Fuliza Charges in Kenya: Daily Fees, Limits and Why Yours Is Zero

Fuliza charges you twice: a one-off fee of 1% of what you borrow, then a daily fee for every day you still owe. The daily fee rises with your balance, up to KES 30 a day once you owe more than KES 2,500.

Is your Fuliza limit stuck at 0? It's usually because you've been on Safaricom for less than six months, or you registered M-Pesa with a foreign passport. The rates below are from Safaricom's Fuliza page, checked October 2026.

What Fuliza costs you

Legally, Fuliza isn't a loan. Safaricom calls it a continuous overdraft: it covers a shortfall when you make an M-Pesa payment, rather than paying cash into your wallet. You can use it to send money, pay a till or paybill (Lipa na M-Pesa), buy airtime or withdraw at an agent, as long as you stay within your limit.

Two charges apply:

• A one-off access fee of 1% of the amount you borrow, charged the moment you use Fuliza.
• A daily maintenance fee, charged just after midnight, based on how much you still owe, plus 20% excise duty on that fee.

Fuliza daily maintenance fee by balance

Both the fees and the three-day grace period on the two lowest bands are confirmed on Safaricom's Fuliza FAQ. KSh 70,000 is the highest Fuliza limit anyone can get, however long they've used it.

Worked example: say your M-Pesa balance runs out and you use Fuliza to pay a KSh 2,000 Pochi la Biashara bill. You're charged KSh 20 straight away (1% access fee). If you clear the whole KSh 2,020 the same day through your next deposit, that's all you pay. Take three days to repay instead, and you add three days in the KSh 1,501–2,500 band at KSh 24 a day, KSh 72, for a total of KSh 92, or about 4.6% of what you borrowed.

To see what Fuliza has really cost you, run your M-Pesa statement through our M-Pesa statement analyzer: it adds up your Fuliza fees and M-Pesa charges on your phone.

Why your Fuliza limit is 0

Safaricom only gives a Fuliza limit to customers who have been on the network for at least six months, based on how they use their line. If you've opted in but your line is newer than that, your limit stays at zero until six months pass. That's Safaricom's policy, not a fault on your account.

Two other things shut you out:

• Foreign passport registration. M-Pesa accounts registered with a foreign passport cannot opt into Fuliza at all, only national ID, Kenyan passport, or military ID holders can.
• Not using M-Pesa much. Even after six months, Safaricom says the limit is "based on their line's activity". A SIM used mostly for calls and airtime, with little M-Pesa use, scores lower than one used regularly to send money, pay bills and top up.

How to increase your Fuliza limit

Safaricom reviews every Fuliza limit every three months. Two things move it, by Safaricom's own account:

1. Use Safaricom and M-Pesa regularly: send money, pay bills, buy airtime and data.
2. Repay what you borrow on time, by topping up your M-Pesa line so the outstanding balance clears.

No form or call to customer care can change this. The review is automatic, and it can lower your limit as easily as raise it if your usage or repayments slip. Dial *334# and choose Fuliza M-Pesa to check your limit, balance and mini-statement at any time.

How Fuliza costs can catch you out

• Fuliza doesn't wait for you to pay it back. Any money that lands in your M-Pesa line (salary, a transfer from a client, a deposit at an agent) is used to clear your outstanding Fuliza balance automatically, before you can spend or withdraw it.
• Go 30 days without clearing it, and you lose access. Safaricom's FAQ says you won't be able to use your Fuliza limit again until you've paid the balance in full, after which access is restored.
• A wrong paybill or till number doesn't save you the fees. If you use Fuliza to pay the wrong number and the funds get reversed, the amount itself can come back, but the access fee and maintenance charges you already paid are not refunded. If that's happened to you, see our guide on reversing M-Pesa sent to the wrong paybill or till.
• Fuliza fees come on top of normal M-Pesa charges, not instead of them. The payment itself (sending money, paying a till) still carries its usual M-Pesa charge. Fuliza's fees are extra, for the overdraft part only.
• Treat it as a short-term plug, not a cushion. If you're using Fuliza every week just to get by, a small buffer in a digital savings app earning interest will cost you far less than repeat access fees and daily charges.

Before you borrow, check what the payment itself will cost with our M-Pesa charges calculator. Fuliza's fees come on top of that.

Business owners have their own overdraft, Fuliza ya Pochi. If you're borrowing from several places, check your M-Shwari limit and your CRB status first.

Comparing Fuliza with a 30-day loan? Our mobile loan cost calculator shows what M-Shwari, KCB M-Pesa and the Hustler Fund cost for the same amount.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fuliza a loan?

No. Safaricom calls it a continuous overdraft, not a loan: it covers a shortfall on an M-Pesa payment rather than paying cash into your account. That affects how it's charged. The daily fee only applies to what you still owe, and there's no fixed loan term.

How much is Fuliza interest per day?

It depends on your outstanding balance: nothing under KSh 100, KSh 3 a day (after a 3-day grace period) between KSh 101 and KSh 500, up to KSh 30 a day once you owe between KSh 2,501 and KSh 70,000. Each figure already includes Safaricom's 20% excise duty on the maintenance fee.

Why is my Fuliza limit 0?

Usually because your Safaricom line is less than six months old, you registered M-Pesa with a foreign passport, or you don't use M-Pesa enough for the automatic scoring to give you a limit. Opting in doesn't guarantee a limit. It only makes you eligible for one.

How do I increase my Fuliza limit?

Keep using M-Pesa and Safaricom services regularly, and repay any Fuliza balance on time. Safaricom reviews limits every three months based on usage and repayment history, and there's no manual override or customer-care request that can raise it outside that review.

What happens if I don't repay Fuliza?

Any money that reaches your M-Pesa line is used to clear your outstanding Fuliza balance first, automatically. If you go 30 days without clearing it in full, you lose access to Fuliza until you repay everything, after which it's restored.

Can I opt out of Fuliza?

Yes. Dial *334#, select Fuliza M-Pesa, and you'll find an opt-out option alongside your limit, balance and mini-statement. You'll need to clear any outstanding balance before opting out takes effect.