In the six months leading up to September, Safaricom's overdraft facility, Fuliza, at least received Sh316 billion in borrowings, or Sh1.8 billion a day.
Compared to the Sh242.6 billion borrowed over the same period last year, this is a 30% increase.
For a comparable time period last year, there were Sh1.3 billion in daily disbursements.
At least 60 per cent of the loan was for consumption, illustrating survival mode for many families who are facing tough economic times amid high inflation that hit 9.6 per cent in October.
This is demonstrated by the reduction of Fuliza ticket size, which has dropped, by a Sh50 in the past year.
The average amount borrowed on the platform in the review period was Sh320.90 compared to Sh375.80 same period the previous year.
Data from Safaricom Plc's half-year results for the period between March and September, a total of 7.4 million Kenyans borrowed from Safaricom’s popular overdraft facility to mark the highest number of users for the service on record.
According to the telco, 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.
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 Sh1000 for the first three days.
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 Sh21.7 billion in the six months while credit issuances via M-Shwari were flat at Sh43.4 billion in the period.
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