Terms of Use

General Information

AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft mbH (“AKA”) offers the possibility to finance export transactions.

In the so-called small-ticket range – this includes contract values in the range of one to ten million Euros or US-Dollars – AKA enables German exporters (“Exporters”) via the Small Ticket Express Portal (“SmaTiX”) to request financing indications online in a digitalised format.

The subsequent terms have the following meaning:

  • “Exporter”: the company of the exporter;
  • “Users”: staff in the Exporter’s company who have access to the SmaTiX portal;
  • “Administrator”: that user in the Exporter’s company who has all administration rights for the portal;
  • “Importer”: the company of the Exporter’s client abroad.

Wherever the male form is chosen it is merely for reasons of simplification and is meant to be equal to the female one.

The following General Terms of Use will apply when using the SmaTiX portal. By approving these Terms of Use in the course of registration, the user consents to being bound by and adhering to these Terms of Use without any limitations.

The currently applicable Terms of Use can be shown under the specific menu item in the SmaTiX portal.

§ 1 Object

  • The SmaTiX portal enables registered Exporters to submit financing requests for transactions in the range between one and ten million euros or US dollars.
  • The parties to the contract as per the Terms of Use are AKA and the Exporter.
  • Users are placing their financing requests on behalf of the Exporter and in the interest of their Importer (buyer/corporate client abroad). In case this request results in a loan agreement, this will be concluded between AKA and the Importer.
  • Nature and extent of the available application shall be at the sole discretion of AKA.

§ 2 Registration and Login Details; Data Protection

  • The Exporter needs a registered access in order to use the SmaTiX portal.
  • The group of exporters eligible for the SmaTiX portal is at the discretion of AKA. There is no claim to the establishment of an access to the SmaTiX portal.
  • AKA will provide the Administrator with his personal and unique username; then the Administrator can set his own password. Specific rules set by AKA for passwords in terms of permissible characters as well as minimum and maximum length must be observed.
  • When logging into the SmaTiX portal, authentication is ensured by entering a unique username and the associated password.
  • Before gaining access to the SmaTiX portal, these Terms of Use as well as to the Privacy Statement have to be accepted.
  • The Administrator may register additional users for the SmaTiX portal, who will receive their own log-in details (username and password). Within the scope set by AKA, the Administrator may grant authorisations for the users he registered.∗
  • When creating a financing request in the SmaTiX portal, the Exporter may add further contact persons for each transaction; these will receive the financing indication as well as automated status updates for their transactions.
  • You need to register at least one contact person of the Importer when placing a financing request.
  • Before registering
    • additional users and contact persons from his own company as well as
    • contact persons of the Importer

    each user shall ensure that the above mentioned have given their explicit consent and that he has provided them with the Privacy Statements which are available on the portal in German and English.

  • Each user is responsible for the correctness and completeness of his personal data, and will inform AKA immediately about any changes.
  • Personal data will be stored for the purpose of individual support, transmission of the financing indication as well as automated status updates. These personal data will not be passed on to any third parties without the explicit consent of the user.

§ 3 Safety Measures

  • Each user is responsible for the secure storage and non-disclosure of his log-in details and has to ensure confidentiality. No log-in details may be passed on to unauthorised staff of the Exporter, to any third parties or staff of AKA.
  • AKA will be storing the passwords in an encrypted manner and will never ask a user to reveal his password.
  • Repeated attempts to log in with the wrong password will result in the username being blocked. In this case a new password must be created by using the function “Forgot password.”
  • If a user suspects that any third party might have illicitly gained access to his log-in details, he shall immediatelyl change his password by clicking the “Forgot Password” button and inform AKA by e-mail to smatix@akabank.de. AKA will then block the respective account, and any actions taken on the SmaTiX portal after receipt of such e-mail will be ignored.
  • AKA is to be immediately informed in case a user is leaving the Exporter’s company. This will result in this user being blocked from further access.
  • AKA may keep records of various actions, e.g. log-ins, creation of financing requests, changing of data, registration of further users at the respective access level.

