1. Booking payments
StrictlyByIV bookings use either Pay in full to confirm or Deposit, then balance. Providers and venues may set a deposit from 25% to 75%, a balance due point from 0 to 30 days before service, and up to 7 grace days. If a balance goes unpaid past its deadline on a confirmed booking, the provider may extend the deadline (at most twice, seven days at a time, never past the event) or close the booking; an unpaid balance closes the booking automatically when the service starts. The final balance deadline never extends beyond the start of the service date. While a booking is under review, its balance is paused: it can't be paid, no reminders are sent, and its deadline can't lapse or close the booking. If the review ends with the booking going ahead, the time that was left before the deadline is restored, never past the service start.
The initial full or deposit payment is due at the earlier of 24 hours after provider acceptance and the service start time. Deposit-and-balance is not offered when fewer than 24 hours remain before service or its balance cutoff has passed; the booking must be recreated using full payment. A late payment cannot reactivate an expired booking and is sent for refund review. A payment that arrives while a booking is under review — for example from a checkout started before the dispute — is held with the rest of the booking's money and settled by the review.
When a booking payment succeeds, StrictlyByIV may hold eligible funds while refund, dispute, completion, payout, and transfer-review rules are evaluated. Collected funds are not treated as paid out to the provider until the payout transfer has conclusively succeeded.
2. Refund window
A successful deposit, balance, or full payment is eligible for self-service full refund until the earlier of 24 hours after payment and the service start time. A rush full-payment booking may therefore have less than 24 hours of self-service refund protection; the app shows the exact deadline before or after payment where applicable.
After the refund window closes, users may need to contact support or open a dispute instead of using self-serve cancellation. A queued or processing gateway refund remains pending until the payment partner confirms it has been processed.
Provider cancellation. A provider cannot cancel a confirmed booking themselves. A booking is only confirmed once the booker has paid, so unwinding it is not a decision the provider makes alone: they contact the booker through the app or contact StrictlyByIV support, and we handle the money and the date. Where support does unwind a booking on a provider's behalf, everything StrictlyByIV still holds is refunded to the booker in full and the provider keeps none of it — the forfeiture share a provider would retain if a booker defaulted does not apply. Money already transferred to the provider beforehand cannot be reversed automatically and is handled by operations review.
If a booker does not pay the balance. Where a balance goes past its deadline unpaid, the provider may close the booking, and an unpaid balance closes it automatically when the service starts. On either close the provider keeps the deposit already paid, up to a ceiling of 50% of the total booking value; anything above that ceiling is refunded to the booker. The ceiling is set by StrictlyByIV and is the same for every provider — it is not negotiated on a booking. Note that it is measured against the whole booking, not against the deposit: because most deposits sit at or below half the booking, a booker who does not pay the balance will usually forfeit the entire deposit and be refunded nothing. The deposit is what holds the date, and a provider who has turned other work away keeps it. Where more than one payment has been made, the earlier ones consume the ceiling first, and the platform fee is deducted from the share the provider keeps. A payment still inside its own refund window is returned in full and is not subject to this at all. If the provider is the one who withdraws, they keep none of it — see Provider cancellation above.
Cancellation notice. StrictlyByIV sets a single cancellation notice period that applies to every provider; it is not a per-provider setting. The period in force when a booking is made is recorded on that booking, so changing the platform term later does not alter bookings already agreed. Cancelling inside the notice period does not change what the booker is refunded — they are made whole either way — but it is recorded against the provider's profile and counted separately from cancellations caused by a booker or by the platform.
3. Disputes and review
If there is a problem with a paid booking, users should contact the other party or open a dispute before funds are released. The dispute request records a category and description. A disputed booking pauses unsubmitted payout while the issue is reviewed. Disputes are typically resolved within 2 business days.
