ErnestoPay

ERNESTOPAY

Terms of Service

— July 2026 —

1. Acceptance of Terms

By registering, creating a profile, or otherwise using the ErnestoPay platform (the “Platform,” “ErnestoPay,” “we”), you agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”) and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

ErnestoPay is operated by ErnestoPay, Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States (the “Company”).

2. Description of the Service

ErnestoPay is a technology platform that allows service workers (“Workers”) to create a public digital profile and receive voluntary gestures of economic recognition (“Recognitions,” referred to as “tips” in the Platform interface) from clients (“Clients”), through a QR code or personal link.

The Worker may also optionally complete a professional profile with information such as their biography, specialties, years of experience, languages, place of work, and certifications. Where the Worker provides this information, it forms part of their public profile and is visible to any Client who accesses their link. The processing of this data is described in the Privacy Policy.

ErnestoPay is NOT a bank, financial institution, payment processor, or money transmitter. ErnestoPay acts exclusively as a technology platform for digital identity and discovery. Funds processing is carried out entirely by Stripe, Inc. and its affiliated entities (“Stripe”), an independent third party, under its own Connected Account Agreement, which the Worker must accept separately.

Funds corresponding to each Recognition are transferred directly from the Client’s account to the Worker’s connected Stripe account (“Direct Charges” model). ErnestoPay never owns, holds, or takes custody of the Worker’s funds at any time; its involvement is limited to automatically collecting its application fee at the time of the transaction.

3. Eligibility

4. Worker Registration and Account

To activate a profile, the Worker must: (a) complete registration with their name, date of birth and the link (handle) of their public profile; and (b) complete the Stripe Connect onboarding process, including identity verification and tax information required directly by Stripe. The photo and the occupation may be added, but neither is required to activate.

Activating a profile and receiving Recognitions does not require payment of any subscription or membership fee, in accordance with Section 8.

The Worker is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information on their public profile, including their name, photo, occupation, and place of work. ErnestoPay does not independently verify this information beyond what Stripe requires for compliance (KYC).

The Worker is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their access credentials and for all activity that occurs under their account.

5. Independent Contractor Relationship — No Employment Relationship

The Worker acknowledges and agrees that their relationship with ErnestoPay, Inc. is that of an independent contractor, and not that of an employee, agent, partner, or legal representative of ErnestoPay, Inc.. Nothing in these Terms shall be construed as creating an employment, partnership, joint venture, franchise, or agency relationship between the Worker and ErnestoPay, Inc..

Accordingly, the Worker acknowledges that: (a) ErnestoPay, Inc. does not exercise control or supervision over the manner in which the Worker provides services to their Clients; (b) the Worker is not entitled to benefits, perks, health insurance, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, or any other benefit typical of an employment relationship as a result of their use of the Platform; (c) the Worker is solely responsible for their own tax, professional licensing, and regulatory obligations related to their occupation, independent of the specific tax obligations relating to Recognitions described in Section 11; and (d) Recognitions received by the Worker through the Platform come directly from their Clients, not from ErnestoPay, Inc., and do not constitute salary, wages, or compensation paid by ErnestoPay, Inc..

6. Nature of Recognitions — Not a Contractual Obligation

Payments made by a Client through the Platform are voluntary, unilateral gestures of gratitude (gifts), without any enforceable additional consideration of service, and do not constitute payment for a good or service, nor do they create a contractual relationship between the Client and ErnestoPay.

ErnestoPay does not guarantee, promise, or represent any minimum or expected amount of Recognitions for any Worker. The amount and frequency of Recognitions depend entirely on the Clients’ own discretion.

These Recognitions may constitute taxable income for the Worker under applicable tax law, as described in Section 11.

7. Third-Party Payment Processing (Stripe)

8. Fees, Plans, and Billing

ErnestoPay charges an application fee of three percent (3%) on each processed Recognition, automatically deducted before funds reach the Worker’s account. This fee applies to all Recognitions, from the first one, with no exceptions and no waiver periods.

