counterparty, for the accuracy of any listing, order, or buy request you post, and for complying with all export control, customs, sanctions, tax, and product-safety laws applicable to your trade.

5. User Roles & Responsibilities

5.1 Exporters & Farmers/Producers

You may only create marketplace listings for commodities that are recorded on your verified profile at the time of KYC or subsequently approved by lockt. If you wish to trade in a commodity not yet on your profile, you must apply to add it — contact support before listing; listing an unregistered commodity is a breach of these Terms and may result in listing removal and account review. You warrant that you hold, or will hold at the time of shipment, good and marketable title to any goods listed, and all export licences, phytosanitary certificates, or other authorisations required to lawfully export them.

5.2 Importers

You are responsible for funding escrow in full and on time for any order you place, for obtaining any import licences or authorisations required in your destination country, and for inspecting delivered goods and confirming or disputing delivery within the timeframes described in Section 6. Placing an order and funding escrow is a binding commitment to purchase on the agreed terms.

5.3 Freight Forwarders

You are responsible for the accuracy of any quote, shipping documentation, and tracking information you submit, and for performing logistics services in accordance with applicable transport, customs, and safety law. lockt facilitates payment for logistics services via escrow milestones but is not a party to your carriage contract with any exporter or importer.

5.4 All Users

• You will provide accurate, complete, and non-misleading information in every listing, buy order, message, document upload, and dispute submission;
• You will honour the trade terms (price, quantity, quality, Incoterms, payment terms, deadlines) you agree to on the Platform;
• You will not use another user's account, impersonate another person or business, or misrepresent your affiliation with any company;
• You are solely responsible for any tax, duty, or regulatory filing obligation arising from your use of the Platform or any trade conducted through it.

6. Escrow Services & Fund Handling

To reduce counterparty risk, lockt administers an escrow mechanism through segregated accounts held with its banking and payment partners. lockt is not a bank and does not hold client funds as deposits — funds are administered strictly according to the rules below and are not available for lockt's general corporate use.

6.1 Funding

When an importer funds escrow for an order or trade, lockt deducts a platform fee (Section 7) and places the balance into escrow, moving the trade to a "Funded" state. Funds are held for the exclusive benefit of completing that specific trade.

6.2 Release

Once the importer confirms satisfactory delivery, escrow funds are released to the exporter (and, where applicable, apportioned to any linked farmer or freight forwarder per the trade's terms). If the importer does not confirm and does not raise a dispute within the applicable release window after funding (currently 24 hours, subject to change on notice), funds are automatically released to the exporter under the same terms as an importer-confirmed release. Raising a dispute before that window expires freezes the release until the dispute is resolved under Section 12.

6.3 Freezes, Refunds & Splits

We may freeze an escrow balance where a dispute is opened, where we reasonably suspect fraud or a breach of these Terms, or where required by law or a competent authority. Depending on the outcome of a dispute or arbitration ruling under Section 12, escrow funds may be released in full to the exporter, refunded in full to the importer, split between the parties, or held pending further evidence.

6.4 No Interest; Currency & FX

Escrow funds do not accrue interest for your benefit. Where a trade involves currency conversion, the applicable exchange rate is determined by our banking/payment partners at the time of the relevant transaction, and lockt is not liable for adverse exchange-rate movements between order placement and settlement.

6.5 Withdrawals

Released funds available in your wallet may be withdrawn to a verified bank account or supported mobile-money channel, subject to identity verification, minimum withdrawal amounts, processing times, and any fees charged by our payment partners. We may delay or decline a withdrawal where we reasonably suspect fraud, sanctions exposure, or a violation of these Terms, and will notify you of the reason where legally permitted.

7. Fees, Subscription Plans & Billing

7.1 Platform (Transaction) Fee

lockt charges a platform fee, currently 2% of the funded trade value on our Starter and Pro plans (lower negotiated rates may apply under an Enterprise agreement), deducted at the moment escrow is funded. The fee compensates lockt for platform access, escrow administration, and dispute-resolution infrastructure and, except where required by law or expressly stated otherwise, is non-refundable once escrow has been funded, including where a trade is later cancelled, disputed, or refunded to the importer.

