Safaricom, Banks Lower Fuliza Daily Charges By Up to 40 Percent

Overdraft service Fuliza has cut daily charges by up to 40 percent in a move aimed at encouraging the increased use of the product. 

Daily maintenance fees for overdrafts ranging between Sh101 to Sh500 and between Sh501 to Sh1,000 have been slashed by 40 percent to Sh3 and Sh6 respectively from Sh5 and Sh10, effective on October 1st.

Under the new rates, customers with overdrafts ranging from Sh1001 to Sh1,500, Sh1,501 to Sh2,500, and Sh2,501 to Sh70,000 will get discounts of 10, 20 and 16.7 percent on daily maintenance charges for the first three days.

The new discounted tariff will be open to all Fuliza customers with a positive limit and no outstanding balance.

“We have continued to assess the evolution of consumer behavior and economic conditions to identify ways in which we can further enhance the utility of our digital financial services,” NCBA said in a notice of the new discounted tariff.

The Fuliza overdraft service, which is jointly run by Safaricom, NCBA bank and KCB bank, was launched in 2019 and enables customers to complete MPesa transactions even when they have insufficient funds in their mobile wallets. Users are allowed to access funds on multiple occasions as long as they are within their prescribed limits.

In the 12 months to March 31st, 2022, Safaricom, KCB and NCBA disbursed a total of Sh502.6 billion via Fuliza, translating to an average of Sh1.4 billion daily.

Safaricom made Sh5.9 billion from the disbursements, with 6.9 million users taping into Fuliza during the year.