Safaricom and KCB Bank Kenya (KCB) have 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 is a new feature that allows businesses to access an overdraft of upto KSh. 400,000 with a 24 hour interest-free period. The service can be used 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 is aimed at empowering small businesses to rapidly respond to their business needs and manage their cash flow challenges. Fuliza ya Biashara is available through the M-PESA Business App and on the Lipa Na M-PESA Transacting Till on *234#.
“We launched Lipa Na M-PESA as a way for businesses to conveniently receive cashless payments through their mobile phones, whenever they are. 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,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO – Safaricom.
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. 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.
“This proposition once again signifies the immense opportunities available within the digital ecosystem managed by KCB and Safaricom. We believe that the roll-out of this exciting feature will give Kenyan entrepreneurs the headroom to scale up their business operations without getting into the danger of not servicing some of their critical needs like payments to suppliers,” said Mrs. Annastacia Kimtai, KCB Bank Kenya Managing Director.
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.