澳大利亚金融监管机构ASIC的审查揭示，该国八家主要银行在抵押贷款抵消账户的设置、监控和管理上存在广泛缺陷，导致数百万借款人未能获得承诺的利息节省。[1] 这八家银行在2023年9月至2025年8月期间共向客户支付超过5500万澳元的赔偿以弥补抵消账户故障造成的损失。[1] 这些银行代表澳大利亚房屋贷款市场的70%以上。[1]
ASIC的调查发现，人工错误是导致抵消账户故障的主要原因，占所有报告故障的86%。[1] 银行对这些问题的监测存在严重不足，其中77%的报告故障在ASIC要求提供相关数据之前未被银行检测到。[1] 一家银行甚至估计，确定客户何时请求设立抵消账户需要20多名员工耗时四周才能完成。[1]
过去的个案赔偿包括2017年Bankwest向约10,800名客户退款超过490万澳元，同年澳洲国民银行（NAB）向966名客户退款170万澳元，以及2022年联邦法院令澳纽银行（ANZ）支付2500万澳元罚款。[1]
ASIC主席Sarah Court表示，"当抵消账户运作不正确时，伤害可能是隐藏的"。[1] 澳大利亚银行协会CEO Simon Birmingham则指出，"抵消账户为超过99%的澳大利亚人工作，为他们的抵押贷款节省数千美元"。[1]
Australia's financial regulator has uncovered widespread failures in how eight major banks set up, monitor, and manage mortgage offset accounts, leaving hundreds of thousands of borrowers unable to access promised interest savings [1]. Between September 2023 and August 2025, these eight banks collectively paid customers more than $55 million in compensation for offset account failures [1]. Together, these institutions represent over 70 percent of Australia's home loan market [1].
The investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed that banks detected only 23 percent of reported offset account faults themselves, with 77 percent of failures going unnoticed until ASIC requested the data [1]. Human error accounted for 86 percent of the reported malfunctions [1]. One bank estimated that identifying when customers requested an offset account would require more than 20 employees working for four weeks [1]. As of March 2026, offset accounts are now attached to 55 percent of housing loan facilities [1].
Several high-profile cases preceded this comprehensive review. Bankwest refunded over $4.9 million to approximately 10,800 customers in 2017 [1], while the National Australia Bank paid $1.7 million to 966 customers in the same year [1]. A Federal Court ruling in 2022 required ANZ to pay a $25 million penalty [1]. ASIC Chair Sarah Court stated that "the harm can be hidden when offset accounts don't work correctly" [1], while Australian Bankers' Association CEO Simon Birmingham noted that "offset accounts work for more than 99 percent of Australians, saving them thousands of dollars on their mortgages" [1].