Business owners can now access advance an overdraft through Fuliza ya Biashara of upto Ksh 400,000 with a 24-hour interest-free period
Safaricom and KCB Bank Kenya (KCB) have launched the 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.
The service will advance an overdraft of up to Ksh 400,000 with a 24-hour interest-free period.
Fuliza ya Biashara is immediately 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 Ksh 1,000 and can draw multiple overdrafts of up to Ksh 400,000 based on their assigned limit.
The overdraft is automatically repaid from incoming till payments with amounts outstanding beyond 24 hours and charged at a 2% daily access fee for up to 29 days.
The Fuliza ya Biashara limit is reset every time a repayment is made, enabling business owners to immediately access new overdrafts including the amount they just repaid.
Safaricom and KCB say that the launch of Fuliza ya Biashara seeks to meet a gap in access to affordable credit especially among small and micro businesses that have been previously locked out due to their size and perceived risk.
The solution provides each business with a tailored overdraft limit based on the transaction history on Lipa Na M-PESA and the repayment history of previous overdrafts.
Fuliza ya Biashara is M-PESA’s first credit solution dedicated to businesses and the latest in a string of innovations targeting business owners on the platform.
In 2020, Safaricom introduced the Lipa Na M-PESA Business Till and M-PESA Business App, enabling businesses to make payments from Tills and providing simplified cash flow management through the app.
More than 390,000 businesses have downloaded the M-PESA Business App with over 50% of business transactions on M-PESA being made through the app.
