
There are many ways to recharge a prepaid service in Australia. Depending on your provider, you may be able to recharge over the phone, online, with a telco-specific app, automatic payments or with a voucher. Let’s take a closer look at how to recharge with the main prepaid telcos in Australia and others from our comparison engine, including Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Boost Mobile and amaysim.
Before we get into those, if you’re in the market for a prepaid plan, check out this daily updating list of popular plans from our comparison engine:
How to recharge with Telstra prepaid
Telstra has a few key ways to recharge a prepaid plan:
1. Telstra prepaid recharge via My Telstra app
You can use the My Telstra app to recharge, which is even faster if you save your payment details. Download the My Telstra app for compatible iPhone devices from the App Store and for compatible Android devices via Google Play.
2. Telstra prepaid recharge online
Head to Telstra’s My Services page and sign in to your account with your Telstra ID and password. Alternatively, visit http://m.telstra.com/ with WiFi disabled (otherwise it won’t work) to recharge from your Telstra prepaid phone. Input your Telstra number, then follow the steps to recharge. If that’s not enough online options for you, use your phone or any internet-connected device to visit the Telstra recharge page to recharge; just enter your mobile number and follow the prompts.
3. Telstra prepaid Rewards Store recharge
If you’ve got Telstra Plus Points to burn, you can redeem them for a prepaid recharge voucher. Redeem Telstra Plus Points for a voucher on the dedicated page, then sign in with your Telstra ID to add the credit to your Telstra prepaid account.
4. Telstra prepaid automatic recharge
If you don’t want to worry about manually recharging your Telstra prepaid service, sign in at My Telstra, then select the ‘Auto recharge’ option for your prepaid service. Input the recharge amount and confirm a payment method to finalise automatic recharge.
You can see a selection of Telstra’s prepaid plans below:
How to recharge with Optus prepaid
Optus offers a few options for recharging one of its prepaid plans:
1. Optus prepaid recharge via the My Optus app
Download the My Optus app by scanning the QR code on the official website or by downloading it from the App Store or Google Play Store. Log in to recharge your Optus prepaid service.
2. Optus prepaid recharge online
Head to the Optus recharge portal from any internet-connected device and enter your mobile number. You can recharge with either credit or debit card, PayPal or redeem either a voucher or gift card here. This site also lets you set up automatic recharge if you don’t want to recharge manually.
3. Optus prepaid recharge via SMS
Using your Optus prepaid phone, text “recharge” to 9999, then follow the prompts to top up.
4. Optus prepaid recharge via voucher
Visit an Optus store or a participating retailer to purchase an Optus prepaid recharge or voucher. Use the Optus recharge portal and select the ‘Redeem pre-purchased Voucher or Gift Card’ option to top up.
5. Optus automatic prepaid recharge
The Optus recharge portal is also where you can set up automatic recharge for your Optus prepaid plan.
Below is a selection of Optus prepaid plans from our comparison engine:
How to recharge with Vodafone prepaid
Vodafone has a handful of ways to recharge one of its prepaid plans:
1. Vodafone prepaid recharge online
Vodafone advises that one of the best ways to recharge is via its Express Recharge portal, which you can access from any internet-connected device. Enter your Vodafone prepaid number and follow the prompts to recharge. If you’re visiting this page from a Vodafone prepaid phone, it won’t use mobile data.
2. Vodafone prepaid recharge via the My Vodafone app
The other way Vodafone advises is best for recharging is with the My Vodafone app, which can be downloaded on the App Store for iOS devices or the Google Play Store for Android phones. Like the prepaid portal above, the My Vodafone app doesn’t use Vodafone prepaid mobile data.
3. Vodafone prepaid recharge via phone
From your Vodafone prepaid phone, call 1511 and follow the prompts to recharge with a credit or debit card (or a voucher). You can also SMS a “relevant code” (whatever that means) to 1511 to recharge.
4. Vodafone prepaid automatic recharge
You can also ditch manual recharging and opt for automatic recharge with Vodafone prepaid. Opt-in via the My Vodafone app or text “ATR” to 1263 from your Vodafone prepaid phone. Your saved credit or debit card will be used to automatically recharge.
If you’re in the market for a Vodafone prepaid plan, check out some options from our database below:
How to recharge with Boost Mobile prepaid
There are four ways to recharge with Boost Mobile prepaid:
1. Boost Mobile prepaid recharge via the Boost Mobile app
Android users can download the Boost Mobile app from the Google Play Store and iPhone owners can download the Boost Mobile app from the App Store. Use the Boost Mobile app to manually recharge or to activate the automatic recharge.
