ICICI Bank Minimum Balance For Savings Account Hiked To Rs 50,000, Users Demand RBI Intervention; Check Revised Structure

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ICICI Minimum Balance Hike: The ICICI bank on Saturday announced an significant increase in the minimum average balance (MAB) for its savings accounts across all branch categories. As per the bank’s statement, the minimum balance hike will be effective retrospectively from August 1, 2025. The steep hike is expected to impact a large number of account holders, especially those in rural and semi-urban areas.

According to the statement issue by the ICICI bank, for customers in metro and urban areas, the minimum average balance has been raised to Rs 50,000, up from the earlier Rs 10,000. In semi-urban branches, the new requirement is Rs 25,000, compared to Rs 5,000 previously. For rural branches, the minimum balance has increased to Rs 10,000 from Rs 2,500.

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Customers who fail to maintain the required minimum balance will be charged 6 per cent of the shortfall or Rs 500, whichever is lower. Pensioners are however exempt from these charges. The move could prompt consumers to reconsider their banking choices, potentially shifting to banks with lower minimum balance requirements or opting for basic savings accounts that do not mandate such thresholds.

Other Changes By ICICI Bank:

– In the case of Family Banking, the family must collectively maintain 1.5 times the program’s eligibility criteria; otherwise, non-maintenance charges will apply individually to members who do not meet their own MAB requirement.

– Additionally, for ECS/NACH debit returns due to financial reasons, the bank will charge Rs 500 per instance, with a cap of three charges per month for the same mandate.

– For outward cheque returns (cheques deposited by the customer), a fee of Rs 200 per instance will be charged if returned for financial reasons.

– Inward cheque returns (cheques issued by the customer) will incur a charge of Rs 500 per instance for financial reasons and Rs 50 for non-financial reasons, excluding signature verification.

– If a transaction at another bank’s ATM or at a point of sale (POS) terminal is declined due to insufficient balance, a fee of Rs 25 per instance will be charged.

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Users Slams ICICI Bank Over Decision

Following the announcement, internet users were quick to react and slammed ICICI Bank, accussing it of filtering out customers as per their wealth. Many users also demanded an intervention from the RBI.

Majority of Indians earn below Rs 25000 monthly. So @ICICIBank wants them to keep 2 months salary as minimum balance in their account. This is sheet loot and thuggery of middle class money by the bank. Are they facing some sort of liquidity crunch,” wrote a user.

“The Worst Decision of ICICI Bank. #ICICIBank raises average minimum balance for savings a/c in metros & urban areas to Rs 50,000. Earlier it was Rs 10,000. Why the hell people put their money in accounts. Urban youth wants to invest those money not to sit dead in Bank Accounts,” wrote another.

“Shame on ICICI. A 4 trillion economy wants you to maintain a minimum balance of just 50000. Every Indian is capable of keeping a minimum balance of 50,00,000. Please increase it to at least 500000 and stop embarrassing us,” another said.

“If this is true, my family members will prefer to close icici bank accounts. Non sense decision as most of the customers will turn away from banking,” expressed one user. “ICICI has gone nuts! These charges are beyond ridiculous! Why would the avg person want 50k permanently stuck? Imagine the intrest loss!” wrote another.

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