Anti-money-laundering policy

NovaCodes (novacodes.app) sells digital gift-card codes, software licences and travel eSIMs from Malé, Republic of Maldives. Gift cards can be misused to move or hide money, so we run the store in a way that makes that hard: we know who is paying, we only take payments we can match to a person, and money only ever goes back the way it came. This policy sets out what we do. It applies to every customer, wholesale member and API user, and to everyone who works with us.

We are a retailer of digital goods. We are not a bank, a money-transfer service, a currency exchange or a crypto exchange. We do not exchange one currency for another, we do not cash out USDT for anyone, and we do not move money between people. A bank payment never becomes a USDT balance, and USDT never becomes a bank balance.

Every order is placed from an account tied to a phone number that we verify with a code, and every order carries the customer’s full name. A bank transfer is matched to an order by its amount and by the name of the sender, which must be the name on the account; a transfer from a different name is not matched automatically and is reviewed by our team, who may decline it and refund it. Wholesale applications are reviewed by hand before a price list or a balance is opened.

We may ask a customer to show who they are, for example an identity card and a matching bank account or proof of address, before we accept an unusually large or unusual order, before we return a balance, when the name on a transfer does not match, or whenever we are unsure. We may keep an order on hold until we are satisfied, and we may refuse it.

In the Maldives: bank transfers from Bank of Maldives and Maldives Islamic Bank accounts, in MVR or USD. Everywhere: USDT sent on the networks named at checkout to an address we issue for that order. Customers may also pay from a NovaCodes balance, which is money we have received from them or owe them. We do not accept cash, cheques, payments through other people, or a payment that we cannot match to the customer who placed the order.

A refund goes back the way the money came: a bank transfer to the account it came from, USDT to a USDT address, less the network fee. A balance is returned only to a bank account in the customer’s own name or to the USDT address the customer registered, never to a third party. Changing those details needs a code we send to the customer, and we tell the customer when it happens. We pay no interest, profit or reward on a balance, a balance cannot be transferred to another person, and a balance unused for 12 months is sent back to the customer. Credit we add ourselves, without a payment from the customer, is for purchases only and is never paid out.

Payments are matched automatically and everything that does not match cleanly is looked at by a person. We pay particular attention to transfers from a name other than the customer’s; many orders or many accounts paid from one bank account or one wallet; orders split into small amounts; volumes that do not fit what we know about the customer; requests to send a refund or a balance somewhere other than where the money came from; and a customer who cannot say what the cards are for. We may slow down, hold, refuse or cancel any order, limit what an account may buy, and close an account, without giving a reason.

We do not knowingly sell to anyone who is subject to sanctions of the Maldives, the United Nations, or the countries whose issuers’ cards we sell, or to anyone acting for such a person, and we do not sell for any unlawful purpose. Where an issuer restricts the sale or use of its cards we follow the issuer’s rules.

We keep the records of every order, payment, matched transfer reference, refund, balance movement and pay-out, together with the identity details we collected, for at least five years after the last transaction, stored securely and available only to staff who need them. We share them only with the authorities on a lawful request and as the law requires.

Where we suspect that money passing through NovaCodes comes from or is meant for crime, we report it to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Maldives Monetary Authority as the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act (Act 10/2014) requires, we cooperate with the authorities, and we do not tell the customer that a report has been made.

The owner of NovaCodes is responsible for this policy, for the people who apply it, and for reviewing it at least once a year and whenever what we sell or how we are paid changes.

Write to us through the help page or call +960 949-4941. See also our terms, privacy policy and refund policy.