Mobile data rollover vs data bank: What’s the difference?

For the average mobile phone plan, the data you’re allocated for the duration you pay for expires at the end of that allotted time. If you’ve got 20GB and use 15GB, basically, say g’bye to those leftover gigabytes! That said, there are also plenty of other telcos that, in one way or another, let you ferret away that data, either perpetually or for a limited time.

Here’s everything you need to know about data rollover and data banking for Prepaid, long expiry and SIM Only plans.

Unlike other mobile phone plan jargon, data rollover is a mostly self-explanatory term. Instead of your data expiring at the end of a SIM Only month or Prepaid duration, whatever’s left of your data allowance can be paid forward. This means a lighter-use month can be used to buttress a heavier-use month, without feeling the need to fork out for a pricier plan.

Data rollover tends to come in a few flavours: unlimited amounts can be carried over, a fixed amount can be paid forward, or whatever data is left can only be used to bolster your next recharge.

In most cases, a data bank is an interchangeable name for data rollover. If you want to get pedantic, a data bank has fixed storage, usually to the tune of hundreds of gigabytes. For data rollover and data banking, there’s an assumption that you will continue to stay with the same telco (possibly even the same plan) to access rolled-over or banked data. You only start using megabytes in the data bank once you go over the allocation of your active Prepaid or SIM Only plan.

In terms of our comparison engine, here are the telcos that we keep tabs on that offer either data rollover or data banking.

Below is a daily updating look at popular plans from these providers.

Aldi Mobile lets you roll over an unlimited amount of data between plans, which includes any 1GB data add-ons you may have purchased. The only proviso is you need to buy the same Prepaid plan or a higher-priced one within 24 hours of the previous one expiring.

Check out Aldi Mobile’s data-rollover Prepaid plans below:

Whenever you renew a Prepaid plan with Amaysim, you can bank all of your leftover data without any limits. Stick with the plan to keep stacking up the leftover gigabytes.

You can see Amaysim’s data-bank Prepaid plans below:

Belong SIM Only plans come with unlimited data banking between months, which is a fantastic perk for the Telstra-owned telco.

Check out all of Belong’s data-rollover SIM Only plans below:

While Boost Mobile lets you roll over any unused data from your current Prepaid plan, it can only be rolled over to the next month. After that, any unused data from the previous month expires and isn’t carried across to future recharges.

Below is a daily updating list of Boost Mobile’s data-rollover Prepaid plans, sorted by popularity:

Confusingly, Exetel uses both “data rollover” and “data bank” in its phrasing. Either way, if you set your Exetel Prepaid plan to automatically recharge, you can stack unused data into a 200GB data bank. Alternatively, recharge manually ahead of 30-day expiry to keep the data rollover rolling.

Check out Exetel’s data-rollover Prepaid plans below:

Gomo Prepaid plans come with 200GB of data rollover, which keeps adding up and being perpetually paid forward as long as your next subscription is maintained before the current one expires.

You can see Gomo’s data-rollover Prepaid plans below:

Lebara Prepaid plans let you stack up to 200GB of data in a mobile data bank. All you have to do is stick with Lebara and ensure you recharge within 48 hours of your previous plan’s expiry to keep it.

You can see Lebara’s data-bank Prepaid plans below:

Mate’s SIM Only plans come with a 150GB data bank for as long as you stay a customer.

Below is a daily updating list of Mate’s data-bank SIM Only plans, sorted by popularity:

Whether it’s monthly data, bonus data or add-on data, any unused megabytes are added to your Numobile data bank, which is capped at 300GB.

You can see Numobile’s data-bank SIM Only plans below:

Optus Prepaid plans let you roll over any unused data up to 200GB, so long as you keep recharging.

Below is a look at the data-rollover Prepaid plans from Optus:

Like its big competitor Optus, Telstra Prepaid plans come with a 200GB data bank, which is yours to keep storing and using as long as you recharge before the current one expires.

Check out Telstra’s data-rollover Prepaid plans below:

Vodafone follows in the footsteps of Telstra and Optus, also offering a 200GB data bank for its Prepaid customers. Just recharge before your current Prepaid plan expires to keep the bank alive.

Below is a daily updating list of popular Vodafone data-rollover Prepaid plans:

Woolworths Mobile offers a 300GB data bank for both its Prepaid and SIM Only plans. For Prepaid, you keep the data bank alive by recharging with an equal or higher-cost plan before your current plan expires. This also includes any unused megabytes from any data add-ons. It’s a similar story for SIM Only plans, except that Woolworths Mobile notes your data bank balance resets if you drop to a lower-cost plan.

Check out Woolworths Mobile’s data-bank Prepaid and SIM Only plans below: