NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11 – Safaricom says disbursements through its Fuliza overdraft facility rose 49 percent to Sh1.47 trillion during the financial year ended March 2026, reflecting growing use of mobile credit in Kenya.
According to Safaricom’s financial services data, revenue generated from Fuliza increased 46 percent to Sh6 billion during the period.
The company said Fuliza customers grew to 17.7 million as more users turned to the overdraft service to complete M-Pesa transactions when they had insufficient balances.
The average Fuliza loan size, however, declined to about Sh218 from Sh241 previously, suggesting increased use of smaller and more frequent loans.
Analysts say the trend reflects pressure on household incomes and rising dependence on short-term mobile credit to meet daily expenses.
In contrast, M-Shwari recorded slower performance, with loan disbursements falling slightly to Sh95 billion from Sh96.4 billion.
Revenue from M-Shwari declined 14.1 percent to Sh1.9 billion, while active users dropped to seven million.
KCB M-Pesa posted stronger growth, with loan disbursements rising 30.3 percent to Sh73.8 billion and revenue increasing to Sh1 billion.
Meanwhile, Equity Bank’s Timiza platform recorded Sh28.5 billion in disbursements, up 9.7 percent from the previous year.
The figures highlight growing demand for instant mobile overdrafts and digital loans as consumers increasingly rely on mobile lending platforms for short-term financing.
