Are you looking for information on how to stop airtime from disappearing MTN? The issue of people having their airtime disappear is common in South Africa. It doesn’t matter what network you may be on. If you have noticed that you are having issues with missing MTN airtime on your phone, then this article is what you have been looking for. In this article, we show you what causes this issue, as well as what you can do to stop your airtime and data from being eaten up by MTN.
What to do if your MTN airtime has been disappearing
The following are some of the steps that you can take to stop airtime from disappearing on MTN in South Africa;
- First, you need to check if you have subscribed to any WASP services.
- If there are subscriptions that are using up your airtime, you need to cancel them.
- In the event that there are apps running in the background on your phone that are using up your MTN airtime and data, you can disable background data to stop them.
- Where possible, delete apps that are unnecessarily consuming your airtime and data. Delete or disable all bloatware apps. If you don’t use an app, you don’t need it on your phone.
- If you have opted into out of bundle data browsing, you can opt out to stop airtime from disappearing on MTN.
What causes MTN airtime to disappear?
That’s the question that you may be asking yourself. We have already given you the steps to stop airtime from disappearing on MTN. But what could be the causes of such disappearances? That’s what we are going to interrogate here. The following are possible reasons why you could end up having your MTN airtime disappear;
You have subscribed for WASP services
This is probably the biggest reason why people end up losing their MTN airtime. WASP stands for Wireless Application Service Providers. There are many companies out there that provide WASP services. On MTN, the following are examples;
- Token Based Billing (TBB)
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
- Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
- Premium-Rated SMS
- USSD
- Location Based Service (LBS)
- Bulk MMS
- Subscriber Identity for Third Parties (SIFT)
- Premium-Rated USSD
- Reverse Billed SMS
These services add value to people’s lives. Many people sign up for them. Unfortunately, most people subscribe without really thinking about it. That becomes a problem. Most WASP services have to be subscribed to monthly or weekly.
That means money will be deducted from your phone. Perhaps you have signed up to receive inspirational quotes. That happens through WASPs. It’s one of the reasons why airtime has been disappearing from your phone. There are services to which you have subscribed that are eating up your MTN airtime.
Fortunately, there is an easy way through which to see which subscriptions are running on your phone. Having this information allows you to decide what to keep and what not to keep. It’s also easy to cancel subscriptions on your MTN phone. So, that’s another thing that you can do.
There are apps using up data in the background
Apps are what give our phones functionality. Without them, phones would be no more than bricks. Unfortunately, apps tend to be one of the biggest culprits when it comes to the disappearance of airtime. If you have been asking yourself; “why is my MTN airtime disappearing,” this is another angle that you need to look at.
It all depends on the apps that you have on your phone. Many of the low cost smartphones that are out there come with bloatware. You will get apps for games, news and other things. In many instances, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to disable these apps.
What then happens is that these applications will keep on downloading stuff onto your phone. Should this happen, you could end up losing all your airtime even without making any calls. That could be the reason why you are here looking at how to stop airtime disappearing on MTN.
You have transferred the airtime to somebody else
This is another possible answer to the question why is my MTN airtime disappearing. Perhaps you have transferred the airtime to somebody else. Or somebody made the transfer without telling you. Some people do that the moment they get hold of your phone.
In any case, airtime transfers are rather “innocent,” reasons for losing your airtime. They are generally something that you will notice because you will receive notification to the effect that such and such an amount of airtime has been transferred to such and such a number from your phone. Should this happen, you will be looking at how to stop MTN airtime from disappearing.
You have been entering competitions via USSD
Television, the internet and our phones are flooded with stuff from companies that are trying to sell you one thing or the other. If your heart gets taken, you should know that you will have to pay at the end of the day. Say you have entered a competition via USSD, as an example. The result could be that you could end up having your MTN airtime disappear. Should that occur to you, again you will need to find out how to stop airtime from disappearing on MTN.
Summary
That’s how to prevent your MTN airtime from disappearing. To be frank, this is a rather serious problem across South Africa. Should you discover that you have been losing your airtime in a mysterious way, then the steps outlined in this article should be helpful. It’s mostly due to WASPs and rogue apps on your phone. The challenge is to identify and remove them.
While here, feel free to take part in the SA Broadband discussion forums. Ask your question now and have others in the community help you out!