§ 4 Information on Financing Enquiries; Notification of the Principal Bank; Exclusion Criteria

  • With each new financing request, the user will provide information on the Importer and basic data on the underlying transaction, e.g. contract value, loan amount. It is the user’s responsibility to provide correct information.
  • The principal bank selected by the Exporter will be informed by AKA about the financing request as well as the signing of the loan agreement. The Exporter agrees that AKA may share such information.
  • The principal bank selected by the Exporter needs to be one of the shareholding banks of AKA; these are listed in the drop-down menu on the SmaTiX portal.
  • The SmaTiX portal will only be available for financing requests which fulfill all of the following criteria:
    • The exported goods are not subjected (neither in total nor in part) to an export license of a national or international authority, nor are they restricted from export in any other way.
    • This transaction does not violate any applicable export, embargo or sanction laws.
    • Neither the Exporter nor any of this subsidiaries or affilates, neither one of his direct or indirect shareholders, nor any member of staff or any executive bodies of these companies is listed on an export, embargo or sanctions list.

If your financing request does not comply with one or more of these criteria, you may contact AKA via their website akabank.de .

§ 5 Liability

  • AKA will not be liable beyond its statutory obligations for the unavailability of the SmaTiX portal or its content or the consequences of its usage.
  • AKA will not be liable for the security of any data outside its assigned range.
  • AKA will not be liable for any unauthorised access, use or spreading of information. The Exporter will not hold AKA liable in case of any potential compensation claims of third parties (especially by the Importer) in view of passing on confidential information against duty or contract.
  • The user connection to the internet as such, as well as all necessary systemic requirements, especially browser software, do not form part of these Terms of Use. They fall under the direct responsibility of the user, who needs to ensure the suitability, actuality and security of his hard- and software. Standards and criteria may be set by the Federal Authority of Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik - BSI).
  • The information provided on this website have been drawn up with the usual care and necessary diligence. Nevertheless, AKA will not be liable for any of the tools and downloads of third party information provided on the portal, with respect to the correctness, accuracy, up-to-dateness, reliability and completeness of these contents. This applies also to information on external websites which are connected with this website via links or other technical means. All liability claims excluded.

§ 6 Cancellation Notice

  • If an Exporter unsubscribes from the SmaTiX portal, this will include the log-in details of all his users.
  • The Exporter respectively each individual user may cancel his subscription at any time and without giving notice.
  • AKA may cancel the subscription of an Exporter or a user in writing (e-mail, facsimile or letter) at any time with four weeks notice to the end of each month.
  • AKA may unsubscribe an Exporter without giving notice if a user violates any of the Terms of Use. In such a case, AKA may revoke the Exporter’s log-in details already prior to having declared the cancellation.
  • After a cancellation, user dates will be deleted by AKA at the end of the statutory storage periods. Within these periods, the Exporter or user may revoke his cancellation in writing to AKA at any time. In such a case, AKA will re-activate the log-in details for this user or the Exporter – together with those of his users.

§ 7 Changes to the Terms of Use and the User’s Right of Refusal

  • AKA is entitled to change these Terms of Use at any time.
  • The Exporter or user has the right of objection if the Terms of Use are changed. AKA will inform each user about any amendments to the Terms of Use at the latest within four weeks prior to coming into force of the new Terms of Use, and will notify them of their right to object as well as the consequences of any failure of protest.
  • The amended Terms of Use will be considered as accepted if AKA does not receive any written objection from the Exporter or the user (by e-mail, facsimile or letter) up to their coming into force.
  • In case of an objection, the same steps will be taken as for a cancellation (§ 6, section 2 and 5).

§ 8 Conclusion

  • These Terms of Use are subject to the Laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  • Place of Jurisdiction is Frankfurt am Main.
  • The invalidity of individual provisions of these Terms of Use shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.

∗ For the time being, additional users can only be created by AKA. As soon as the aforementioned functionality is available, the current users will be informed.