What Malagasy ariary actually arrives in Madagascar when someone sends Australian dollars, at the live mid-market rate. We explain the process; we never recommend a provider.
| They send (AUD) | You receive at mid-market (MGA) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 1,569,385 MGA |
| 1,000 AUD | 3,138,770 MGA |
| 2,000 AUD | 6,277,540 MGA |
| 5,000 AUD | 15,693,850 MGA |
Mid-market equivalents, not transfer quotes - the sender’s provider deducts its margin and any fees before the money reaches you. STRUCK 11:00 AEST · TUE 13 OCT.
The world's fourth-largest island, cast off from Africa so long ago that its wildlife evolved down its own strange path - nine in ten of its creatures live nowhere else.
A white vertical band at the hoist beside two horizontal bands of red over green, the three of equal dimensions. Every constitution since 1959 has named the tricolour as the Republic's emblem and set out that arrangement without assigning any colour a meaning. Outside the constitution the white is read for purity and for the lamba and the rice harvest, the red for sovereignty and for the clay brick of Malagasy houses, and the green for hope and for the greenness of the island.
Sources: assemblee-nationale.mg, cnlegis.gov.mg, mef.gov.mg, presidence.gov.mg, britannica.com, crwflags.com · checked 2026-08-26
A continent pretending to be a country - Australia is the only nation that fills an entire continent, with most of its 27 million people clinging to the coast while the red-dirt interior does its own thing.
A blue field with the Union Jack in the canton, a large white seven-pointed Commonwealth Star below it, and the five white stars of the Southern Cross at the fly. Six of the big star's points stand for the states and the seventh for the territories; the Southern Cross marks Australia's place in the southern sky.
The ariary is one of only two circulating currencies in the world not divided into hundredths: it splits into five, a survival of an older counting system. It replaced the Malagasy franc in 2005 at five francs to one ariary, and prices are still quoted in francs in parts of the country.
The exchange rate is set on the sending side - by the service the sender chooses in Australia - so the most useful thing a receiver can do happens before the transfer: share the live mid-market rate on this page so the sender can judge the margin in their quote. How the money arrives in Madagascar determines any local receiving charges - bank-to-bank transfers can pass through intermediary banks that deduct handling fees.
Sending rather than receiving? The sender’s view of this corridor covers the same rate from the other side. The AUD/MGA converter page handles any amount. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
Madagascar has been assembling a shared national payment rail, not operating one. Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara signed the contract to continue the work of putting the country's national payment switch in place on 16 February 2024, financed through the Projet Poles Integres de Croissance, with the central bank named as principal beneficiary and operator. Its stated function is to route, process and secure electronic payments across banks, microfinance institutions and mobile money operators, providing interconnectivity, interoperability, real-time processing and settlement management.
Until that is finished, an arriving payment has to name the particular institution it is going to, and for a great many Malagasy people that institution is a mobile money provider, not a bank. Registered mobile money accounts in the country, on the International Monetary Fund's Financial Access Survey, stood at 15.8 million in 2022, 20.3 million in 2023 and 24.3 million in 2024.
There is no international account format to fall back on either. Madagascar does not appear in the ISO 13616 registry of national account-number formats, so a recipient cannot supply one and a sender needs the institution's own details together with the account or wallet number. Which provider the recipient actually uses is a question that still has to be asked and answered rather than resolved by the rails.
Sources: Projet Poles Integres de Croissance, signature of the contract for the continuation of work establishing the national payment switch · International Monetary Fund Financial Access Survey, registered mobile money accounts for Madagascar · SWIFT, ISO 13616 IBAN Registry
How much Malagasy ariary will I receive in Madagascar?
A little less than the mid-market figures above. The service the sender uses in Australia sets the rate and fees; local receiving banks in Madagascar can also apply their own charges depending on how the transfer arrives.
The sender asked for my details - what will they need?
Whatever their transfer service asks for on the receiving side - typically your full legal name and local bank account details in Madagascar. Give the name exactly as your bank records it; mismatches are the most common reason a transfer is delayed.
Why did I receive less than the rate on this page suggests?
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between global buy and sell prices, and no retail provider deals at it. The gap between it and a quote is the provider’s margin, which is usually where most of the cost of a transfer sits. On a bank-to-bank transfer an intermediary bank can also deduct a handling charge in transit.