This charge is separate from, and in addition to, Stripe’s standard processing fee, which is likewise deducted from the Worker’s funds under the Direct Charges model described in Section 7. ErnestoPay displays a full breakdown of both fees to the Worker in their activity dashboard.

As of the effective date of these Terms, use of the Platform as a Worker does not require payment of any membership, subscription, or recurring fee. The application fee is the only consideration ErnestoPay receives from the Worker.

ErnestoPay reserves the right to introduce subscription or paid plans in the future that unlock additional functionality, and to modify the percentage of the application fee. Any introduction of a paid plan, and any modification of the application fee, will be notified to the Worker at least thirty (30) days in advance by email or via an in-Platform notification, and will not apply retroactively to Recognitions already processed.

Functionality available at no cost as of the effective date of these Terms — including creating and maintaining a public profile, and receiving Recognitions through it — will not become conditional on payment of a plan as a result of the introduction of future plans.

The Worker expressly authorizes the collection of the application fee by accepting these Terms.

9. User-Generated Content (UGC) and License to Use

The Worker is solely responsible for the content they upload to the Platform, including their profile photo, name, description of occupation, and any other material (“User Content”).

By uploading User Content, the Worker represents and warrants that: (a) they own the rights to such content or have authorization to use it; and (b) the content does not infringe any intellectual property, privacy, or other third-party rights.

The Worker grants ErnestoPay a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, display, and reproduce their User Content solely for the purpose of operating and promoting their public profile within the Platform.

ErnestoPay reserves the right to remove any User Content that violates these Terms, third-party rights, or that is reported as inappropriate, without prior notice.

9.1 Ratings, Tags and Comments

This Section 9.1 applies to anyone who submits a rating, tags or a comment through the Platform, whether or not they have an account. Whoever submits them accepts this Section by submitting them.

Clients may rate a Worker from 1 to 5 stars, with or without sending a Recognition, and may optionally add up to three tags from the list the Platform offers and a comment of up to 280 characters. Ratings, tags and comments are published on the Worker’s public profile, with the stars and the date, with the name whoever submits them chooses to write, if one is written, and without any other identifier of theirs, and the Platform also shows how many times the Worker has received each tag. Comments are published immediately, without prior review. ErnestoPay does not edit comments. Ratings, tags and comments express the opinion of whoever submits them, not that of ErnestoPay.

Whoever submits a comment is solely responsible for its content, and represents that it is based on their own experience of the Worker’s service. A comment may not contain: (a) personal data of any person —such as a phone number, an email address or a home address— other than the name under which the Worker appears on their profile; (b) harassment or threats; (c) hate speech or discrimination; (d) sexual content; (e) spam or advertising; (f) content unrelated to the service; (g) impersonation of another person; or (h) clearly illegal content. The Platform refuses at the moment of submission a comment that contains a phone number, an email address or a link, and asks whoever wrote it to remove it; this rule applies equally to every comment, whatever opinion it expresses. A name, if written, must be the submitter’s own and may not contain contact data.

Whoever submits a rating, tags or a comment grants ErnestoPay a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, reproduce and display that content on the public profile of the Worker it refers to and in the Worker’s app, and to include it in the Platform’s averages and counts, for as long as it is retained under the Privacy Policy.

The Worker may report a review from the app, but may not delete, edit or alter ratings, tags or comments. The conduct prohibited in connection with reviews is set out in Section 9.2.

ErnestoPay reviews the comments reported to it and may hide a comment that breaches this Section, together with the name that comes with it. Hiding a comment for its content does not affect its rating or its tags, which remain published and keep counting in the average and in the counts. A hidden comment is not deleted: it is kept as a record and may be restored. In addition, ErnestoPay may temporarily hold, hide or disregard ratings that show signs of manipulation, automation or abuse — whether they are positive or negative — and may act under Section 15 against accounts involved.

