Tanzania’s leading telecommunications firm Vodacom has unveiled a mobile-based overdraft facility referred to as ‘Songesha’. The service shares similar features to Safaricom’s Fuliza, the world’s first mobile overdraft service launched in January 2019.
Songesha will allow Mpesa users in Tanzania to complete their Mpesa transactions even with insufficient funds in their accounts. According to Vodacom’s director of M-Commerce Epimack Mbeteni, the firm introduced Songesha after observing that most Mpesa users failed to complete mobile-based transactions due to a shortage of funds. The telecommunications firm has partnered with TPB bank to provide the overdraft service.
The introduction of the innovative overdraft product in Tanzania is an indication of its successful launch in Kenya. Fuliza was launched in Kenya six months ago. It attracted over 4 million users and disbursed more than KSh6.2 billion in the first month of operating. The facility is expected to drive up Safaricom’s revenues in the current financial year.
