Fuliza customers hit 7.4 million as loans jump to Ksh.1.7 billion daily

A total of 7.4 million Kenyans borrowed from Safaricom’s popular overdraft facility between April and the end of September to mark the highest number of users for the service on record.

According to new data from Safaricom, the number of distinct customers on the service rose by 14.2 per cent from 6.4 million persons at the same time last year.

Fuliza loan disbursements meanwhile grew by 30.1 per cent across the six months to Ksh.315.6 billion from Ksh.242.6 billion.

This is to represent an equivalent of Ksh.1.7 billion in daily Fuliza loans from a lower daily average of Ksh.1.3 billion in disbursements.

Nevertheless, the average ticket size of Fuliza loans has declined by 14.6 per cent to Ksh.320.90 from Ksh.375.80.

Fuliza has continued to obliterate Safaricom’s other lending value products including KCB M-Pesa and M-Shwari which have both stagnated in the value of loan disbursements made in recent years.

The value of disbursements on KCB M-Pesa for instance declined by 5.5 per cent to Ksh.21.7 billion in the six months while credit issuances via M-Shwari were flat at Ksh.43.4 billion in the period.

Disbursements on Fuliza are projected to grow even further following a reduction in the pricing of the overdraft facility by up to 50 per cent for the daily fee for transactions up to Kshh.1000 for the first three days.

Currently, Safaricom alongside KCB & NCBA, who co-own Fuliza are working on a credit repair program that will see up to four million Kenyans cleared to access loans on the platform according to estimates from the company.