Safaricom and KCB Bank Kenya have launched Fuliza ya Biashara, a credit facility for business owners on Lipa Na M-PESA to complete payments even with insufficient funds.
Fuliza ya Biashara will advance an overdraft of up to Ksh 400,000 depending on the business’ limit.
The service 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 attracts a two per cent daily access fee for up to 29 days and a daily maintenance fee between KSh 12 and KSh 250, depending on the amount tapped.
“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,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO at 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 Annastacia Kimtai, managing director at KCB Bank Kenya.
What happens to defaulters?
“A business owner that does not pay their Fuliza ya Biashara on time will not be able to access the overdraft service, their limit will be reduced, and eventually they will be listed on CRB after 91 days of their due date,” reads the terms and conditions of the product.
Fuliza ya Biashara 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 Ksh 1,000 and can draw multiple overdrafts of up to Ksh 400,000 based on their assigned limit.
