What the Welo Badge means

If a company earns the Welo Badge, it means that, at the time of certification, it met Welo’s core requirements, meaning pass fail baseline conditions designed to protect consumers, it achieved strong results across Welo’s Trust Topics, meaning scored areas such as transparency, policies, checkout clarity, reputation patterns, and risk signals, and it provided consistent, verifiable information.

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The badge is interactive, when a visitor clicks it, it opens the company’s Welo Page on Welo’s website, that page explains the badge status and the main trust points in a simple way, so people don’t have to “guess” what the certification means.

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Important, the badge is earned through verification, it’s not a cosmetic sticker.

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What the Welo Badge does not mean

The Welo Badge does not guarantee product quality, delivery times, or that a customer will never have an issue, it is not legal advice, and it does not replace consumer rights, payment protections, or local regulations.

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What it truly means is that this company meets baseline trust requirements and does not show critical risk signals, according to Welo’s framework at the time of verification.

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Who we verify

In general, Welo verifies businesses such as ecommerce brands and online shops, SaaS products and subscription services, digital products and consumer-facing services, consumer services that involve online booking or payment, and marketplaces that clearly define consumer protections, on a case-by-case basis.‍

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Some sectors require a separate framework due to regulatory complexity, security risks, or a high potential for consumer harm, for this reason Welo does not offer certification for the categories below.

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If a company is close to the boundary of these categories, Welo may assess eligibility on a case-by-case basis, but we do not guarantee certification availability for excluded sectors.

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The structure of Welo verification

Welo uses a two-level model, so the badge stays credible while still allowing a more nuanced evaluation through scoring.‍

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Level A, Core Requirements, Pass Fail: These are baseline conditions, if a company fails even one core requirement, it cannot receive the badge, even if other areas are strong.‍

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Level B, Trust Topics, Score 0–100: If the core requirements are met, Welo assigns a Trust Score based on the trust topics, this score helps consumers understand trust at a glance, and helps companies understand what to improve.‍

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A high score can never compensate for a failed core requirement.

How the Trust Score works, 0–100

The Trust Score is designed to be clear and fair, not all trust topics impact the risk of consumer harm in the same way, so they are weighted, we can also adjust the weights based on the business model, for example subscription products require more emphasis on billing, renewals, and cancellation.

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Welo’s score rewards maturity and transparency, but the badge always requires meeting the baseline.

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Core Requirements

FR1, Real and consistent presence: The website must represent a real business that a normal person can understand, what we verify, the site is active, consistent, and not intentionally misleading, the main purchase or signup flow works, the key information is consistent across pages.

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Common failure examples, broken checkout, placeholder pages, unclear offer, contradictory information, unclear pricing.

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FR2, Verifiable identity and contactability: Trust requires accountability, people must be able to contact the company, what we verify: at least one support channel works, such as a support email, contact form, or ticketing, identity signals are consistent enough to prevent impersonation or major mismatches.

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Common failure examples, fake support, unreachable contact, unclear operator identity, impersonation signals.

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FR3, Essential policies present and usable: Consumers must know the rules before they buy, what we verify: privacy policy and terms are accessible, refund, return, or cancellation rules exist and are consistent with the business model, policies are readable and not intentionally confusing.

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Common failure examples, missing policies, hidden policies, broken links, language that contradicts what actually happens in checkout.

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FR4, No critical red flags: The badge must never certify companies that show strong evidence of harm or deception, what we verify: severe scam patterns, identity manipulation, recurring patterns of unresolved harm, materially false statements provided during verification.

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How we handle uncertainty, if the signals point to uncertainty rather than clear deception, Welo may request clarifications and additional evidence before deciding.

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FR5, Accuracy of information provided to Welo: Verification only works if inputs are true, what we verify: the company does not submit forged documents or materially false information, outcome, material deception fails the verification and may make the company ineligible in the future.

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What it truly means is that this company meets baseline trust requirements and does not show critical risk signals, according to Welo’s framework at the time of verification.

