Guide
A safe way to pay a seller you do not know
Most online trade in Africa starts in a chat and ends with a bank transfer and a prayer. Here is how to lower the risk, whether or not you use Sika.
Five checks before you pay anyone
- Ask for a live proof. A photo of the item with today's date written on paper, or a short video call, is hard to fake with pictures taken from the internet.
- Write the deal down. Price, what exactly you get, delivery address, delivery day and what happens if it is wrong. A chat message is a record. A phone call is not.
- Be careful when you are rushed. "Pay now, only one left" is the oldest push there is.
- Prefer a payment that can be undone. A transfer to a personal account cannot. A payment held by a third party until you confirm can.
- Keep everything in one place. If the seller moves you to a different app halfway, your record is split and harder to use in a dispute.
How Sika helps
In Sika, the seller sends an order card inside the chat. It shows the items, the price and the delivery steps. Where payment protection is available, you pay through a licensed payment partner and the money is held. It is released to the seller when you confirm the goods arrived. If something is wrong, you can open a dispute from the order card and share photos with Sika's reviewer.
What it costs
Sika adds a fee of 2 percent of the amount, with a small minimum, paid on top by the buyer. The seller receives the full amount. Sellers on Sika Business Pro have the fee lowered to 1 percent for their buyers. If an order is refunded, the fee is returned too.
What Sika does not do
Sika is in early access, and payment protection is not open everywhere yet. No system removes all risk: it works best when you also do the checks above. Sika does not hold your money itself. A licensed payment partner does.
Questions people ask
What if the seller never ships?
You do not confirm delivery, the money is not released to the seller, and you can open a dispute. If the dispute is decided in your favour, you are refunded.
What if the buyer lies and says the goods did not arrive?
The seller adds a delivery trail to the order: courier, tracking number and expected day, and can attach photos of the parcel and of the hand-over. The reviewer looks at that record.
Do I need Sika to use these checks?
No. The five checks work anywhere. Sika makes the record and the held payment part of the chat itself.
Try it
Sika is in early access and runs on Android 7 and later. Download Sika, or read how we protect your chats on the Security page. More help is in the Help Centre.