Four million Fuliza customers to be removed from CRB in November, CEO Peter Ndegwa says

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa has said that its four million customers who are currently listed on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) due to their failure to pay their loans will be removed by November.

Ndegwa who was speaking on Citizen TVs Newsnight said the move was in line with listening to its customers.

He also said that the move to restructure the cost of Fuliza, was because it is meant to be an emergency fund but Kenyans have been using it as loan service, the move to restructure the loans now makes it more affordable to use.

"We realized that Fuliza was being used for 10 -20 days which becomes expensive for customers," he said.

The telco stands to lose revenue but making Fuliza more sustainable and affordable he said would in the long term repay the earnings that they stand to lose in the meantime.

"We continue to review the affordability of all our products," he said. He said that a review was necessary and that he was looking towards bringing other lending services in line with the Government's aim to make loans easily accessible.

Sim registration

He said that the company had made the process of registering sim cards by its customers easy since it can now be done online or by visiting the Safaricom shops.

"We are doing the sim registration so that we protect customers," he said.

He denied that lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi has been favoured by the telco when his line was reconnected after taking to social media to complain about being disconnected.

According to Ndegwa registration is a way to protect the data and the finances of its customers.

He says that the 60-day extension will enable the remaining 7 per cent of its customers who are yet to register including those who live abroad.

"In the 60 days if anyone is not registered then we will be forced to switch them off or suspend some of the services until they can register," he said.

We do not expect to disobey Communication Authority (CA) adding that the telco's network had not been used to track its customers and that Safaricom adheres to the Data Protection Act.

He said that the ongoing registration of sim cards had led to a reduced number of theft cases on M-Pesa.