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Trust Topic Requirements

TTR1, Identity and ownership: We look for clear identity signals on key pages, consistent branding, and transparent indicators of ownership, a new company can still score well if it is transparent and consistent, scores drop when the identity appears intentionally vague.‍

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TTR2, Security, trust focused: This is not a penetration test, it is a trust-oriented evaluation, designed to detect obvious exposures, suspicious patterns, and missing baseline protections that correlate with consumer risk.‍

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TTR3, Privacy and data handling: A privacy policy should not exist only to “tick a box”, we assess whether it is accessible, understandable, and consistent with the site’s behavior.‍

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TTR4, Payment and checkout transparency: Consumers lose trust when they feel surprised at checkout, we assess price clarity, hidden fees, billing logic, and renewal and cancellation clarity for subscriptions.‍

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TTR5, Legal policies and consumer protection: We don’t require perfect legal language, we require usable rules, if a normal person can’t understand refunds, returns, shipping, or cancellations, trust goes down.‍

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TTR6, Support and dispute handling: Support doesn’t have to be instant to be reliable, it must be real, visible, and consistent, strong patterns of unresolved disputes significantly reduce trust.‍

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TTR7, Reputation and behavior: We look at patterns over time, not perfection, a company can have negative reviews, what matters is recurring themes of unresolved harm and overall consistency.‍

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TTR8, Risk signals: We look for indicators of deception, identity mismatches, misleading claims, unnatural patterns, or severe inconsistencies between marketing and reality.When the evidence is strong, certification is blocked, when the evidence is mixed, we request clarifications.

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The verification process

Welo’s process is structured to be efficient for legitimate businesses and more rigorous when the risk to consumers is higher.

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Payment covers the verification work, not the outcome.

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If a company does not pass, Welo can provide a clear improvement summary, often failing means “not ready yet”, not “never”.

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Verification outcomes: At the end of the evaluation, Welo may assign one of the following outcomes, consistently with the foundation requirements and the available evidence.

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What “Verified by Welo” means

When you see “verified by Welo”, it’s not a generic claim, it’s information we checked through a defined process, based on traceable sources, technical controls, and evidence aligned with the risk level, not everything requires the same documents, but everything follows the same accuracy rules.

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To make verification easy to understand, Welo separates three categories, information, partners, and results, each one follows a different logic, and each one requires a different level of evidence.

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Verified information by Welo

By “information” we mean everything a customer needs to decide whether to trust a business, what they are buying, how much they will pay, how they can cancel, how support works, how data is handled, and what happens if something goes wrong, we verify these elements because trust is built on clarity, and risk often comes from hidden details, contradictions, or promises that don’t match the real checkout experience.

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Verification includes consistency checks across pages, policies, and the purchase flow, essential trust-focused technical checks when relevant, and reputation checks when needed to identify risk patterns.

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Verified partners by Welo

Many websites display partners, providers, or integrations to strengthen credibility, for this reason Welo distinguishes between “claimed” and “verified”, a partner is considered verified when there is credible evidence that confirms the relationship or real usage, for example official sources, public documentation, technical integration proof, or company-provided evidence, always proportional to risk.

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This avoids “logo walls” that mean nothing, if a logo is shown, it must be consistent and verifiable.

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Verified results by Welo

“Verified results” are not future promises, and they are not marketing, when Welo verifies a result, we verify that the number is presented correctly, with a clear scope, a defined time window, and a coherent evidence base, in practice we ensure the data is not shaped just to impress, but can be supported.

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When the data is not sufficiently verifiable, Welo does not present it as verified, even if the company communicates it, this protects the value of certification and keeps trust high.

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Evidence and documentation

Welo does not create bureaucracy for its own sake, evidence requests are proportional to risk and focused on what truly impacts trust.

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Evidence levels: Welo applies a simple principle, the higher the potential risk for the consumer, the higher the required level of evidence, for this reason verification can be performed across three levels, always with the same accuracy standard, but with different depth.

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The applied level does not change the rules, it changes the amount of proof needed to reach a solid conclusion, if evidence is not sufficient for the required level, certification is suspended or not granted.

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Welo collects only what is necessary, if a company shares sensitive information, it is handled confidentially and used only for verification.

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Evidence handling: Collected evidence is used exclusively for verification purposes, access is restricted to authorized team members, and Welo retains materials only for the time necessary to complete the evaluation, manage potential appeals, and support re-checks, when they are no longer necessary, they are deleted according to internal security procedures, if a company wishes to update or replace a provided document, it can do so through official channels, and the previous version can be removed when it is no longer needed.

