Churpay respects personal information and processes it in line with applicable privacy laws, including POPIA in South Africa. This policy describes how Churpay processes information through the Churpay mobile app, churpay.com, the church admin and super-admin portals, public giving links, event registration flows, and related services.
Information we collect
Account and identity information: name, phone number, email address, password hash, Google sign-in identity details where used, date of birth, profile photo if added, church membership, member ID, role, staff permissions, and account activity.
Profile and church-life information: address, suburb, city, province, postal code, alternate phone, WhatsApp number, occupation, emergency contact details, household and family relationships, child names and check-in records, attendance, apologies, groups, ministry tags, volunteer terms, pastoral follow-ups, prayer requests, care notes, event registrations, tickets, broadcasts, and communication history.
Church and onboarding information: church name, join code, administrator details, registration or CIPC documents, bank account details, bank proof documents, logo files, selected subscription plan, plan invoices and the payment references on them, billing contact details, payment-provider setup status, verification notes, approval status, terms acceptance, cookie/privacy consent, and related audit records.
Giving and payment information: selected church, fund, amount, currency, fees, payment method, payment provider, provider reference, payment intent, transaction record, receipt details, giving link data, event-ticket payment data, cash/manual giving records, statement-import records, recurring-giving settings, and saved-card authorization metadata. Payment providers process full card, bank, and payment instrument details. Churpay does not store full card numbers or CVV values.
Device, security, and usage information: session tokens, secure-storage preferences, biometric unlock preference, push tokens, platform, device identifier supplied for push-token management, notification read status, app settings, IP address, request metadata, server logs, error logs, rate-limit data, cookies, cookie consent choices, and website analytics where enabled and consented.
Files and permissions: the app may request camera access for QR or ticket scanning, photo-library access when a user adds a profile photo, notification permission for push notifications, and biometric permission for unlocking a saved session. The website may process uploaded documents for onboarding, job applications, church logos, and bank-proof review.
How we use information
We use information to create and secure accounts, connect members with churches, verify churches, process giving and event payments, issue receipts, support saved-card and recurring-giving flows, reconcile transactions and statements, manage funds and expenses, operate check-ins and children check-ins, manage events, support pastoral care and prayer workflows, send notifications and broadcasts, provide customer support, prevent fraud and abuse, maintain audit trails, improve reliability, and comply with legal, tax, financial, security, and payment-provider obligations.
How information is shared
Information may be shared with the church, its authorized administrators, pastors, finance users, volunteers, ushers, teachers, or other staff according to their role permissions. Some sensitive pastoral-care, prayer, consent, notes, finance, and child-check-in data is restricted by role where the product enforces role-based access.
Information may also be shared with service providers that help operate Churpay, including our payment provider, Paystack, hosting and infrastructure providers, email and notification providers, Expo push notification services, analytics providers where cookies are accepted, Google for Google sign-in, and WhatsApp or messaging providers if WhatsApp messaging is enabled and consented. We may disclose information where required by law, regulation, court order, payment-provider rules, audit, fraud prevention, security investigation, or dispute handling.
Where your information is stored
Churpay's servers and database are hosted by Google Cloud in Johannesburg, South Africa. Some services we rely on operate outside South Africa: transactional email is sent through Resend from servers in the European Union, push notifications pass through Expo and the Apple and Google notification services, and WhatsApp or SMS messages pass through the messaging provider your church has enabled. Only the details needed to deliver a message, such as a name, an email address, a phone number or a device token, are sent to them. We use providers that commit to protecting personal information to a standard comparable to POPIA, and these transfers are necessary to provide the service you or your church asked for. Payment processing stays with Paystack, which holds card and bank details under its own PCI DSS controls.
Cookies and analytics
Churpay uses essential cookies and local storage for security, session, reliability, and consent choices. The website may use analytics cookies or similar technologies to understand usage and improve the service. Analytics storage is denied by default until the website cookie banner is accepted.
Retention
We keep information for as long as needed to provide the service, support churches, maintain security, resolve disputes, and meet legal, tax, finance, audit, regulatory, payment-provider, and operational obligations. Financial and transaction records, receipts, settlement records, audit logs, subscription records, and fraud-prevention records may be retained after an account is closed. Documents and operational records may be retained where needed for verification, compliance, support, or dispute handling.
Your choices and rights
Users can update supported profile details in the app or through their church administrator. Users may manage supported push notification and WhatsApp consent settings where available. Users may request access, correction, deletion, or limitation of personal information by contacting support@churpay.com. Some requests may need to be handled with the relevant church because churches control many church-specific records. Some records cannot be deleted immediately where retention is required for financial, tax, audit, legal, security, or payment-provider reasons.
Account deletion
Users may request account deletion by emailing support@churpay.com with their full name, registered email address, and phone number if applicable. Profile information, login credentials, donation-history visibility, and linked devices may be deleted or disabled. Transaction records required for financial compliance, receipts, reconciliation, audits, disputes, and church accounting may be retained.
Security
Churpay uses safeguards such as password hashing, secure session storage where supported, biometric unlock options, HTTPS transport, role-based access controls, admin verification workflows, audit logs, and operational monitoring. Users and churches must keep credentials secure and notify Churpay promptly about suspected unauthorized access or incorrect records.
Contact
For privacy requests or questions, contact support@churpay.com. If you are not satisfied with how we handle a request, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).
Information Officer
Churpay's Information Officer under POPIA is reached through the Churpay Support Office at support@churpay.com. Write to this address for any request to access, correct, delete or object to the use of your personal information, or with any question about how it is handled.