2. Boost Mobile prepaid recharge online
Boost Mobile has a dedicated recharge portal where you enter your Boost Mobile prepaid number, and then follow the prompts to manually recharge your service.
3. Boost Mobile prepaid recharge via phone
Dial #111# from your Boost Mobile prepaid phone and follow the prompts to manually recharge.
4. Boost Mobile prepaid automatic recharge
With the Boost Mobile app, you can activate automatic recharge if you have an active recharge. Go to the ‘Recharge’ tab, select ‘Auto recharge’, choose the amount and payment method, then confirm.
Below is a look at the Boost Mobile prepaid plans from our comparison engine:
How to recharge with Kogan Mobile prepaid
Kogan Mobile has a dedicated recharge portal; simply input your Kogan Mobile prepaid number and follow the prompts to recharge. Alternatively, text a corresponding SMS code to 12612 from your Kogan Mobile prepaid phone to recharge.
Want a Kogan Mobile prepaid plan? Check out its plans below:
How to recharge with Lebara prepaid
Lebara has an express recharge portal that lets you input your Lebara mobile number, and then all you have to do is follow the prompts to manually recharge. Alternatively, use direct debit to sign up to auto-recharge with Lebara by logging into the MyLebara page and registering payment details under the ‘Auto recharge’ option.
Below is a list of some of Lebara’s prepaid plans from our comparison engine:
How to recharge with ALDImobile prepaid
ALDImobile prepaid plans can be recharged by purchasing a voucher from an ALDI store and redeeming it via SMS, at the My ALDImobile portal online, or with the ALDImobile app. Alternatively, those same options can be used to recharge via credit card or PayPal.
Check out all of the ALDImobile plans from our comparison engine below:
How to recharge with amaysim prepaid
Those with an amaysim prepaid phone are encouraged to link a credit card, debit card, PayPal account or bank account to your service for automatic recharge. Note that long-expiry mobile amaysim prepaid plans automatically recharge every six or 12 months, depending on the duration of the plan you’ve chosen. You can either use the amaysim app or sign in at the My amaysim portal to find out when your amaysim prepaid plan will renew. Alternatively, text “BAL” to 568 from your amaysim prepaid phone.
There are a bunch of amaysim prepaid options to have a look at below:
How to recharge with Woolworths Mobile prepaid
Woolworths Mobile has a dedicated recharge portal for its prepaid services. Enter your Woolworths Mobile prepaid number, then recharge with either a credit card, debit card or voucher.
You can see a selection of Woolworths Mobile prepaid plans below:
How to recharge with Coles Mobile prepaid
The Coles Mobile Dashboard is the place to visit when you want to recharge your Coles Mobile prepaid plan. simply enter your Coles Mobile number, then recharge with either a credit card or voucher.
If you need a Coles Mobile prepaid plan first, check out the handful of options below:
How to recharge with Lycamobile prepaid
Use Lycamobile’s dedicated recharge portal to top up your Lycamobile prepaid plan. Just enter your mobile digits and follow the prompts.
There’s a bunch of Lycamobile prepaid plans to peruse below:
How to recharge with TPG prepaid
TPG does things a little differently in that it’s more of a prepaid subscription because the telco automatically charges your nominated bank account or credit card in advance of each month. If you’d like to prepay a buffer to your mobile prepaid balance to cover potential other costs (such as additional data blocks or international calls), you can add to your balance via TPG My Account.
TPG has a handful of prepaid plans to check out below:
How to recharge with Australia Post prepaid
Australia Post prepaid lets you either set up an automatic renewal or manual payment via credit card (Visa or Mastercard). Alternatively, you can purchase recharge vouchers at the Post Office.
If you’re in the market for an Australia Post prepaid plan, check out the options below:
How to recharge with Exetel mobile prepaid
Log in at the My Exetel portal to recharge your Exetel mobile prepaid plan.
Exetel has a few prepaid plans to choose from:
How to recharge with gomo and felix mobile prepaid
We’ve lumped gomo and felix mobile together because these prepaid providers both offer subscription services, meaning you’re automatically paying ahead of the usage period each month.
You can check out their respective prepaid plans below:
Nathan Lawrence
Freelance Contributor