澳大利亚证券投资委员会（ASIC）公布调查报告，对澳大利亚主要银行的抵消账户（offset account）管理情况进行了审查。[1] 在2023年9月至2025年8月期间，8家被调查银行因抵消账户故障已向客户支付超过5500万澳元的赔偿。[1] 调查涵盖AMP、澳新银行（ANZ）、联邦银行（CBA）、澳洲信用联盟、汇丰、ING、麦格理银行和西太平洋银行等机构超过20万笔住房贷款记录。[1]
ASIC的调查显示，抵消账户故障主要源于人工错误，占所有故障的86%。[1] 具体问题包括员工未正确链接账户、未按客户要求开立账户，以及在贷款重新融资时遗漏该过程。[1] 数据表明，55%的故障涉及账户已成功开立但未能链接到相应贷款，22%的故障则源于账户根本未被开立。[1]
令人担忧的是，77%被银行最终报告的故障原本未被银行自身检测到，而是在ASIC要求提供数据后才被发现。[1] 这反映出银行的内部控制机制存在重大缺陷，其中包括一家银行的故障检测报告搁置了近5年未经审查。[1] 此外，被审查的银行中有50%未在其应用程序中向客户展示抵消账户能够节省的利息金额。[1] ASIC指出实际问题可能比已赔偿的情况更为严重。[1] 截至2025年3月，澳大利亚抵消账户余额达3491亿澳元，在过去两年间增长28%。[1]
Australia's financial regulator has uncovered widespread malfunctions in offset accounts across major banks, resulting in millions of dollars in customer compensation and potential undisclosed losses. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated over 200,000 home loans held by eight banks and found that between September 2023 and August 2025, financial institutions paid more than AUD 55 million in compensation to affected customers [1]. However, ASIC cautioned that the true extent of the problem likely exceeds what has been remedied so far [1].
The investigation examined offset account failures at AMP, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Australian Credit Union, HSBC, ING, Macquarie, and Westpac [1]. The faults primarily stemmed from human error, accounting for 86% of all cases, including instances where staff misread instructions or entered incorrect account numbers [1]. The most common issue involved accounts that had been opened but never linked to loans, representing 55% of identified failures, while 22% involved accounts that were never established at all [1]. Additional problems included delays in linking accounts to loans [1].
A striking finding showed that 77% of faults ultimately reported by banks were not detected through the institutions' own systems and only came to light when ASIC requested data [1]. In one case, a bank's fault detection report remained unreviewed for nearly five years [1]. Furthermore, half of the banks under review failed to display to customers through their applications the interest savings achieved through offset accounts [1]. As of March 2025, offset account balances across Australia reached AUD 349.1 billion, having grown 28% over the past two years [1].