StrictlyByIV may review booking records, messages, payment status, completion signals, and other relevant information. A review decides two things: what happens to the booking, and how the money StrictlyByIV still holds is divided. The booking goes ahead, is marked completed because the service was delivered, or is cancelled. Held money can go entirely to the booker, entirely to the provider, or be split between them — for example, the provider keeping the deposit while the balance is refunded. A booking that goes ahead returns to its normal schedule. If a booking is marked completed with its balance still unpaid, the balance remains payable for 7 days, because the service was delivered. If it is still unpaid after those 7 days, StrictlyByIV may require full upfront payment on that booker's future bookings, or restrict their account. Refunds are submitted when the review is decided; the payment partner's processing time then applies. If a booking goes ahead and a new problem arises while money is still held, the booker can open another dispute; only one can be open at a time. If a chargeback is raised with a bank on a booking under review, the review is completed once the chargeback is resolved.
Funds already released to the provider remain released. A claim involving released funds requires operations review and may require a platform-funded exception or provider recovery outside this workflow. Where a payment is only partly released, the unreleased remainder can be refunded; there is no automated clawback of money already transferred.
4. Provider payouts
Nothing is paid to a provider automatically before their service has been delivered. A decided review is the exception: when StrictlyByIV cancels a booking, or marks it delivered, after a dispute, the provider's share is released at that point rather than on the clock below. A booking that goes ahead after a review follows the normal timing. Once the service ends, StrictlyByIV waits a short protection period — currently 24 hours — for the booker to raise a problem. If none is raised, the payout becomes eligible. Releases also require that the booking and payment are not blocked by cancellation, dispute, refund, failed transfer, review state, or an administrative hold on payouts.
Payouts are split into instalments, and every instalment waits out the same protection period. The split governs what a booker may advance by choice, and what stays refundable. For a deposit, at most 50% of the total booking value can be advanced; any part above that stays held so it remains refundable if the booking later closes after a balance default. For a full-upfront payment, a booker may advance 75% and keep the remaining 25% held. Balance payments are held in full. Held shares release sooner if the booker confirms the service was delivered — see below.
The booker's Confirm Booking Complete action authorizes immediate processing of all eligible held funds — including the retained share that would otherwise stay held until after the service. The booker can confirm at any time once every payment for the booking has been made, including before the event, because the hold exists to protect the booker and their confirmation waives it. It does not require a provider request or an additional payment-age delay. The refund grace window still applies: if the booker confirms while a payment is still inside its window, that payment's release is authorized but only processed once the window closes. A booker may also choose to release held eligible funds early without completing the booking, once the refund window has closed. Money released through completion or early release cannot be refunded or recovered by a dispute.
Administrative holds. StrictlyByIV may pause payouts to a single provider, or across the platform, for a stated period while something is investigated — suspected fraud, a chargeback pattern, a compliance review, or an incident at our payment partner. A hold does not take anyone's money: funds stay held and are released when the hold ends. Where a hold applies to one provider, we tell them it is in place.
If the booker does not confirm and no cancellation, dispute, refund, failed transfer, review state, or administrative hold blocks release, all eligible held funds become payout-eligible 24 hours after the service end time. The provider's Request Payout action records fulfillment and asks the booker to confirm — it can be used at any point after the booking is confirmed, including before the event and while a balance is still outstanding — but it moves no money and never starts, delays, or resets that automatic-release time.
A confirmed booking is marked completed by system audit once its protection period has elapsed without a dispute, while preserving whether each party actually confirmed. Completion records that the service window passed without objection; it does not assert that money has moved, so a booking can read as completed while its payout is still processing or held for review. Actual settlement timing can still depend on payment processor checks, bank processing, payout account status, transfer success, and operational review.
5. Fees and payment partners
Payment processing, platform, bank, transfer, or service fees may apply depending on the booking, provider setup, and payment partner rules. The app shows what a provider will receive after fees where it can.
The platform fee is charged to the provider and deducted from their payout, not added to what the booker pays. It is a percentage of the booking, subject to a minimum and a maximum, so the fee on a very large booking is capped rather than growing without limit. For a price you enter, the app shows what you would receive after the platform fee, and it shows the minimum booking amount. The rate and the cap themselves are not currently displayed in the app; they are available from support on request.
Bookings below a minimum amount cannot be placed, because the cost of processing them exceeds the fee. The app shows the current minimum before a booking is submitted.
StrictlyByIV may use payment partners such as Paystack to process payments, refunds, and transfers.
6. Contact
Payment, refund, dispute, or payout questions can be sent to [email protected].