Chela is an Ethiopia-first point-of-sale and payment verification platform. It helps businesses manage sales, verify supported payments, organize teams and branches, and understand performance through analytics.

Any Ethiopian business that takes payments — cafes, shops, salons, restaurants, wholesalers and multi-branch businesses. Owners manage the business; managers and staff get tools sized to their role.

When a customer pays by a supported method, Chela checks the transaction against provider records before the sale is marked paid. Verification runs on Chela's backend, and results are recorded with each transaction. Cash and gift-card sales are recorded directly without provider verification.

You issue a card for a fixed amount between 1 and 100,000 ETB, with an optional expiry in days and a note on the card. The buyer can send it to someone on Telegram with an occasion theme and a message; the recipient claims it into their own Chela Card wallet. At the counter, staff apply the card to a sale and any remainder is paid in cash.

Only after its payment verifies. Whether you sell it from the POS or a customer buys it in the Chela Card mini app on Telegram, the balance is issued after the payment is confirmed — an abandoned or unpaid order never produces a card.

At the business that issued it. Gift cards are business-scoped, so a card sold by one business cannot be redeemed at another — that keeps each card's balance and records unambiguous. If you operate several branches, the card is redeemed against a sale at your business.

Yes. If the card's balance is less than the sale total, the card covers what it can and the rest is paid in cash. The remaining balance stays on the card, and every balance change is recorded on the card's activity.

Owners and managers get a list of gift-card orders and issued cards in the app, with each card's balance, status and activity. A manager can credit a card back, adjust its balance, or freeze it — each action requires a reason and is recorded.

No. Chela is web-based and works as a Progressive Web App (PWA) — you can add it to your phone's home screen for an app-like experience, but there's nothing to install from an app store.

Yes. Chela is designed mobile-first and works on modern Android and iOS browsers, as well as desktop.

Yes. Each business can operate multiple branches, and sales records keep track of which branch made them. Owners can see all branches or focus on one.

Yes. Every employee has their own account and is added to your business with a role — staff, manager or owner — with permissions enforced by the platform, not by trust.

The Free plan includes 100 payment verifications per month, 1 team member per branch, 1 business and 1 branch — enough to run and evaluate Chela on real sales.

Every Chela user gets a referral link and code. When a business you referred becomes a paying customer — a successfully verified payment for a qualifying paid subscription — you earn a cash commission on the amount paid. You can track referrals and earnings in the Refer & Earn page in the app.

Only when the referred account pays for a qualifying paid subscription and that payment is verified. Signups, free plans and trials do not generate rewards.

As a configurable percentage of the amount actually paid for the qualifying subscription — not the list price. If the referred customer used a discount, the reward is based on what was actually collected.

Yes. Owners can pick a new plan on the Subscription & billing page in the app at any time. Upgrades take effect after the payment is verified.

Your business moves back to the Free plan's limits automatically. Your sales, records and team accounts remain intact.

Yes. Enterprise customers get custom verification volumes, limits, integrations and support. Contact sales and we'll set it up with you.