Safaricom has today launched Fuliza Ya Pochi, extending M-PESA’s credit ecosystem to qualifying Pochi La Biashara merchants and enabling micro-businesses across Kenya to access financial flexibility based on their everyday business activity.
The new proposition gives over one million qualifying Pochi La Biashara merchants access to an overdraft facility that empowers them to complete business payments even when their available balance is insufficient. Merchants can use the facility to pay suppliers, make Buy Goods purchases, send money, and settle utility payments, helping them keep their businesses running and serving customers without interruption.
“Across Kenya, thousands of micro-businesses face daily cash flow gaps that can mean missed sales, delayed stock purchases, or postponed supplier payments. Fuliza Ya Pochi helps merchants overcome these short-term challenges while continuing to build their businesses. As merchants transact and grow on M-PESA, they create a pathway to greater financial opportunities,” said Peter Ndegwa, Group CEO, Safaricom PLC.
Available to merchants who have actively used Pochi La Biashara for more than six months, Fuliza Ya Pochi can be accessed through the Pochi Mini App on My OneApp or via USSD *334#. Upon enrollment, qualifying merchants will receive a Fuliza Ya Pochi limit based on their business activity. Repayments are automatically made from future payments into the merchant’s Pochi wallet.
Pochi La Biashara provides entrepreneurs and informal businesses with a simple and secure way to receive customer payments while keeping business and personal funds separate. The platform is currently offering over two million micro-merchants a trusted foundation for managing their daily operations.
Introduced in 2019, Fuliza enables customers to complete transactions by providing access to additional funds when they do not have sufficient M-PESA balance. The proposition was subsequently extended to businesses through Fuliza ya Biashara, providing overdraft services to qualifying Lipa na M-PESA merchants. Fuliza Ya Pochi marks the next step in this evolution, extending the proposition to Pochi La Biashara merchants and reinforcing Safaricom’s commitment to making financial services more accessible and relevant to the everyday needs of its customers.
The launch follows Safaricom’s recent measures to support customers and merchants using Pochi La Biashara. These include the zero-rating of all customer payments up to KES 200 and a 50% reduction in charges on customer payments above KES 200, capped at a maximum charge of KES 50, for a period of three months.