7.2 Subscription Plans

We offer tiered subscription plans (currently Starter/Free, Pro, and Enterprise) with different limits on active trades, listings, support levels, and access to features such as AI fraud alerts and country agents. Current plan pricing and features are published on our Pricing page and may change on notice as described in Section 22. Paid plans renew automatically for successive billing periods at the then-current price unless cancelled before the renewal date through your account settings.

7.3 Refunds

Subscription fees are non-refundable except that a Pro-plan subscription may be refunded within 7 days of purchase if you have not used any Pro-exclusive feature during that period. Platform (transaction) fees are non-refundable as described in 7.1. We may, at our sole discretion, issue goodwill refunds or credits in other circumstances without creating an obligation to do so in future.

7.4 Taxes

Fees are exclusive of any applicable value-added tax, withholding tax, or similar levy, which you are responsible for unless we are legally required to collect it from you.

7.5 Referrals

We may operate a referral programme from time to time under which you receive a unique referral code or link. Any reward, discount, or incentive associated with referrals is discretionary, may be changed or discontinued at any time, and is subject to any additional referral-programme terms we publish. Fraudulent or self-referral activity forfeits any associated reward and may result in account suspension.

8. Trade Finance & Buy-Now-Pay-Later Services

lockt may offer, directly or through partner lenders, working-capital, invoice-financing, farm-input, export-financing, insurance-backed credit, or buy-now-pay-later ("BNPL") products to eligible users ("Finance Products"). Availability, amounts, pricing, interest rates, tenor, and collateral requirements are determined on a per-application basis using a risk assessment that may draw on your trust score, trading history, dispute record, and information you provide, and are not guaranteed to any user.

A Finance Product application is not an offer, and any offer we or a partner lender make is subject to separate financing terms, which you must accept before funds are disbursed. You are solely responsible for repaying any disbursed amount on the agreed schedule. Failure to repay may result in referral to collections, reporting to credit bureaus where applicable, restriction of your Platform access, and any other remedy available under the specific financing agreement or law.

Where a Finance Product is provided by a third-party lender, lockt acts only as an introducer or servicing platform (as applicable) and is not the lender of record; your agreement for that product is with the lender, and lockt is not liable for the lender's decisions, conduct, or terms.

9. Marketplace Conduct & Prohibited Uses

You must not, and must not permit any third party to, use the Platform to:

• List, offer, request, or trade any goods that are illegal, counterfeit, stolen, or subject to an export/import prohibition or a required licence you do not hold, including but not limited to narcotics, weapons and munitions, endangered or protected species and their derivatives, conflict minerals, or goods sanctioned by the UN, US, EU, or UK;
• Post false, misleading, or materially incomplete information about a commodity, quantity, quality, origin, certification, price, or your own identity or authority to sell/buy;
• Engage in market manipulation, wash trading, or the creation of fake listings, buy orders, reviews, or trust indicators;
• Upload a forged, altered, or fraudulently obtained document, including KYC, certification, shipping, or contract documents;
• Infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of lockt or any third party;
• Introduce malware, attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Platform or another user's account, scrape or harvest data at scale, or interfere with the Platform's normal operation;
• Use the Platform for money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion, or any other unlawful purpose;
• Retaliate against, harass, or threaten another user, lockt staff, or an arbitrator in connection with a dispute.

We may remove any listing, message, or document, and may suspend or terminate any account, that we reasonably believe violates this Section, without prior notice where we believe notice would frustrate the purpose of the action (for example, in suspected fraud).

10. No Circumvention of the Platform

A core part of what you are paying for through the platform fee is the protection escrow, verification, and dispute resolution provide. Accordingly, once two users have been introduced through lockt (via a marketplace listing, buy order, or direct message), you must not, in relation to that introduction:

• Solicit or agree to complete payment, in whole or in part, outside lockt's escrow system for the purpose of avoiding the platform fee or escrow protections;
• Direct or encourage a counterparty to continue the negotiation or transaction on a different platform, messaging app, or communication channel in order to circumvent these Terms;
• Share or solicit personal contact details (phone numbers, personal email addresses, third-party messaging handles) for the primary purpose of moving a lockt-introduced trade off-platform, before that trade has been completed and settled through lockt.

