By What is Fuliza:
Fuliza is an overdraft facility by Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom. The service will allow M-PESA users to complete certain transactions even if the user’s balance is insufficient. For example, if you want to make a payment worth Kes.2,000 yet you only have Kes.1,000 as your M-PESA balance, the overdraft will be applied and the transaction will go through and you will be left paying back the 1000 bob, think of it as okoa jahazi for M-PESA.
The service is being offered in partnership with CBA Bank.
Who can access Fuliza:
Fuliza is accessible to all registered M-PESA users who have been actively using M-PESA for at least six months.
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How to access Fuliza:
M-PESA users can access Fuliza through USSD *243# or through the mySafaricom app.
Interest Rate and Loan Limit:
The overdraft limit will be dependent on your credit score. Frequent M-PESA transactions will also grow your credit score.
Safaricom will require you to maintain your M-PESA account at an average of at least 60% of your overdraw limit over a period of 30 days.
There is a 1% access fee charged on every Fuliza transaction and an additional maintenance fee charged daily on the outstanding balance. This means that the longer you stay without repaying the loan the higher you pay in fees. Here are the maintenance fee charges:
| Outstanding Balance | Maintenace Fee |
|---|---|
| Kes.0 - Kes.100 | Kes. 2 once |
| Kes.101 - Kes.500 | Kes. 5 per day |
| Kes.501 - Kes.1000 | Kes. 10 per day |
| Kes.1001 - Kes.1500 | Kes. 20 per day |
| Kes.1501 - Kes.2500 | Kes. 25 per day |
| Kes.2501 - Kes.70,000 | Kes. 30 per day |
Repayment:
The repayment period is 30 days from the date of issue. One can borrow as many times as possible as you long as the overall amount remains within the overdraw limit.
Once the overdraft is issued, Safaricom will recover the outstanding debt from your M-PESA account automatically.
In case of death or bankruptcy, the Fuliza overdraft will still be owed to you. One cannot terminate their phone number if theirs an outstanding loan amount.
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