What happened
On 30 September 2026, ASIC published supervisory letters for 2026-27 across banking, superannuation, general/life insurance and markets under the Council of Financial Regulators' Better Regulation Roadmap. The banking letter flags a supervisory review of AI use in customer-facing banking activities (existing and planned applications, focused on consumer outcomes), coordinated with APRA's own AI risk work.
Why it matters
ASIC is the first of the Australian market/conduct regulators to put customer-facing AI at the top of a formal supervisory priority list for banking, signalling AI consumer-outcomes governance is now live supervisory expectation in Australia, complementing APRA's April 2026 AI letter. Banks/fintech deploying chatbots, credit-decision and customer-service AI should expect targeted reviews in 2026-27.
Action needed
Australian banks and lenders and their AI vendors should review AI customer-facing deployments (including planned rollouts), ensure consumer-outcome risk assessment, governance and board-level accountability are documented, and track ASIC's AI review deliverables as announced.