A simple email notification has turned into one of France's most heated neobanking controversies of early 2026. Since Sumeria — the banking arm of the beloved Lydia payments app — announced inactivity fees set to kick in on March 12th, social media has been flooded with outrage, misinformation, and genuine confusion. Here's a full breakdown of what's actually happening.
The Announcement That Started It All
In January 2026, Sumeria sent an email to all its customers outlining upcoming changes to its fee structure. The key change: a €3 monthly inactivity fee applied to accounts with no banking transactions for two consecutive months. A second email was promised to those individually affected before the deadline.
Simple enough on paper. But the reaction online was anything but calm.
X Erupts — But Gets It Wrong
The backlash on X has been swift and, in many cases, inaccurate. One widely shared post from user @seblatombe warned his followers: "Alert to anyone with a Lydia account! Lydia became 'Sumeria' and can turn your account into a PAYING account by default if you do nothing before March 12!" — tagging France's consumer protection authority, the DGCCRF.
The post went viral and captured a real fear: that millions of casual Lydia users who never signed up for a full bank account were now being quietly charged. The narrative of a forced migration being used as a trap spread fast, and news outlets initially ran with it — including Le Parisien, which had to issue a correction.
🔴 Avis à tous ceux qui ont un compte Lydia !
— Seb (@seblatombe) February 25, 2026
Lydia est devenu “Sumeria” et peut transformer ton compte en compte bancaire PAYANT par défaut si tu ne fais rien avant le 12 mars !
Allo la @dgccrf ?! https://t.co/jEIaqkiZAU
The reality is more nuanced. Sumeria firmly denies there was ever an automatic migration. When Lydia rebranded and launched Sumeria in 2024, each user had to make an explicit choice: accept a new contract to use Sumeria's banking services, or simply download the separate Lydia app and carry on as before. No one was silently enrolled.
Who Is Actually Affected?
This is where much of the confusion lies. The scope of the fee is significantly narrower than the viral posts suggest.
The fee will not apply to legacy Lydia users who haven't made any banking transactions since March 12, 2025 — essentially protecting anyone who may have clicked through the Sumeria transition without fully reading the terms. It also explicitly excludes Lydia wallets and group pot (cagnotte) accounts, even if accessed through the Sumeria app. These carve-outs were built into the system from the start, even if they weren't spelled out in the initial email.
What remains is a very specific profile: someone who actively adopted Sumeria as a bank account, made transactions for a while, then stopped entirely — while leaving money sitting in the account. Sumeria estimates this represents less than 0.5% of its total customer base on average throughout the year.
Deblock Seizes the Moment
The controversy hasn't gone unnoticed by competitors. Deblock, the French crypto-banking hybrid fintech, has been quick to highlight its own approach on social media, reminding users that it charges zero inactivity fees — a point that has resonated strongly in the current climate.
Deblock markets itself explicitly on transparency, with no hidden fees and no inactivity charges at all. Its standard account is free, and regardless of the plan chosen, there are no account maintenance fees and SEPA transfers including instant ones are free and unlimited. It's a clean differentiator in a news cycle that has made inactivity fees a hot-button issue.
Whether opportunistic or principled, the timing of Deblock's messaging has been effective — particularly among younger users who split their financial life across multiple apps and may not use any single one consistently enough to meet a two-month activity threshold.
Is the Fee Actually That Unreasonable?
Context matters here. Sumeria points out that French banking law already mandates inactivity fees under the Loi Eckert, which allows banks to charge up to €30 per year on dormant accounts. Sumeria's fee, at €3/month, only applies when the Eckert threshold hasn't already been triggered, and the two charges explicitly do not stack. For a truly dormant account, the cost is therefore comparable or even lower than what most traditional French banks already charge — without anyone complaining about it.
The company also makes a commitment traditional banks rarely do: no account will go into negative balance due to these fees in 2026.
Looking at the Bigger Picture: France's Neobank Landscape
The Sumeria episode is a reminder of just how crowded and competitive the French neobanking market has become. From established players like BoursoBank and Fortuneo to crypto-native challengers like Deblock and international giants like Revolut and Bunq, French consumers now have more digital banking options than ever — each with its own approach to fees, features, and target audience.
If this controversy has prompted you to re-evaluate your options, our complete directory of neobanks available in France covers the full landscape — from free everyday accounts to premium multi-currency and crypto-integrated solutions — to help you find the account that actually fits the way you bank.
The Bottom Line
The X outrage around Sumeria's inactivity fees is largely built on a misunderstanding — amplified by an initial wave of inaccurate reporting that has since been corrected. The fee is real, but its scope is narrow and its design includes multiple layers of protection for legacy Lydia users.
That said, the episode reveals a deeper tension in the neobanking space: users who adopted Lydia as a casual payment tool between friends are increasingly finding themselves inside a more demanding banking relationship than they ever intended. Whether the fee is fair is arguably less important than whether users understood they had signed up for a bank account in the first place.
For those genuinely unsure of their situation, the advice is simple: make one transaction before March 12th, close the account if you no longer need it, or check your email for a direct notification from Sumeria. And for those now eyeing alternatives, the French neobank market has never offered more compelling options.
Sources: Sumeria official blog, Le Parisien (February 24, 2026), X/@seblatombe