To help enforce this, we use automated tools (including keyword/pattern detection and AI-assisted classification, see Section 11) to detect and, where appropriate, redact contact-sharing or circumvention language in on-platform messages, and to alert our team to suspected circumvention. A confirmed breach of this Section is a material breach of these Terms; without limiting any other remedy, we may still charge the platform fee that would have applied to the circumvented trade, and may suspend or terminate the accounts involved.

11. Communications, Monitoring & Chat Moderation

Messages you send through the Platform's chat feature are stored and may be reviewed by lockt personnel and automated systems (including AI-based classifiers) for the purposes of: enforcing Sections 9 and 10; detecting fraud, harassment, or other Terms violations; assisting dispute resolution under Section 12 (messages may be used as evidence); and complying with legal or regulatory obligations. We may automatically redact information we detect as personal contact information or circumvention language and flag it for review; the original content may be retained in our compliance records even where the version shown to the other party is redacted.

We may also send you transactional and account-related communications (order updates, security alerts, dispute notices, compliance requests) by email, SMS, push notification, or in-platform message, which you cannot opt out of while maintaining an account. Marketing communications are optional and governed by your notification preferences and applicable law.

12. Dispute Resolution Between Traders

If a trade does not go as agreed, either party may open a dispute before the applicable escrow release window closes (see Section 6.2). By funding or receiving escrow through lockt, you agree to resolve trade-related disagreements through lockt's internal dispute-resolution process described in this Section as a condition of using escrow, in place of unilaterally withholding payment or goods.

12.1 Process

• Either party submits the dispute with supporting evidence (photos, documents, messages, shipping records);
• Our systems, including an AI-assisted review tool, compile a case summary, timeline, and risk assessment from the trade record, evidence, and message history to support the human reviewer — this AI output is advisory only and never itself releases or refunds funds;
• A member of lockt's dispute-resolution team reviews the case, may request further evidence from either party, and may schedule a virtual hearing;
• The reviewer issues a ruling: release of escrow to the exporter, refund to the importer, a split between the parties, or a continued hold pending further information. Rulings are recorded in an auditable case log.

12.2 Effect of a Ruling

A ruling under this Section determines how escrow funds are disbursed and is binding on both parties for that purpose. It does not itself extinguish, and is without prejudice to, any other legal claim either party may have against the other under the underlying trade contract or applicable law — lockt's process is a contractual condition of using our escrow service, not a substitute for legal advice or, save as set out in Section 23, a formal arbitration under any arbitration statute.

12.3 Our Role

lockt makes reasonable, good-faith efforts to reach a fair outcome based on the evidence submitted but does not guarantee any particular result, cannot compel a party to produce evidence, and is not liable for the underlying facts of the trade dispute. Our liability in connection with any dispute ruling is limited as set out in Section 16.

13. Intellectual Property

The Platform, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos, and the "lockt" and "lockt International" names and marks, is owned by lockt or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Platform for your own trading activity in accordance with these Terms. You may not copy, modify, reverse-engineer, resell, or create derivative works from the Platform except as the law expressly permits notwithstanding this restriction.

You retain ownership of the content you submit (listings, images, documents, messages) but grant lockt a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, display, and use that content to operate, promote, and improve the Platform, including displaying your listings to other users and using aggregated, de-identified data for analytics and product development.

14. Documents, Data Integrity & Blockchain Anchoring

Documents you upload (KYC documents, contracts, shipping records, certifications) are stored securely and used to administer your account, facilitate trades, and support dispute resolution and regulatory compliance. For certain document and contract types, where the feature is enabled, lockt computes a cryptographic hash of the document and anchors it to a public blockchain to create a tamper-evident timestamp; this anchoring is a supplementary integrity measure, is not guaranteed to be available for every document or at all times, and does not itself verify the truthfulness of a document's contents.

15. Disclaimers of Warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Platform and all Finance Products, escrow services, and dispute-resolution tools are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

lockt does not warrant that: the Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; any counterparty, listing, document, or trust/risk indicator is accurate or reliable; any trade will be completed successfully or on the terms agreed; or any Finance Product will be approved or disbursed on any particular timeline.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, lockt, its officers, employees, and affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity, arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Except for (a) our fraud or wilful misconduct, (b) our gross negligence in administering escrow funds actually in our custody, or (c) liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, lockt's total aggregate liability to you arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform will not exceed the greater of (i) the total platform and subscription fees you paid to lockt in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (ii) USD 100.

