Safaricom has extended its Fuliza overdraft to small traders who take payments through Pochi La Biashara. The telco says the new product, Fuliza Ya Pochi, could reach more than one million micro-businesses.

Group Chief Executive Peter Ndegwa launched the facility in Thika last week. It lets qualifying merchants complete business payments when there is not enough money in their Pochi wallet. They can use it to pay suppliers, make Buy Goods purchases, send money and settle utility bills.

How it works

Pochi La Biashara is a business wallet inside M-Pesa used mostly by hawkers, mama mbogas, boda boda riders and other informal traders. It lets them receive payments from customers without a till number. Safaricom says the service has more than two million micro-merchants.

Not every Pochi user qualifies for the overdraft. TechMoran reports that merchants must have used Pochi La Biashara actively for more than six months. Each merchant's limit is set according to their business activity and how often they transact. Eligible traders can opt in through the Pochi mini app on the My OneApp or by dialling *334#.

Repayment is automatic. When customers pay money into the merchant's Pochi wallet, the outstanding overdraft is deducted from those payments.

"Fuliza Ya Pochi helps merchants overcome these short-term challenges," Ndegwa said at the launch, according to The Star, describing the daily cash-flow gaps that small traders face.

The launch coverage did not give the fees or interest for the new overdraft, and Safaricom's published material did not state limit amounts. Traders should check the full terms before opting in.

Lower charges for Pochi payments

Safaricom also announced cheaper charges on payments to Pochi merchants. For three months, customer payments of up to Sh200 will be free. Charges on payments above Sh200 will be cut by half and capped at Sh50.

Fuliza keeps growing

Fuliza was introduced in 2019 to let M-Pesa users complete transactions when their balance was short. It was later extended to Lipa na M-Pesa merchants as Fuliza ya Biashara. It has become one of Safaricom's fastest-growing products. According to The Star, Fuliza earned Sh6 billion in the year to March 2026, a rise of 46 per cent on the previous year. M-Pesa as a whole brought in more than Sh182.7 billion over the same period.

The product has also been criticised. Consumer advocates have raised concerns about daily charges and about borrowers using short-term overdrafts again and again. Extending it to informal traders gives far more small businesses access to credit. It also adds to the debt load on a group that often has thin margins.

M-Pesa beyond payments

The launch is part of a wider push by Safaricom to make M-Pesa a full financial services platform. In recent weeks the company has rolled out the Ziidi Shari'ah money market fund with GulfCap and M-Pesa Jumbe, a feature that hides customers' full names and phone numbers when they show payment messages. It has also introduced new scan-to-pay and tap-to-pay features with Pesapal.

In a CNN Marketplace Africa interview aired on Saturday, reported by TechMoran and other outlets, Ndegwa said M-Pesa is moving further into savings, investment and insurance so that users can pay, save, invest and insure on the same platform. He described banks and insurers as both competitors and partners.

For many of the traders who rely on Pochi La Biashara, the immediate test will be cost. How much Fuliza Ya Pochi charges in practice will decide whether it smooths their cash flow or becomes another short-term loan to keep rolling over.

Photos: TechMoran/Safaricom (Peter Ndegwa at the Fuliza Ya Pochi launch in Thika); Wikimedia Commons/Fiona Graham (CC BY-SA 2.0) (M-Pesa agent shop, Nairobi).