ErnestoPay does not hide or remove a comment, a tag or a rating for being negative.

9.2 Reviews and Ratings: Prohibited Conduct and User Responsibility

This Section 9.2 applies to every Worker and to anyone who submits a review through the Platform, whether or not they have an account (each, a “user” for the purposes of this Section). Whoever submits a review accepts this Section by submitting it. A “review” means any rating, tags, comment or name submitted under Section 9.1.

9.2.1 Purpose. Reviews and ratings on ErnestoPay must reflect a genuine experience with the service provided by the reviewed Worker. ErnestoPay hosts reviews submitted by Clients. ErnestoPay does not write, buy, or alter the content of any review.

9.2.2 Conduct prohibited by law. The Federal Trade Commission’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 C.F.R. Part 465) and Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibit, among other things, the following conduct. No user may engage in it on or in connection with ErnestoPay:

(a) Writing, posting, creating, or procuring a review that misrepresents that the reviewer exists, that the reviewer had an actual experience with the Worker, or what that experience was, including reviews generated by artificial intelligence or by any person who did not receive the service;

(b) Buying, selling, or offering to buy or sell reviews or ratings, whether positive or negative;

(c) Offering or providing any compensation or incentive (including money, discounts, free services, gifts, or tips) in exchange for a review or rating, where the offer is conditioned, expressly or implicitly, on the review expressing a particular sentiment;

(d) Posting or soliciting reviews from owners, officers, managers, employees, or agents, or their immediate relatives, without clearly disclosing that relationship;

(e) Using unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or false public accusations to prevent a Client from posting a review, or to cause a review to be removed; and

(f) Any other unfair or deceptive practice related to reviews or ratings.

9.2.3 Conduct prohibited by ErnestoPay. In addition to Section 9.2.2, the following conduct violates these Terms, whether or not it also violates applicable law:

(a) Reviewing yourself, or asking a family member, friend, coworker, or any person who did not receive your service to review you;

(b) Using multiple accounts, phone numbers, payment cards, or devices to submit reviews, or asking others to do so;

(c) Offering any benefit in exchange for a review, even when the offer is not conditioned on a positive review;

(d) Asking Clients for positive reviews only, or discouraging or preventing Clients from leaving negative reviews;

(e) Dictating or suggesting the content of a review;

(f) Posting reviews about a competitor, or coordinating campaigns to raise or lower another Worker’s rating; and

(g) Including in a review threats, harassment, hate speech, sexually explicit content, or personal information of another person.

Workers may invite all of their Clients to leave an honest review, as long as no incentive is offered and the rating or content is not influenced.

9.2.4 User responsibility. Each user is solely and personally responsible for the reviews they post, request, or cause to be posted, and for any conduct described in Section 9.2.2 or 9.2.3. A user who engages in that conduct may be subject to legal consequences under federal and state law. Users who operate as a business, including Workers who offer their services independently, may also be subject to civil penalties imposed by the Federal Trade Commission for each violation. ErnestoPay is not responsible for the legal consequences of any user’s conduct.

9.2.5 Indemnification. Each user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ErnestoPay, Inc., its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claim, investigation, penalty, damage, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from that user’s violation of this Section 9.2.

9.2.6 ErnestoPay’s actions. If ErnestoPay reasonably believes that a review or a user’s conduct violates this Section 9.2, ErnestoPay may, at its discretion: (a) remove or decline to publish the review; (b) remove reviews obtained through prohibited conduct, including from the Worker’s public profile and counters; (c) suspend or terminate the account; (d) withhold features related to reviews; and (e) preserve records and cooperate with law enforcement and regulatory authorities, including the Federal Trade Commission, as permitted by law.