Nothing in these Terms limits lockt's liability for matters that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including, where applicable, death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless lockt and its officers, employees, and affiliates from and against any claim, liability, damage, loss, and expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: your breach of these Terms; your goods, listings, or trades, including any claim that goods you supplied were defective, misdescribed, or unlawfully exported or imported; your violation of any law or of any third party's rights; or any tax, customs, or regulatory liability arising from your trading activity.

18. Suspension & Termination

You may close your account at any time, subject to settling any trade, escrow, subscription, or finance obligation outstanding at that time. We may suspend or terminate your account or restrict specific features, with or without notice, where we reasonably believe: you have breached these Terms (including Sections 9 or 10); your KYC information is false, incomplete, or cannot be verified; your account poses a fraud, sanctions, credit, security, or legal risk; you have been inactive for an extended period; or we are required to do so by law or a competent authority.

Suspension or termination does not relieve you of any obligation that accrued before that date, including repayment of any outstanding Finance Product, and does not entitle you to a refund of fees already properly charged. Escrow funds tied to a trade in progress at termination will continue to be administered under Section 6 and, where applicable, Section 12 until the trade is resolved.

Sections 6 (as to funds already in escrow), 7.1 and 7.3 (fees), 12 (open disputes), 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 23–24 survive termination of your account.

19. Third-Party Services & Partners

The Platform may link to, integrate with, or rely on third-party services, including banking and payment processors, escrow custodians, identity-verification providers, logistics and freight partners, credit bureaus, finance lenders, and AI service providers. lockt is not responsible for the acts, omissions, terms, or availability of these third parties, and your use of a third-party service accessed through the Platform may be subject to that provider's own terms.

20. Privacy & Data Protection

Our collection, use, storage, and disclosure of your personal data, including KYC information, is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms by reference. Where our Privacy Policy has not yet been published for a given jurisdiction, we process personal data only as reasonably necessary to provide the Service, meet KYC/AML and other legal obligations, and as otherwise described in these Terms.

21. Force Majeure

Neither party is liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, civil unrest, terrorism, pandemic, governmental action, sanctions, currency or capital controls, internet or telecommunications failure, failure of a banking or payment partner, or failure of blockchain infrastructure outside our control.

22. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our Service, fees, or legal requirements. We will post the updated Terms with a new effective date and, for material changes, provide notice through the Platform or by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Continuing to use the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms; if you do not agree, you must stop using the Service and may close your account.

23. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution with lockt

These Terms, and any dispute between you and lockt arising out of or relating to them or the Platform (as distinct from a trade dispute between users, governed by Section 12), are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, unless a different governing law is required by mandatory consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction.

Before filing a claim, you agree to first contact us at support@lockt.international and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. If unresolved, the dispute will be submitted to binding arbitration administered under the rules of a recognised arbitral institution agreed by the parties (or, absent agreement, the Ghana Arbitration Centre), seated in Accra, Ghana, conducted in English, with the arbitration award being final and enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small-claims court where eligible, and lockt may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual property or confidential information.

You and lockt each waive any right to a jury trial or to participate in a class, collective, or representative action against the other, to the extent permitted by law.

24. General Provisions

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any plan- or product-specific terms referenced in them, constitute the entire agreement between you and lockt regarding the Platform, superseding prior agreements on the same subject.
• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision will be replaced with one that most closely reflects its intent.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Relationship of the parties. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship between you and lockt, or between you and any other user.
• Notices. We may give you notice via the email or in-platform notifications associated with your account; such notice is deemed received when sent.
• Language. These Terms are drafted in English. Any translation is provided for convenience only, and the English version controls in the event of a conflict.

25. Contact Us

Questions about these Terms can be sent to:

• Email: support@lockt.international
• Phone: +254 701 017 333
• Registered office: lockt International Ltd., Accra, Ghana

See also our Contact page for regional offices and additional teams.