A Safaricom customer uses M-Pesa/FILE
Safaricom has announced a scheduled system upgrade for its Fuliza overdraft facility that will take place in the early hours of Monday, November 17.
The upgrade is planned to run from 0100 to 0200 hours and is intended to enhance the platform’s reliability and security, the company said in a notice to customers on Saturday.
According to the notice, the upgrade forms part of ongoing efforts to improve Safaricom’s digital financial products and always provide customers with “safe, secure and worry-free” services.
During the one-hour maintenance window, Fuliza services may be interupted but other mobile money services will be functional.
"During the maintenance period, Fuliza services may be intermittent. All other M-PESA service will remain available as usual," the Telco said.
The operator said the timing of the maintenance activity was chosen to minimise inconvenience to customers and apologised for any disruption that may arise.
"We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused and thank you for your continued support."
Scheduled maintenance helps operators patch vulnerabilities, improve processing capacity and roll out backend enhancements that support new features or better scalability.
Safaricom said it appreciated customers’ understanding and continued support as it carried out the upgrade.
Fuliza, Safaricom’s popular overdraft product linked to M-Pesa accounts, allows customers to complete transactions even when their wallet balances are insufficient by bridging shortfalls with instant credit.
The service has become a key component of digital payments in Kenya, enabling millions of daily transactions across bills payments, merchant purchases and peer transfers.
Temporary interruptions to the service may affect customers who routinely rely on the overdraft for time-sensitive payments.
The advisory therefore serves as a reminder to check transaction status and plan ahead around maintenance windows.
Those needing to make immediate payments during the upgrade period can use alternative M-Pesa services, including direct wallet-to-wallet transfers and payments to merchants that do not require the Fuliza overdraft.
Safaricom’s notification did not indicate any changes to charges, eligibility or lending terms associated with Fuliza but it promptly responded to querries raised by users on the same.
"I opted out of fuliza, when I opted in, my Fuliza was zero," one user asked.
In response, Safaricom said: "Unfortunately once you opt out of Fuliza your limit is reviewed automatically by the system and at the discretion of the Bank depending on how regularly you've been saving, repaying your loans on time and using other Safaricom services (Voice, Data & Mpesa) as the limit cannot be manually adjusted."
Another user asked: "I have zero limit and yet am more than 10 years with you and transaction is always."
Safaricom said loan limit allocation is not a manually operated function but it's automated based on a customer's credit rating and utilisation of other related services.
"The system takes into consideration your average Safaricom products and services usage like data, voice, M-Pesa, your CRB credit score, as well as your savings before allocating a limit at the discretion of the BANK. Please continue using these Safaricom products and services, and once you qualify, you will receive a text message notifying you of the amount qualified," the operator said.
