MVola Inactivity Fees: the 2026 ladder and how to avoid them
MVola applies inactivity fees if your account goes without a transaction: 2,000 Ar after 6 months, 4,000 Ar after 12 months and 6,000 Ar after 18 months. A single small transaction before the 6-month mark avoids them.
| Inactivity | Fee (MVola) |
|---|---|
| 6 months | 2 000 Ar |
| 12 months | 4 000 Ar |
| 18 months | 6 000 Ar |
The MVola inactivity-fee ladder
The ladder is progressive: while the account stays inactive, MVola deducts 2,000 Ar at 6 months, then 4,000 Ar at 12 months, then 6,000 Ar at 18 months. The amounts come out of the wallet balance. This ladder is published for MVola; the equivalent Orange Money and Airtel Money schedules are not uniformly published, so we show only MVola's here — confirm with your operator if you use Orange or Airtel.
What counts as 'activity'?
Activity means a real transaction on the wallet: a send, a withdrawal, a deposit, a merchant payment or an airtime top-up. A simple balance check is generally not treated as a transaction for inactivity purposes, but this is not always spelled out publicly, so the safest move is to make a small real operation. For example, do a small transfer or buy airtime before you reach 6 months without movement.
How to reactivate an inactive MVola account
Reactivating an inactive account is simple: make a normal transaction again (deposit, send, withdrawal or payment). If the account was suspended after long inactivity, visit an MVola agent or a Yas Store with your ID to reactivate it; the number and history are normally kept. If the balance was reduced to zero by the successive fees, reactivation reopens access but does not refund the fees already taken.
How to avoid the inactivity fees
The rule is the same as for fee bands: act before the limit. Make a small transaction at least once every six months — a send of a few thousand ariary, an airtime purchase, or a payment — and the inactivity counter resets, avoiding the 2,000 Ar. If you keep the wallet to receive diaspora transfers, a small periodic movement is enough to keep it active and protect the balance.