Last updated 19 August 2026
Please read this carefully. These Terms explain what a Pico balance is, how you fund it, where you can spend it, and what happens if something goes wrong. Pico is not a bank account. A Pico balance is not a deposit and is not insured by the FDIC.
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Owena Labs Inc. (“Pico,” “we,” “us”), the operator of the Pico payment network. By creating a Pico account, loading a balance, or making a payment with Pico, you agree to these Terms.
Pico is a payment network for independent neighborhood retailers (“Network Stores”). You fund a Pico balance from your own bank account and redeem it for goods at Network Stores. The Pico app shows you, at any time, where your balance can be spent.
Pico provides the technology and facilitates payments. Pico does not take custody of your funds; funds are held and processed by our regulated payments partner.
A Pico balance is not a bank deposit, is not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency, does not earn interest, and cannot be withdrawn as cash or transferred to another person.
To use Pico you must be at least 18 years old, reside in the United States, have a valid U.S. mobile phone number, and have a U.S. bank account in your own name. You may only load a Pico balance from a bank account you own and are authorized to use.
You create an account with your mobile phone number. We verify it by sending you a one-time code. You are responsible for keeping access to your phone and your account secure, and for all activity that occurs under your account.
Where your device supports it, we require you to confirm loads and payments with your fingerprint, face, or device passcode. The biometric itself never leaves your device and is never sent to us or stored by us — your device simply confirms to us that you authorized the specific transaction.
Tell us immediately at hello [at] paywithpico.com if you lose your phone or believe someone has used your account without permission.
You load your Pico balance by connecting your bank account and authorizing a transfer. By doing so, you authorize us and our payments provider to initiate an electronic debit from that account for the amount you specify, and, where necessary, to correct an error by debiting or crediting the same account.
You spend by scanning a Network Store’s QR code and confirming the payment on your device. Payments are immediate and, once confirmed, cannot be cancelled or reversed by you through Pico. If there is a problem with goods you purchased, that is a matter between you and the Network Store, on the same terms as any other purchase there.
You may only spend at Network Stores where your balance is valid, as shown in the app. Balances cannot be sent to other people, withdrawn as cash, or used outside the network.
A Network Store may refund a purchase back to your Pico balance according to its own refund policy.
If a store where your balance can be spent leaves the network or ceases trading while you still hold an unspent balance, we will make that balance available to you — either by making it spendable elsewhere in the network where possible, or by refunding it to the bank account you loaded from. We will contact you at the phone number on your account when this happens.
Your Pico balance does not expire and we do not charge inactivity, dormancy, or service fees against it. Unclaimed balances are handled in accordance with applicable state unclaimed-property law.
Pico does not charge you a fee to open an account, load your balance, or make a payment. Your own bank may charge fees — for example, an insufficient-funds fee if a transfer fails. Those are between you and your bank. If we ever introduce a fee that applies to you, we will tell you in advance.
Tell us AT ONCE if you believe your Pico account has been used without your permission, or if your phone or device has been lost or stolen. Contacting us quickly is the best way to keep your losses down.
If you tell us within 2 business days after you learn of the unauthorized use, you can lose no more than $50.
If you do NOT tell us within 2 business days after you learn of the unauthorized use, and we can prove we could have stopped someone from using your account had you told us, you could lose as much as $500.
Also, if your transaction history shows transfers you did not make, tell us at once. If you do not tell us within 60 days after the earlier of the date the transaction was made available to you in the app or the date we sent you notice of it, you may not get back any money you lost after those 60 days if we can prove we could have stopped someone from taking the money had you told us in time.
If a good reason (such as a long trip or a hospital stay) kept you from telling us, we will extend these time periods.
Contact us at hello [at] paywithpico.com, or write to us at the address in section 17, as soon as you can if you think there is an error in your transaction history or if you need more information about a transaction. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after the earlier of the date the transaction was made available to you in the app or the date we sent you notice of it.
You will need to tell us:
If you tell us verbally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within 10 business days.
We will determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, we may take up to 45 days to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will credit your account within 10 business days for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within 10 business days, we may not credit your account.
For errors involving new accounts, point-of-sale transactions, or transactions initiated outside the United States, we may take up to 90 days to investigate, and may take up to 20 business days to credit your account for the amount you think is in error.
Note on account verification. We may not provisionally credit your account if we have not completed our verification process for your account. We will still investigate and correct any error we find.
We will tell you the results within three business days after completing our investigation. If we decide that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation. You may ask for copies of the documents we used in our investigation.
Transfers from your bank account may also carry rights under federal law, and you may contact your own bank about a transfer from your account.
By providing your mobile number, you consent to receive account-related text messages from Pico, including one-time sign-in codes, load confirmations, receipts, and optional balance reminders. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. See our Messaging Terms for details.
You may not use Pico to break the law, to fund a balance from an account you do not own, to launder money, to evade limits by opening multiple accounts, to make fraudulent claims about transactions you authorized, or to interfere with the operation or security of the service.
We may suspend or close your account if we reasonably believe it is being used in breach of these Terms or unlawfully, if a transfer is returned unpaid, if required by law or by our payments provider, or if we discontinue the service. If we close your account, we will return any remaining spendable balance to the bank account you loaded from, less any amount you owe us.
You may close your account at any time by contacting us. We will return your remaining balance the same way.
We may change these Terms. If a change materially affects you, we will give you notice — by text message, in the app, or by email — before it takes effect. Continuing to use Pico after that means you accept the change.
Pico is provided “as is.” We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. We are not responsible for the goods a Network Store sells you, for a Network Store’s conduct, or for delays or failures caused by your bank, our payments provider, or events outside our reasonable control.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages. Our total liability to you for any claim relating to Pico will not exceed the greater of (a) the balance in your Pico account at the time the claim arose, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100). Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including your rights under applicable consumer protection law.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except where the law of your state of residence must apply. Before starting a formal proceeding, please contact us so we can try to resolve the matter directly — most issues are settled that way.
Owena Labs Inc.
hello [at] paywithpico.com
A postal address for written notices is available on request and will be published here before general availability.