Contribution, Cancellation and Refund Policy

This policy applies to Contribution Touch purchases and related payment activity on TouchYourWorld.

Vote Touches are free votes with no monetary value. They do not create a payment requiring a refund under this policy.

Sponsored Contribution Touches are paid for by sponsors, not by the member who receives them. Members do not purchase Sponsored Contribution Touches. Sponsor agreements may contain additional commercial cancellation and refund provisions between TouchYourWorld and the sponsor.

This policy must be read together with the Terms of Use, Privacy Notice, How It Works, Our Promise and Transparency pages. Where there is a conflict on platform-use rules, the Terms take precedence as stated in those Terms.

Vote Touches are free votes with no monetary value. They do not create a payment requiring a refund under this policy.

Contribution Touches are purchased through Stripe Checkout. Touches are credited only after Stripe confirms a successful payment. A successful redirect is not proof of payment. Failed, cancelled, expired or abandoned Checkout Sessions do not create Contribution Touches.

Beneficiary payouts are made only after identity, eligibility, banking and KYC/KYB verification, and only to an approved bank account belonging to the verified recipient or legal entity.

Payment funds are collected, processed and settled by Stripe. TouchYourWorld does not store full card numbers. TouchYourWorld does not operate a bank account or withdrawable cash balance for members.

When you purchase Touches, you make a contribution to TouchYourWorld CIC. Payment recipient: TouchYourWorld CIC Payment funds are collected, processed and settled by Stripe. TouchYourWorld does not store full card numbers. TouchYourWorld does not operate a bank account or withdrawable cash balance for members. Your Touches allow you to tell TouchYourWorld CIC which eligible Stories you would like your contribution to support. Payments and payouts may also be subject to identity verification, sanctions screening, fraud prevention and other compliance checks carried out by Stripe, as well as TouchYourWorld platform controls, refunds, reversals, chargebacks and applicable law.

The flow is: User or Sponsor → Stripe → Recipient identity, eligibility, banking and KYC/KYB verification → Approved bank account belonging to the verified recipient or legal entity → Payout.

Full card numbers must be handled by Stripe. TouchYourWorld must not store full card numbers.

TouchYourWorld records Touches, Story allocations and platform activity. Stripe administers payment settlement, refunds, disputes and payouts under its approved processes. TouchYourWorld retains platform fraud, misuse and eligibility controls as described in this policy and the Terms.

User and sponsor money is social-purpose money for TouchYourWorld CIC. TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd must never receive Story, campaign or beneficiary money as operating revenue.

TouchYourWorld operates through two related entities:

• TouchYourWorld CIC – Community Interest Company for social-purpose activity, including user Contribution money and sponsor-funded Story and campaign money; Company No. 17446404; registered in England and Wales; registered office 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.
• TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd – technology and commercial operator that builds and runs the platform; Company No. 17436889; Registered in England and Wales; registered office 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.

Data controller: TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd, Company No. 17436889, registered in England and Wales.

Contributions are final once allocated to a Story, but standard statutory refund requests and consumer protection rights apply prior to allocation.

$1 equals one Contribution Touch for an eligible Contribution Story (a Story not linked to a campaign).

The minimum purchase is $10.

All prices are in USD.

Contribution Touches are issued only after successful payment confirmation. Failed, cancelled or incomplete payments do not create valid Contribution Touches.

Touches are not cash, not a cryptocurrency, not an investment, do not earn interest, cannot be withdrawn or redeemed for cash, cannot be transferred, sold or gifted between members, cannot be used to purchase goods or services, and have no use outside TouchYourWorld.

Your Touch balance records your available participation rights. It is not a cash balance and cannot be withdrawn or transferred.

Purchased Contribution Touches remain available in the member's account until the member chooses to use them, subject to these Terms.

They are not automatically allocated or redistributed after a fixed period.

Where applicable, a member may request cancellation or a refund of unused purchased Touches in accordance with our Contribution, Cancellation and Refund Policy.

This is not a community pool and not a withdrawable cash balance. Contribution value is allocated when the member uses Touches on eligible Stories under the TouchYourWorld CIC social-purpose arrangements and the Terms. It is not returned as cash except where a cancellation or refund is available under this policy.

If Stripe or applicable law requires a different treatment, TouchYourWorld will use the approved alternative and publish an updated policy date.

The non-cash nature of Touches, that purchased Contribution Touches remain available until the member chooses to use them, and that they are not automatically allocated or redistributed after a fixed period, are material purchase terms.

