Safaricom has confirmed a temporary suspension of Fuliza following a technical hitch that affected repayment transactions.

In a statement on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the telco said its technical team had already identified the problem and was working to restore normal service.

“We are experiencing a technical issue with Fuliza Service; our team is working on resolving the same. Sorry for the inconvenience caused,” the company said in a brief response to users.

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What is Fuliza?

Fuliza is a popular overdraft facility offered through M-Pesa. It was launched in January 2019 in partnership. The service allows customers to complete transactions even when their M-Pesa wallets have insufficient funds.

Once a customer opts in, Fuliza automatically tops up the shortfall when sending money, paying bills, buying goods, or purchasing airtime. The amount is later recovered from the next deposit made into the user’s account, along with applicable charges.

The service has become a financial lifeline for millions of Kenyans who depend on it for day-to-day transactions. Repayment history and M-Pesa usage patterns determine the borrowing limit, which can be increased with consistent usage and timely repayment.

Impact of the glitch

The latest hitch has left many customers uncertain about their loan status. Normally, Fuliza repayments are deducted instantly from incoming funds, but with the disruption, balances remain uncleared. While some users welcomed the pause as a brief “relief”, others expressed concern about possible accumulation of charges once the system resumes.

Safaricom did not indicate how long the disruption would last but assured customers that deductions would be restored once the issue was fixed.

Growing reliance on digital credit

Fuliza is one of the most widely used mobile lending products in Kenya. Safaricom’s financial reports have shown that millions of transactions are processed daily through the overdraft facility. Its popularity has grown steadily as more Kenyans turn to mobile credit for emergencies, small purchases, and bill payments.

Unlike other mobile loans that require an application, Fuliza works seamlessly in the background, making it convenient for users. However, it has also faced criticism over high charges, which include a one-off 1 per cent access fee and daily maintenance costs.

This is not the first time M-Pesa-linked products have faced downtime. Earlier this month, Safaricom carried out a major system upgrade that caused a temporary suspension of all M-Pesa services, including Fuliza, for three hours. The company explained that the upgrade was meant to improve capacity and introduce new innovations under its Fintech 2.0 platform.