What is data banking?

Stretch out the value of your mobile plan by rolling over any unused data at the end of your expiry period.

Key takeaways

  • Data banking lets you rollover any unused data at the end of the expiry period of your plan for later use.
  • This is a feature on prepaid plans, where your plan inclusions usually reset at the end of your expiry.
  • Not all mobile providers offer data rollover so you will need to seek it out as a feature if you want it.

What is data banking?

Data banking, or data rollover, is a plan feature that lets you keep any unused data from the previous month (or expiry/recharge period) by rolling it over to your data allowance for the next month (or recharge period).

This essentially increases the value of your plan in the long run because you'll get access to your data bank if you ever need to go over your monthly plan limit.

Finder survey: What mobile plan features are most important to Australians?

Response
Network coverage85.32%
Data rollover34.14%
5G27.3%
Customer support options24.32%
Wi-Fi calling18.02%
Brand14.14%
International calls11.17%
Data sharing10.9%
Other3.15%
eSIM2.52%
None of the above2.34%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1110 Australians, December 2023

How does data rollover work?

Usually, plan inclusions reset at the end of the month so any unused data disappears, replaced by your allowance for the next month.

For example, if you get 10GB to use each month with your plan, but only use 8GB a month, you've effectively lost the 2GB of data you didn't use because your plan resets the next month.

With data rollover, leftover data is either added onto your allowance for the next period or is stored in a data bank for future use.

Data rollover often has limitations on the maximum amount of data you can save, and if you let your plan expire, you'll lose any data you've saved up.

Compare mobile plans with data banking

The plans listed below all have data banking as an included feature.

1 - 6 of 179
Name Product AUFMP-SIM Data Price Apply Price
Belong 100GB
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
200GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 100GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
Belong 100GB
Postpaid
200GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 100GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Wholesale Telstra 5G/4G network
200GB
No excess data charges
$45
per month
Go to site
View details
200GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 100GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
200 GB
Data
$45
per month
Belong 25GB
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
Belong 25GB
Postpaid
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Wholesale Telstra 5G/4G network
25GB
No excess data charges
$30
per month
Go to site
View details
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
25GB
Data
$30
per month
Belong 40GB
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
Belong 40GB
Postpaid
60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Wholesale Telstra 5G/4G network
60GB
No excess data charges
$35
per month
Go to site
View details
60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
60 GB
Data
$35
per month
Boost $26 SIM
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
Boost $26 SIM
Prepaid
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Telstra 5G/4G network
7GB
$26
per 28 day recharge
Go to site
View details
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
7GB
Data
$26
per 28 days expiry
Boost $49 SIM
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
65GB for $17 for the first recharge, then 65GB for $49 for the next 2 recharges. Reverts to 35GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 30.12.24
Boost $49 SIM
Prepaid
65GB for $17 for the first recharge, then 65GB for $49 for the next 2 recharges. Reverts to 35GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 30.12.24
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Telstra 5G/4G network
65GB
$49
per 28 day recharge
Go to site
View details
65GB for $17 for the first recharge, then 65GB for $49 for the next 2 recharges. Reverts to 35GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 30.12.24
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
65 GB
Data
$49
per 28 days expiry
Boost $59 SIM
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
85GB/recharge for the first 3 recharges, then 45GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 10.3.25
Boost $59 SIM
Prepaid
85GB/recharge for the first 3 recharges, then 45GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 10.3.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Telstra 5G/4G network
85GB
$59
per 28 day recharge
Go to site
View details
85GB/recharge for the first 3 recharges, then 45GB/recharge. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 10.3.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
85 GB
Data
$59
per 28 days expiry
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Michael Todd's headshot

"When I was moving house, there was no internet connection for a few days and I had to rely on my mobile data. Thankfully, having a prepaid plan with data banking meant that I had plenty of data "in the bank" and didn't have to purchase a more expensive plan or recharge earlier for that month."

Michael Todd
Finder crew member

Which providers offer data rollover?

While data rollover seems like a universally useful feature, not all major providers offer it. There are currently 24 providers on Finder that offer some form of data banking.

Only 2 of these providers offer unlimited data banking - amaysim and Belong. We've covered some of the major providers below that offer this feature to give you an idea of what you can expect.

Telstra data banking

Australia's largest mobile provider, Telstra, has a data bank available on its prepaid plans. You can rollover up to 200GB of data on its 28-day prepaid plans as long as you recharge before your expiry period.

amaysim data rollover

amaysim's data bank is pretty impressive. It's 1 of 2 mobile providers in Australia to offer unlimited data banking. Most providers in Australia offer 200 or 500GB.

You'll get access to an unlimited data bank with amaysim on all its plans except its PAYG one. This data bank lasts for as long as you stay on your plan so you don't have to worry about it going anywhere.

Boost data rollover

Boost Mobile offers data rollover on all its 28-day prepaid plans. Unlike other providers that let you bank your data up to a certain limit, Boost's only lasts until your next recharge period, which isn't as handy.

Vodafone data rollover

Vodafone's Prepaid Plus plans come with data banking up to 200GB. Keep in mind that its Pay and Go plans don't come with this feature.

ALDImobile data rollover

ALDImobile has a decent range of cheap mobile plans with unlimited data rollover on all its mobile plans (except its PAYG plan) when you recharge within 24 hours of expiry.

Lebara data banking

Lebara comes with a 200GB data bank on its 30-day, 180-day and 360-day expiry prepaid plans if you recharge within 48 hours of expiry.

You can also gift up to 10GB of banked data to other Lebara customers every 30 days.

Is data banking worth it?

While data rollover is definitely a useful feature to have on your mobile plan, it's only really valuable for you if you have variable data usage patterns from one month to the next.

For example, let's say you've spent quite a bit of time at home not using your mobile data on your phone, and then decided to go on a camping trip for a week. If you've got data banking included in your mobile plan, you may have built up some extra data to use when you're camping, so you run less risk of going over your normal monthly data limit.

If you're someone who comes close to or uses up your data allocation each month, data banking might not be as useful for you since you won't have a lot to rollover to the next month.

Keep in mind that some providers have terms and conditions built into their data banks. For example, Woolworths Mobile won't let you keep your data bank if you switch between different plans, whereas Belong lets you keep building your data bank no matter which one of its plans you've signed up to.

Whether having a phone plan with data rollover is worth it or not really depends on your mobile usage habits. But since this is a feature you don't need to pay extra each month for, it's definitely worth considering and might be enough of a reason for you to choose one provider over another.


Sam Baran's headshot
Written by

Writer

Sam Baran is a writer for Finder, covering topics across the tech, telco and utilities sectors. They enjoy decrypting technical jargon and helping people compare complex products easily. When they aren't writing, you'll find Sam's head buried in a book or working on their latest short story. Sam has a Bachelor of Advanced Science from the University of Sydney. See full bio

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2 Responses

    Default Gravatar
    JohnJune 5, 2023

    Do any plans allow data sharing between two users

      AvatarFinder
      MariamJune 14, 2023Finder

      The big telcos such as Optus and Telstra offer data sharing if you sign up to their postpaid plans. You’ll need to compare the plans to find one the best fits your needs.

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