If you’ve never actually checked whether your offset account is doing its job, you’re in good company — and that’s exactly the problem ASIC just flagged. In a review published 29 July 2026, the regulator found that offset accounts across eight major banks have been failing customers quietly, for years, without anyone noticing. An offset account not working looks identical, on paper, to one that is — your repayments stay the same, so you just end up paying more interest than you should.
Here’s what ASIC found, why it matters if you have a home loan with an offset attached, and how to check yours is actually working.
What did ASIC find about offset accounts?
ASIC reviewed 204,000 home loans across eight lenders — AMP Bank, ANZ, CBA, Credit Union Australia (Great Southern Bank), HSBC, ING, Macquarie and Westpac — covering more than 70% of Australia’s home loan market. Banks have already paid out more than $55 million in compensation for offset failures between September 2023 and August 2025, and ASIC expects more remediation as reviews continue.
It’s a bigger deal than it sounds. As of March 2026, Australians hold $349.1 billion in offset accounts — up 28% in just two years. ASIC Chair Sarah Court put it plainly: “When offset accounts don’t operate correctly, the harm can be hidden. Loan repayments stay the same, while customers unknowingly pay more interest.”
Why do offset accounts stop working?
Most failures ASIC identified come down to the offset simply not being linked to the home loan properly, or never being set up at all — not some rare technical glitch. In the accounts ASIC reviewed, the breakdown looked like this:
| Failure type | Share of cases |
|---|---|
| Offset opened but never linked to the home loan | 55% |
| Offset account never opened at all | 22% |
| Linked outside the timeframe promised to the customer | 14% |
| Other errors | 9% |
ASIC also called out four systemic problems behind the numbers: banks struggling to identify customer offset requests in the first place, inconsistent detection of failures once they happened, slow or refused compensation, and a general lack of visibility for customers into whether their own account is actually working.
Refinancing or switching loan products is a common trigger too — ASIC and Moneysmart both note that changing your loan can quietly break an existing offset link, even if nothing looked wrong at the time.
How do I check if my offset account is working?
You can check this yourself in about ten minutes, using your bank’s app, online banking, or your last loan statement. ASIC and Moneysmart’s guidance boils down to four steps:
- Confirm the link. Don’t assume it’s working just because you asked for an offset account when you took out the loan — check your statements or online banking show it linked to your specific home loan.
- Check the savings are showing. Your interest charged should reflect your offset balance being subtracted from your loan balance. If you can’t see that clearly, ask your bank to show you.
- Recheck after any change. If you’ve refinanced, switched products, or moved to a fixed rate recently, check the link again — this is when things most often break.
- Flag anything that looks off, straight away. If something doesn’t add up, contact your bank and ask them to review it. Don’t wait, because interest lost isn’t automatically backdated unless you raise it.
ASIC’s own guidance includes a sobering example: one couple whose offset wasn’t properly linked missed out on an estimated $230,000 in savings and added four years to their loan term before the error was caught.
What should I do if my offset account isn’t working?
Call your bank, ask them to audit the account, and request a written explanation plus compensation if an error is confirmed — this is the same process ASIC expects lenders to already be running for the customers they’ve identified. Keep a record of the call and any reference number, since the five banks currently running remediation programs are working through cases in batches, not all at once.
If your bank can’t give you a straight answer, or you’re not confident the fix is right, it’s worth getting a second set of eyes on your loan — particularly if it’s been a while since anyone checked whether you’re still on a competitive rate as well.
Thinking about refinancing? Get your whole loan checked, not just the offset
An offset account is only worth having if it’s actually linked, actually offsetting, and sitting inside a loan that’s still competitive. If you’re not sure about any of those three things, our brokers can run a free check across your current loan — offset included — and compare it against what’s available from our panel of 40+ lenders. No pressure, just a clear answer either way.
Talk to a Click Financial broker or call 02 8708 7240.
Click Financial is a mortgage broker based in Bankstown, NSW (Australian Credit Licence 390820, MFAA member 320936, AFCA member 25029), helping borrowers across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide compare home loans from 40+ lenders.
This article references ASIC Report 837, “Offsets, out of Mind,” published 29 July 2026, and ASIC/Moneysmart’s published guidance for borrowers. It’s general information, not personal financial advice — your situation may differ, so check your own statements or speak to your bank or broker directly.