Frequently Asked Questions

Tenseal is a unified commerce platform for African businesses. It bundles four products in one account: Escrow (safe payments), Inventory (multi-channel commerce), Marketplace (buy and sell with automatic escrow), and a Developer API to build on top of everything.

No. One Tenseal account gives you access to every product. Sign up once, pick the products you need today, and turn the others on whenever you\'re ready.

Tenseal works for almost anyone doing commerce online:

• Freelancers and agencies using escrow for project payments
• Small and medium shops that sell on Instagram, WhatsApp, or their own website
• Marketplace sellers and buyers who want fraud protection
• Developers building custom storefronts, chatbots, or integrations
• Enterprises needing multi-location inventory, multi-currency, and white-label options

We\'re built for Africa first. You can transact in NGN, USD, GHS, ZAR, and KES with more currencies on the way. Payments, SMS, WhatsApp, and USSD are optimised for Nigerian, Ghanaian, South African, and Kenyan providers — but the platform itself is usable globally.

Yes. Every product has a free tier so you can try it before paying. Escrow gives you up to 10 free transactions/month, Inventory gives you 20 products and 50 orders/month, and the Marketplace is free to browse and list on. See the pricing page for details.

A simple 5-step flow:

1. Buyer and seller agree on terms
2. Buyer funds the escrow
3. Seller delivers the goods, service, or asset
4. Buyer confirms they received what they paid for
5. Funds are released to the seller automatically

If anything goes wrong, either side can raise a dispute and our team mediates.

Almost any transaction where trust matters:

• Digital assets — domains, accounts, software licences, crypto OTC
• Physical goods — high-value items, phones, electronics, vehicles
• Services — freelance projects, design, development, consulting
• Agreements — rentals, partnerships, milestone-based contracts

Yes. For long-running projects you can break the total amount into milestones. The buyer funds the whole thing up front, and releases happen stage-by-stage as each milestone is confirmed. Perfect for development, construction, and phased service work.

A human-led process — not a bot:

1. Either party opens a dispute and submits evidence
2. Our mediation team reviews chats, receipts, delivery proof, and the original terms
3. A fair decision is made, normally within 5–7 business days
4. Funds are released based on that decision

Both sides always get to make their case before anything is released.

Most escrows complete within 1–3 business days after delivery is confirmed. Cash-on-delivery flows can close same-day, while milestone projects run for as long as the agreed timeline.

Yes — multi-party escrow lets you include several buyers or sellers on one transaction. Useful for group purchases, joint ventures, or split revenue deals.

NGN, USD, GHS, ZAR, and KES. Both sides agree on the currency when the escrow is created; funds are held and released in that same currency to avoid exchange surprises.

Inventory is our multi-channel commerce tool. Manage products, stock, orders, customers, delivery, and staff from one dashboard — and sell anywhere your customers are: website, WhatsApp, USSD, SMS, or even offline using mobile forms.

All of these, from the same product catalogue:

• Website — shareable order forms and a WordPress plugin
• WhatsApp — a bot customers can order from directly
• USSD — dial a code to order without internet
• SMS — bulk campaigns and transactional alerts
• Offline (PWA) — field sales take orders on their phone, sync later

Once you connect your WhatsApp Business number, customers can browse your products, place orders, and get automatic updates (confirmation, shipping, delivery) — all in WhatsApp. Pro plans include unlimited message templates and multiple bots.

Customers dial a short code from any mobile phone and follow a menu to order — no data or smartphone required. Great for reaching customers in areas with limited internet. Available on Growth plans and above.

Yes. From Growth plan onward you can run SMS marketing campaigns to your customer list — 2 campaigns/month on Growth, 10 on Pro, unlimited on Enterprise. Transactional order SMS (confirmations, shipping updates) are available from Starter upward.

Yes — the Growth plan supports up to 3 currencies, Pro supports all five (NGN, USD, GHS, ZAR, KES), and Enterprise has no cap. You set the exchange rates and customers can pay in their preferred currency.

Every order gets a public tracking page. You can assign riders, set delivery zones and fees, and customers can follow their order from dispatched to delivered — without needing to log in.

Yes. From Growth plan upward, you can turn on escrow for individual orders. The buyer\'s payment is held by Tenseal until they confirm delivery — perfect for high-value items or new customers.

Yes. Add staff accounts (3 on Starter, 10 on Growth, 30 on Pro, unlimited on Enterprise). From Growth upward you get role-based permissions — e.g. a call-rep can take orders but not see revenue, a rider only sees their deliveries.

Yes. Every order gets a short tracking code you can share on a receipt or SMS. Anyone with the code can view status, delivery progress, and receipt — no Tenseal account required.

Customisable public order forms you can share via link, embed, or install as a WordPress plugin. Each form has its own products, fields, and thank-you page. When a customer submits one, it creates a real order in your dashboard.