Before a payment can be completed, checkout must:

• show those material terms immediately before payment;
• link to this policy and the Terms of Use;
• require an affirmative, unticked checkbox;
• record the accepted policy version and acceptance time; and
• not bury the disclosure in general legal text.

Checkout acceptance copy:

I understand that I am making a contribution to TouchYourWorld CIC. Touches are non-transferable participation rights, not cash, and cannot be withdrawn or redeemed. Purchased Contribution Touches remain available until I choose to use them. They are not automatically allocated or redistributed after a fixed period.

Checkout records the accepted policy version, acceptance time and the related payment reference. A successful redirect is not treated as proof of payment.

When a member uses a Touch on an eligible Story, the member instructs TouchYourWorld CIC to allocate the corresponding contribution to that Story.

That instruction remains subject to:

• recipient identity and eligibility verification
• identity verification, sanctions screening and fraud-prevention checks, including those carried out by our regulated payment service providers
• payment-provider approval
• refunds, reversals and chargebacks
• the Story remaining eligible under the platform rules
• applicable law and payment-provider requirements

The member chooses the eligible Contribution Story. Once allocated, a Touch is normally committed to that Story.

A member cannot withdraw an allocated Touch, transfer it to another member, or casually move it to another Story.

Exceptions may be required for fraud, technical error, legal obligations, refunds, chargebacks, Story removal or failed recipient verification. Treatment follows Stripe processes and applicable law.

For successfully settled contributions that are not refunded, reversed or charged back, TouchYourWorld does not deduct a platform percentage.

Each $1 Contribution Touch you use is allocated in full to the Story you choose.

A $10 purchase gives you 10 Touches, which you can allocate across eligible Stories or all to one.

Standard payment-processing fees are initially funded separately and are not deducted from those Story allocations.

Standard payment-processing fees are initially funded separately by TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd from a separate operating reserve. A sponsor may fund processing costs later. Sponsor funding of processing costs remains separate from TouchYourWorld CIC social-purpose money.

Refunded, reversed or charged-back payments cannot remain counted as completed Story allocations.

The 100% Principle does not override applicable law, payment-provider rules, refunds or card-network disputes.

A payment cancelled before successful completion creates no Contribution Touches.

A user may contact TouchYourWorld promptly about a duplicate amount or technical error.

Allocated Touches are normally not cancellable merely because the user changes their mind, except where applicable law or payment-provider rules require otherwise. Nothing in this policy removes mandatory consumer rights.

If recurring membership or recurring Contribution purchases are introduced, cancellation must stop future charges. Cancelling future recurring charges does not automatically reverse completed payments or allocations.

No recurring payment is currently live. See Cancellation and Refunds below for unused purchased Touches and related refund rules.

A TouchYourWorld-approved refund of a Contribution Touch purchase refunds the full original purchase, including unused purchased Touches still held as available capacity.

Touches already allocated to Stories from that purchase are financially reversed and become ineligible for payout. Historical Touch records remain.

If any allocated Touch from that purchase has already been paid to a beneficiary, the refund requires manual review and is not processed automatically.

Where a payment fails, is reversed, refunded or disputed, TouchYourWorld may make corresponding adjustments to the member's Touch balance or related transaction.

Refunds and payment disputes may be processed in cooperation with our payment service providers and remain subject to applicable payment-provider procedures.

A refund may also be considered or required in cases such as:

• duplicate payment;
• incorrect amount caused by a verified technical error;
• unauthorised payment;
• a legal right to a refund;
• an instruction from Stripe;
• TouchYourWorld cancellation before a Touch is used on a Story;
• a fraudulent or ineligible Story;
• recipient verification failure;
• inability to complete a lawful payout; or
• other circumstances required by card-network rules or applicable law.

Each case depends on its facts and the approved provider process. Outcomes are not guaranteed in advance.

If you believe a payment was made without your authorisation, please contact us promptly. TouchYourWorld will investigate the matter and cooperate with our payment service provider in accordance with applicable payment, refund and chargeback procedures.

Approved refunds are processed through Stripe. Refunds normally return to the original payment method.

No cash refund, transfer to another user or payment to an alternative bank account will be offered as a standard refund route.

Processing times depend on Stripe, the payment method and the receiving bank and may vary. TouchYourWorld cannot guarantee a fixed processing time.

Refunded Touches and allocations will be reversed or adjusted. Where practical, the user will be informed.

Chargebacks and card disputes are administered under Stripe and card-network rules.

An allocation may be reversed or adjusted when the underlying payment is reversed. Unpaid or reversed value cannot be paid to a beneficiary.