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Badge states, monitoring, and enforcement

Trust is not static, a badge only matters if it can respond to real-world changes.

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Certification types: Welo uses two certification levels, recognizable by the checkmark, both levels meet the foundation requirements, but they apply different thresholds on score and consistency over time.two certification levels, recognizable by the checkmark.

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• Blue Checkmark: granted to companies that meet the foundation requirements and achieve a solid level of reliability across the key areas, security, transparency, consumer protection, and consistency between policies and checkout, it is designed to identify verifiable businesses with clear signals, sound practices, and no critical red flags.
• Gold Checkmark: represents the highest level, reserved for a very small number of selected companies, it applies higher thresholds across all analyzed areas, it is not purchasable, and it is granted only by Welo to businesses that demonstrate strength and consistency over time, to receive Gold the company must achieve a minimum Trust Score of 88 or higher, and must have proven continuity through at least one completed re-check cycle.

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Badge states: states are clear and public, and apply to both certifications (Blue and Gold), to show what’s happening:

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• Active / Certified
• Under review / Recheck in progress
• Suspended, temporarily disabled pending clarification
• Revoked,certification removed

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Typical recheck triggers: a recheck may be initiated due to major policy removals, sudden spikes in credible complaints, significant changes in billing or checkout, or serious security issues.

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Monitoring and renewal: Welo continuously monitors critical signals and activates re-checks when meaningful changes appear, certification is also subject to periodic renewal, because policies, checkout flows, and behavior can change, renewal frequency may depend on the plan and the risk level, and it is indicated on the Welo Page or in the associated documentation.

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Suspension vs revocation: suspension is used when signals are credible but clarification and verification are needed, revocation happens when core requirements are no longer met, risk persists without remediation, or material deception is found.

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When appropriate, companies can fix issues and reapply, the goal is to improve the web, not punish good-faith mistakes.

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Transparency, the Welo Page

For certified companies, Welo publishes a public Welo Page, designed to be clear, readable, and useful, it explains what the badge means, highlights the main trust points, and shows relevant status information.

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Welo can also provide private verifications for consumers on non-client websites, these results remain private and are not published.

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Badge usage and unauthorized use: The Welo Badge can be used only by the certified company, only on the verified domain, and only through the official code provided by Welo, it is not permitted to copy, modify, simulate, or reproduce the badge in any way other than the official widget, it is not permitted to use the badge on non-verified domains, on pages that do not belong to the certified company, or in contexts that may confuse users.

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If Welo detects unauthorized use, it may disable the badge, update the status on the Welo Page, and take actions to protect consumers and the integrity of the certification.

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Independence and conflicts of interest

Welo’s credibility depends on independence, outcomes follow the published standard, payment can never override pass fail requirements, companies are evaluated using the same baseline logic, with depth adjusted to risk.‍

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If a company does not pass, Welo can provide an improvement summary, so the company knows what to fix, and the badge remains meaningful for consumers.

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Reports and appeals

Consumers can report issues through Welo’s official channels, including the company’s public Welo Page, where a dedicated path is available to submit a report or flag an anomaly.‍

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Companies, instead, can file an appeal, request clarifications, or ask for a recheck directly through Welo’s support channels after resolving the highlighted issues, every appeal or request is evaluated consistently against the published standard and based on verifiable evidence (documentation, technical proof, and objective information), with the goal of ensuring transparency, consistent decisions, and protection for both consumers and businesses.

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Updates and versioning

The web evolves quickly, and so do risks, technologies, and user expectations, for this reason Welo may update this standard over time to keep it current, consistent, and truly useful.‍

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When updates happen, we version the document, date the changes, and publish updates transparently, so companies and consumers can always understand what changed, when, and why. ‍

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In case of significant changes (for example new required checks, stricter criteria, or new minimum evidence), the company may need to re-confirm certain requirements at renewal, or provide additional documentation to maintain its verified status.

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Contacts

For any questions related to eligibility, the verification process, appeals, rechecks, or reports, you can contact Welo through the official channels listed on welobadge.com.

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Requests will be handled by the Welo team and managed according to the published procedures, with the goal of providing clear, trackable responses that are consistent with the standard.

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