Safaricom has announced that its overdraft service, Fuliza, has experienced a temporary disruption, leaving many customers unable to complete repayment transactions.
In an update on Tuesday, September 30, the company confirmed that it is aware of the issue and is working to restore normal services as soon as possible.
"There is an issue with the repayment of Fuliza, and resolution is underway. Our team is working in resolving the same. Sorry for the inconvenience caused," the statement read.
Fuliza, which allows subscribers to complete M-Pesa payments when they do not have sufficient funds in their mobile wallets, has become one of the most widely used financial tools in Kenya.
The service was officially launched in January 2019 by Safaricom in partnership with NCBA Bank and KCB Bank.
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Since its introduction, Fuliza has grown rapidly to become one of the most widely used financial services in Kenya, serving millions of customers daily.
To access Fuliza, an M-Pesa user must first opt in.
Once activated, if the user attempts to send money, pay a bill, or buy goods without enough balance, Fuliza automatically lends the required amount up to a set limit.
The borrowing limit depends on the customer’s M-Pesa usage patterns and their repayment history.
Repayments are made automatically from incoming M-Pesa deposits until the borrowed amount, plus applicable fees, is fully settled.
Fuliza applies a daily access fee and a percentage service fee, which vary depending on the amount borrowed.
In May 2023, Safaricom and KCB Bank launched Fuliza ya Biashara, a service that enables business owners on Lipa Na M-PESA to complete payments even with insufficient funds in their till.
Fuliza ya Biashara will apply when making transactions from a Lipa Na M-PESA Business Till to other Till Numbers and PayBill Numbers, when sending money to an individual, and when withdrawing to the nominated number or at an Agent.
Speaking during the launch, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa noted that the company launched Lipa Na M-PESA as a way for businesses to conveniently receive cashless payments through their mobile phones.
"With more than 538,000 businesses accepting payments through the service, our strategy is to now go beyond collecting payments by providing business owners with tools to manage and grow their businesses.
"Fuliza ya Biashara caters especially to small businesses by providing them with instant, affordable credit of up to KSh. 400,000, empowering them to rapidly respond to their business needs,” he said.
The service advances an overdraft of up to Ksh400,000 with a 24-hour interest-free period and is available through the M-PESA Business App and on the Lipa Na M-PESA Transacting Till on *234#.
Business owners can access a minimum overdraft of Ksh1,000 and can draw multiple overdrafts of up to Ksh400,000 based on their assigned limit.
The overdraft is automatically repaid from incoming till payments with amounts outstanding beyond 24 hours charged at a 2% daily access fee for up to 29 days.