TouchYourWorld may temporarily restrict activity while a dispute is investigated. Fraudulent abuse of disputes may lead to account restrictions.

Nothing in this policy prevents a user from raising a legitimate dispute or exercising legal rights.

Story completion or reaching a target does not automatically trigger payout. Contributions may be paused when a Story is under review.

Verification happens before payout. Beneficiaries and campaign winners require identity, eligibility, banking and KYC/KYB verification. Payments go only to approved bank accounts belonging to the verified recipient or legal entity, via Stripe Connect. Regulated KYC/AML and related compliance checks for payments and payouts are carried out by our regulated payment service providers; TouchYourWorld cooperates with those providers as described in section 19.

If verification fails or payout cannot be completed, funds remain subject to the provider-approved refund or alternative-allocation process for contributions already directed to that Story. TouchYourWorld does not automatically allocate or redistribute unused purchased Contribution Touches after a fixed period.

Reallocation of a contribution already directed to a Story may occur only where prior authorisation and the payment provider permit it.

TouchYourWorld will never retain unsuccessful-payout money as TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd operating revenue.

Members do not purchase Sponsored Contribution Touches. Sponsored Contribution Touches are funded by sponsors through provider-approved arrangements so the receiving member can select an eligible Contribution Story.

They cannot be redeemed, withdrawn, sold or transferred. Sponsored Contribution Touches remain valid for 30 days. Subject to the sponsor agreement and Stripe's arrangements, unused Sponsored Contribution Touches return to the sponsor-funded pool for further allocation. They never become TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd operating revenue.

Members have no cash-refund claim for a free Sponsored Contribution Touch. Sponsor-funded money remains within the provider arrangements. Sponsor commercial refund rights are handled under the relevant sponsor agreement.

Vote Touches are free votes. No purchase is required to cast a Vote Touch. Paid Contribution Touches must never be required to enter or improve the result of a Vote campaign.

Vote Touches have no cash value and require no refund under this policy. They cannot be withdrawn, redeemed, sold or transferred. They expire when the relevant Vote Story or campaign period ends.

Sponsored Vote campaign awards are funded separately by sponsors and awarded according to the published campaign rules. Results follow those rules. Winners must pass eligibility, identity, banking and KYC/KYB checks.

Stripe, not the sponsor or TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd, pays the verified winner through the approved arrangements. Sponsors must not pay campaign winners directly outside those arrangements.

Consistent with the Terms of Use:

• you must be at least 18 years old to create an account, purchase or allocate Contribution Touches, create or manage a Story, receive funds or any other benefit through a Story, or enter into a sponsorship or other commercial arrangement;
• public visitors may browse public content and cast eligible free Vote Touches without creating an account (no payment information required; Vote Touches have zero monetary value; age of an anonymous visitor is unknown and is not verified);
• an adult may create a Story for the benefit of a person under 18, with the necessary authority or permission, and any payment or benefit must be handled through an eligible and verified adult, organisation or legal representative; and
• TouchYourWorld and its payment partners may request evidence of age, identity, authority or consent and may apply additional requirements where required by law or by a payment partner.

Features may not be available in every country. Payment methods, currencies, refund rights, verification requirements and payout availability differ by jurisdiction.

TouchYourWorld may restrict transactions or recipients where required by the payment provider, law, sanctions rules or risk controls.

Checkout will display the applicable currency and total before payment.

TouchYourWorld takes reasonable measures to protect the platform against fraud, misuse and prohibited activity.

We may request information, restrict or suspend activity, withhold a Story from receiving contributions, or require additional verification where reasonably necessary.

Payments and payouts may also be subject to identity verification, sanctions screening, fraud prevention and other compliance checks carried out by our regulated payment service providers.

TouchYourWorld cooperates with those providers and may act on information or instructions received from them.

This does not mean funds may be confiscated by TouchYourWorld. Treatment of funds remains subject to applicable law and payment-provider rules.

Contact accounts@touchyourworld.com for payment, cancellation or refund questions. See also the Contact page.

Please include:

• account email;
• transaction reference;
• date and amount;
• relevant Story; and
• an explanation of the problem.

Do not email full card numbers, security codes, passwords or one-time passcodes (OTPs).

Nothing in this policy excludes rights that cannot legally be excluded. Applicable payment-provider and card-network rules may also apply.

Material changes will be published with an updated date.

TouchYourWorld Technologies Ltd (Company No. 17436889, registered in England and Wales) is the incorporated technology operator. TouchYourWorld CIC (Company No. 17446404) is a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales.

Related pages: Terms of Use · Privacy Notice · How It Works · Transparency · Contact