Marketplace is a public store where verified sellers list products and buyers can shop safely. Every order is protected by Tenseal escrow automatically — no setup required from either side.

Yes. Before a seller can list on Marketplace, they go through KYC verification — government ID, business info (if applicable), and proof of address. You\'ll see a verified badge on every seller profile.

Yes — and it\'s always free for the buyer. When you buy on Marketplace, your payment is held by Tenseal until you confirm the item arrived. If there\'s a problem, you can raise a dispute straight from the order page.

Yes. After an order is marked delivered, you can leave a rating and a written review. Reviews appear on seller profiles and influence how items are ranked in search.

Create a Tenseal account, complete seller verification, and list your first product. Once approved, your listings appear in Marketplace search. You keep the same products, stock, and orders in your Inventory dashboard.

The REST API gives you programmatic access to almost everything you can do in the dashboard:

• Create and manage escrow transactions
• Read and update orders, products, customers
• Power a custom storefront, mobile app, or WhatsApp chatbot
• Integrate Tenseal into WordPress, Shopify, or your own backend
• Receive real-time events via signed webhooks

From your dashboard: go to Settings → API Keys and generate a key. You can create separate keys for test and live environments, and revoke any key at any time. API access is available on Pro and Enterprise inventory plans.

Yes. Subscribe to events like order.created, escrow.released, payment.completed, and more. Every webhook is signed with HMAC-SHA256 so you can verify it really came from Tenseal.

Yes. The current version is v1. We will never break v1 — if we make breaking changes, it will be v2 and v1 will keep working. Read the full docs at tenseal.co/api-docs.

Yes — limits depend on your plan. Pro gets standard API access; Enterprise gets higher limits and priority support. If you hit a limit you\'ll get a 429 Too Many Requests response with a Retry-After header.

We take security seriously at every layer:

• TLS/SSL encryption on every connection
• Funds held in segregated accounts with our banking partners
• PCI-DSS compliant card handling via certified payment processors
• Rate-limiting, CSRF protection, and SQL-injection safeguards
• Regular backups and audit logging

Basic use (small transactions, free plans) only requires email verification. To unlock higher limits, sell on Marketplace, or withdraw larger sums, you\'ll need to complete KYC — government ID plus proof of address. Verification usually takes 24–48 hours.

Yes. Every account uses a 6-digit email OTP for signup, password changes, and sensitive actions. You can also enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your security settings for an extra layer of protection on login.

You can request account deletion at any time. Personal data is removed within 30 days, except where we\'re legally required to keep records (transaction logs, tax data). See our Privacy Policy for details.

Pricing is per product. A quick overview:

• Escrow — Starter free (10 txns/mo), Business ₦9,900/mo (unlimited), Enterprise ₦49,900/mo (custom rates)
• Inventory — Free, Starter ₦3,500/mo, Growth ₦9,500/mo, Pro ₦22,000/mo, Enterprise ₦65,000/mo
• Marketplace — free to browse and list; small per-order fee on completed sales
• Developer API — included on Pro and Enterprise inventory plans

Yearly billing saves ~17%. Full details on the pricing page.

Every paid inventory plan includes a 14-day free trial — no credit card required. You keep all your data if you decide not to continue.

Yes. Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel whenever you want. Upgrades take effect instantly; downgrades apply at your next billing cycle. You only pay the difference when upgrading mid-cycle.

Limits are strict — we tell you clearly when you\'re close:

• At 70% your dashboard shows an amber warning
• At 90% you get a red warning and email alert
• At 100% new items (products, forms, staff) can\'t be created and your public order forms stop accepting new orders until you upgrade or the monthly count resets

Unlimited tiers remove the cap entirely — we never rate-limit you silently.

Subscriptions are refundable within 7 days if you haven\'t made heavy use of paid features. Escrow and transaction fees are refundable if the transaction was cancelled before funding. See the refund policy for the specifics.

Go to app.tenseal.co/register, enter your name, email, and a password. You\'ll get a 6-digit code by email — enter it to activate your account. The whole thing takes under a minute.

Yes — use Continue with Google on the login or register page. Your Tenseal account is linked to your Google identity, and you can still set a password later if you want to use email login as a backup.

From your dashboard, go to Security → Change Password. For your protection, every password change requires an OTP sent to your email before the new password is saved.

Click Forgot password? on the login page. We\'ll email you a reset link valid for 60 minutes. Once you set a new password, you\'ll receive a confirmation email so you know it was you.

Check your spam/junk folder first. If it\'s still missing, click Resend code on the OTP screen. Codes expire after 15 minutes, so you may just need a fresh one. Still stuck? Email support@tenseal.co.

Inventory currently supports one business per account. If you run multiple businesses, create a separate Tenseal account for each — or contact us about Enterprise multi-location support, which lets you run several branches under one parent account.