Bendigo Telco's main point of difference is its support of local community organisations. When you sign up, you can nominate to support one of Bendigo Bank's community enterprise partners and a part of your bill will go directly to the supporting these community initiatives.
Going beyond helping local communities, Bendigo Telco doesn't have that much that sees them stand out from the horde of other telcos crowding the Australian market.
Bendigo Telco could be right for you if
You're after a bit of international credit. On Bendigo's large plan, you will get $500 innternational call credit included.
You like local support. Bendigo Telco's main office is located in Bendigo, Victoria.
You'd like a mobile plan that does some good. Part of your monthly plan fees will go towards supporting a local community organisation.
Keep in mind that Bendigo Telco
Only has pay-as-you-go international roaming. You can activate roaming on your Bendigo Telco plan if you go overseas, but you'll rack up expensive data charges extremely fast. A local or travel SIM may be a better choice.
While Bendigo Telco's mobile plans are aimed at giving back to local communities, this will come at a cost in terms of your actual plan value.
Good to know: Where most mobile providers offer rates of under $1 per 1GB on their $30 and above plans, Bendigo's plans don't reach this benchmark until its $40 plans, meaning you might be able to get more data for less elsewhere.
Coverage
Bendigo Telco uses the Optus 4G mobile network.
It reaches 98.5% of the Australian population, which is more than Vodafone but less than Telstra.
You get identical coverage to a plan purchased from Optus itself.
You shouldn't encounter any issues in metro areas but might have reduced coverage in some rural or regional areas.
Customer service
Bendigo Telco is able to help you throughout the week between 8:30am-5:30pm AEST on Monday to Friday. You can use the following methods to contact Bendigo:
Call up the customer support team
Lodge an enquiry via the form on the Bendigo Telco website
Email the support team
Good to know: Bendigo Telco has local customer support based in Victoria.
Bonus features
Bendigo Telco only really has 1 extra feature on some of its plans:
🌏 International calls
If you buy larger plan, you'll get a $500 international call credit, depending on which plan you choose. This credit can be used to call most international destinations, which could be useful if you have friends or family overseas.
Which rivals are giving Bendigo Telco a run for its money?
For another goodwill option
While Bendigo Telco isn't clear about how much it actually donates to community groups, Goodtel donates 50% of its profits to a partnered charity of your choice.
For cheap data
If you're looking for a plan that gives you more for less, consider Circles.Life. You'll get up to 160GB for just $55 a month, which is much better value than Bendigo.
For more plan extras
Not only does ALDImobile offer unlimited international calls to selected countries rather than call credit, but it also has unlimited data rollover on all its plans.
Ready to sign up to Bendigo Telco?
Unfortunately, Bendigo Telco isn't available for purchase through Finder. You'll have to visit Bendigo Telco's website bendigotelco.com.au to purchase your plan there.
Otherwise, continue comparing mobile plans on Finder to find one better suited for you.
What if I want to keep my current phone number? During the activation process, you can choose to keep your number by choosing the provided option. While Bendigo Telco doesn't give an expected transfer time, you should expect the activation to take from 24-48 hours in most cases.
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
Getting a phone for kids or teens is an important decision to make, so here are the things to consider when choosing a mobile plan for them.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand by our editorial principles.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.