Refund Policy

1. What this policy covers

This policy applies to every amount you pay to KCI through the Platform: the one-time membership activation fee, and voluntary contributions to the Mutual Aid Fund.

It does not apply to relief assistance released to you, or to transfers out of My Bayong, both of which are covered by our Terms and Conditions.

2. We do not sell goods

KCI is a non-stock, non-profit membership organization. It does not sell, ship, or deliver any product, so there is nothing to return and no return address for goods. What follows is about money, not merchandise.

3. The membership activation fee

If you have paid the activation fee but your membership has not yet been activated, you may cancel and receive a full refund by writing to us at support@kaubanan.com.

Once your membership is activated, the activation fee is not refundable. Activation is the point at which your membership record, your membership number, and your access to the Platform are created, and the fee has been applied to the operation of the organization.

4. Contributions to the Mutual Aid Fund

Contributions to the Mutual Aid Fund are not refundable once they have been credited to your contribution balance, and they are not payable back to you on demand. This is not a policy choice made for our convenience — it follows from what a mutual aid fund is. A contribution is pooled the moment it is credited and stands ready to assist any qualified member of your community group; it may already have been drawn down for someone else's relief before you ask for it back.

Treating contributions as returnable on request would mean the fund could be emptied by the members least in need of it at the moment another member's request was being decided. Your contribution balance is therefore a record of your participation in the common fund, not a balance held for you.

5. What we always refund

Regardless of anything above, we refund the following in full, without deduction, and we will do so as soon as we can verify what happened.

• A duplicate payment — you were charged twice for the same activation or the same contribution.
• A payment taken in the wrong amount, to the extent of the excess.
• A payment you did not authorise, once verified.
• A payment that was taken but that did not credit your account, where we cannot credit it correctly instead.

6. How to ask for a refund

Write to us at support@kaubanan.com with the subject line "Refund request". You may also call one of our hotlines, but please follow up in writing so there is a record.

Please include the following. We acknowledge every request within three (3) business days and tell you our decision within fifteen (15) business days.

• Your full name and membership number, and the payment reference shown on your receipt or in your member account.
• The date and the amount of the payment.
• What went wrong, and any proof you have, such as a bank or electronic wallet statement showing the charge.

7. How a refund is paid

How your refund reaches you depends on how you paid. An online payment made through our payment gateway is reversed to the same method: a card payment to the same card, an electronic wallet payment to the same electronic wallet. We cannot redirect it to a different card, a different electronic wallet, or a different person.

A manual payment — one you made by transferring to our account and uploading your receipt — leaves no gateway transaction to reverse, so we return it by a fresh transfer instead. We will ask you in writing for a bank or electronic wallet account in your own name. We do not send refunds to a third party's account.

Every refund is reviewed and released by an officer; nothing is reversed automatically, which is why the timelines above matter. Once we approve and instruct a refund, the funds usually reach you within five (5) to ten (10) banking days — the exact time depends on your bank or wallet provider, not on us. Where your payment carried a processing fee, KCI absorbs that fee so the amount you receive is the amount you paid.

8. Before you dispute a charge with your bank

If you do not recognise a charge from KCI, please contact us first at support@kaubanan.com. We can usually identify and correct it faster than a formal dispute, and a dispute filed while we are already refunding you can cause the amount to be returned twice and then reversed. If you would rather go straight to your bank or wallet provider, you are entitled to do so, and we will cooperate fully with their investigation.

9. Questions

Write to us at support@kaubanan.com, or send written notice to Purok 1, Malhiao, Badian, Cebu, 6031, Philippines. Our full contact details are on our Contact Us page.