9.2.7 ErnestoPay’s moderation commitments. ErnestoPay does not remove, hide, or delay reviews because they are negative. Workers cannot delete reviews about themselves. ErnestoPay moderates reviews only under the neutral criteria published in these Terms and its review policy, and applies the same anti-abuse controls to all reviews regardless of their rating. Workers may report a review they believe violates this Section 9.2. A report does not remove the review unless ErnestoPay determines that a violation occurred.

9.2.8 Clients’ right to review. Nothing in these Terms restricts a Client’s right to post an honest review, including a negative one, or penalizes a Client for doing so.

10. Intellectual Property Policy and DMCA Procedure

ErnestoPay respects the intellectual property rights of third parties and expects its users to do the same. ErnestoPay responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512.

Designated Agent of ErnestoPay, Inc. (Copyright Office Registration No. DMCA-1075588):

The complete notice and counter-notice procedure is available at ernestopay.com/dmca.

11. Worker Tax Obligations and Responsibility

The Worker is solely responsible for reporting all income received through the Platform to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and any applicable state or local tax authority, regardless of whether they receive a Form 1099-K.

Stripe will issue Form 1099-K when the Worker exceeds the applicable thresholds established by the IRS. ErnestoPay does not provide tax or legal advice and recommends that each Worker consult an independent accountant or tax advisor.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

ErnestoPay does not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that defects will be corrected.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ErnestoPay, Inc., its directors, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, nor for loss of revenue, data, or funds, arising from the use or inability to use the Platform.

ErnestoPay’s total aggregate liability for any claim arising under these Terms shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the total amount of fees and charges actually paid by the Worker to ErnestoPay — including application fees and, if applicable, subscription fees — during the twelve (12) months preceding the claim; or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100 USD).

ErnestoPay is not liable for: (a) errors, delays, or failures in payment processing attributable to Stripe or banking institutions; (b) losses caused by false or incomplete information provided by the Worker; or (c) disputes between the Worker and their Clients regarding the amount or purpose of a Recognition.

14. Indemnification

The Worker agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ErnestoPay, Inc. and its affiliates from and against any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) their use of the Platform; (b) their User Content; (c) their breach of these Terms; or (d) their violation of third-party rights, including intellectual property rights.

15. Account Suspension and Termination

ErnestoPay reserves the right to suspend or terminate a Worker’s access to the Platform, with or without prior notice, in the event of a breach of these Terms, fraudulent activity, or a request from competent authorities.

The Worker may request deactivation of their profile at any time. Funds already deposited in their Stripe account remain under the Worker’s control in accordance with Stripe’s terms.

16. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms will be resolved through binding, individual arbitration, with both parties waiving their right to a jury trial and to participate in class actions, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect at the time the proceeding is initiated, and will be seated in the State of Florida.

ErnestoPay will cover the administrative and filing costs of arbitration that exceed what the Worker would otherwise owe under the AAA’s consumer dispute rules, so that the cost of initiating a claim is not a disproportionate barrier for the Worker.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may elect to bring an individual claim in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction instead of arbitration, provided the claim qualifies under that court’s monetary limits.

An arbitrator, and not a judge or court, will resolve any dispute regarding the interpretation, applicability, or scope of this arbitration clause, except for the validity of the class action waiver, which is reserved to the competent courts.

17. Refund Policy

Recognitions processed between Clients and Workers are non-refundable by ErnestoPay; any chargeback dispute must be handled through Stripe in accordance with its policies.

If ErnestoPay introduces subscription or paid plans in the future in accordance with Section 8, the refund conditions applicable to those plans will be published together with the corresponding plan.

18. Changes to These Terms

ErnestoPay may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be notified at least 15 days in advance via email or notification within the Platform. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

The foregoing is without prejudice to the thirty (30) day advance notice provided for in Section 8 for the introduction of paid plans or the modification of the application fee.

19. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States, without giving effect to its conflict-of-law provisions, except as otherwise provided in the arbitration clause in Section 16.

20. Contact

For questions about these Terms, DMCA notices, or any other legal matter, contact: [email protected].