澳大利亚八家银行因抵押贷款偏移账户故障赔偿客户5500万澳元

澳大利亚证券和投资委员会（ASIC）的审查发现，八家澳大利亚银行在抵押贷款偏移账户的建立、监管和管理中存在缺陷1。在2023年9月至2025年8月期间，这些银行因偏移账户故障共向客户支付了超过5500万澳元的赔偿12。受审查的八家银行代表了澳大利亚住房贷款市场的70%以上，涉及超过330万持有抵押贷款的澳洲人及3500亿澳元的偏移账户资金12。

部分客户因这些错误遭受严重经济损失。有案例显示，客户在一个多月内因偏移账户未正确关联而支付超过3500澳元的额外利息12。另有两名客户因银行未告知需要重新关联偏移账户而各自多付超过17000澳元的利息2。ASIC主席莎拉·考特指出，"这些偏移账户失误之一是客户很难自己判断"2，并表示潜在客户损失金额目前完全未知2。澳大利亚银行业声称99%的偏移账户客户支付的是正确利息，称这些为系统缺陷导致的无意错误2。ASIC在调查的8家银行中未发现任何客户被意外过度赔偿的案例2。

ASIC建议澳大利亚消费者检查其偏移账户是否正确设置并与贷款关联1。消费者向银行正式投诉后，银行必须在21天内（财务困难相关问题）或30天内（其他问题）作出回复1。若对银行的回复不满意，消费者可向澳大利亚金融投诉机构（AFCA）提出上诉1。

Australia's securities regulator has uncovered systemic failures in offset account management that have cost customers millions in excess interest payments.12 The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that eight major Australian banks—representing over 70 percent of the nation's $250 trillion housing loan market—mishandled the setup, oversight, and administration of mortgage offset accounts between September 2023 and August 2025.1 During this period, the banks compensated customers with more than $55 million to cover interest shortfalls caused by these failures.12

The problems have affected millions of borrowers.2 More than 3.3 million Australians hold mortgages connected to offset accounts totaling $350 billion in funds.2 Some customers faced substantial financial consequences as a result of the errors: individual cases show borrowers paying over $3,500 in additional interest within a single month when their offset accounts were incorrectly unlinked,12 while two customers each incurred losses exceeding $17,000 after banks failed to inform brokers that offset accounts needed to be relinked.2 ASIC Chair Sarah Court noted that "one of these offset account slip-ups is that it's very difficult for customers to work it out themselves."2

The banks maintain that these were unintentional system faults rather than deliberate misconduct.2 Banking industry representatives claim that 99 percent of offset account customers are charged the correct interest rate,2 and ASIC found no instances among the eight surveyed banks where customers were unexpectedly overcompensated.2 ASIC has recommended that Australian consumers verify their offset accounts are correctly configured and properly linked to their loans.1 Customers who lodge formal complaints with their bank must receive a response within 21 days for financial hardship matters or 30 days for other issues;1 those dissatisfied with a bank's response can appeal to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).1