Payment & refund terms

1. What you are purchasing

A US$100 application payment provides entry for an eligible women’s health inventor or startup and includes one vote for that entry. Each additional US$100 purchases one vote for the selected entrant. A purchase is a one-time transaction, not a subscription. Multiple votes may be purchased under the Official Rules.

Votes reflect paid support. Payment does not guarantee a win, a prize increase, investment, clinical validation or regulatory approval. The organizer operates commercially and retains revenue beyond the promised prize and benefits for costs and profit. Payments are not charitable donations or investments.

The full checkout total, including any applicable taxes or charges, must be shown before authorization. Currency conversion and bank fees may apply separately. Tax treatment and whether any tax is included in the advertised price must be finalized before launch.

2. Eligibility and payment confirmation

Only applicants and voters in approved locations may pay. A form submission, payment screenshot or pending card authorization is not proof of confirmed entry or a valid vote. Confirmation requires a successful payment matched to the correct applicant and vote quantity.

An application payment and its included vote count once. Duplicate processing notifications do not create additional votes. Keep your receipt and entry or transaction reference. Use only the official application or applicant-specific voting link; do not send payment to an entrant personally for credit in this award.

3. Nonrefundable payments and limited exceptions

Application fees and voting payments are nonrefundable, except as required by applicable law or expressly stated below. No discretionary refund is provided for change of mind, voluntary withdrawal, mistaken applicant selection, dissatisfaction with rankings, failure to collect votes or failure to win. Review the applicant, quantity and total carefully before authorizing payment.

Report a duplicate charge, unauthorized transaction, wrong allocation or missing vote promptly through the award support channel. Provide the date, amount, receipt or transaction reference and intended applicant. Never send a full card number, security code or account password.

• Duplicate charges will be corrected or refunded after verification.
• A valid payment that failed to deliver the purchased entry or vote will be corrected where still possible and lawful, or refunded.
• If the organizer cancels the award without awarding the promised primary prize, affected entry and voting payments will be refunded.
• If an entry or vote cannot be accepted because the organizer’s location or eligibility controls failed, the affected payment will be reviewed for correction or refund under applicable law; ineligibility is not an automatic basis to retain all funds.
• Failure to win, a change in ranking or not appearing in a top-five update does not by itself entitle a purchaser to a refund, subject to mandatory rights.

Refunds are returned through the original payment method where practicable. A refund removes the corresponding vote. Processing deadlines and fee treatment for the limited exceptions, and the treatment of payments associated with disqualified entries, must be finalized before launch. This policy does not restrict mandatory withdrawal, refund or payment-dispute rights.

4. Withdrawal, disqualification and cancellation

An applicant requesting withdrawal must contact award support. Voluntary withdrawal does not entitle the applicant or supporters to a refund for validly delivered participation, subject to mandatory law and the exceptions above. Do not assume withdrawing an entry also resolves payments made by its supporters. The published procedure must address the applicant payment, supporter payments, profile removal and vote totals separately.

Where misconduct is alleged, the organizer will document the issue and review affected transactions. Refund and dispute rights cannot be removed merely by labelling a transaction fraudulent or an entrant disqualified. If a minimum participation condition is adopted, its deadline and cancellation/refund treatment must be disclosed before payments open.

5. Disputed and reversed payments

Refunded, reversed or established fraudulent payments cannot support valid votes. A payment dispute will be investigated using transaction and platform records. Participants retain lawful card-provider and statutory dispute rights. The Official Rules must specify the reconciliation cutoff and the process for material corrections or fraud discovered after the result; no undisclosed clawback obligation is created by this draft.

6. Cross-border and consumer rights

Mandatory cancellation, withdrawal, refund and other consumer protections continue to apply where relevant. Immediate provision of a digital entry or vote does not automatically waive those rights. Any legally permitted request for immediate performance or acknowledgment concerning a withdrawal right must be presented separately at checkout where required.

Payment providers may decline transactions for eligibility, sanctions, security or availability reasons. Do not circumvent a restriction by changing your declared location or using another person’s identity. A rejected transaction does not grant a valid vote.

7. Required payment particulars