ICICI Bank withdraws decision related to savings account, reduces minimum balance limit

ICICI Bank has provided a huge relief to its customers. ICICI Bank has gone back on its decision, where it had cut the minimum savings account balance in metros to Rs 50,000. After this, there was outrage among people against this move. Previously, the bank had raised this limit five times from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 for new savings accounts opening in metros from August 1.

ICICI Bank said in a notice released on its website, based on the valuable feedback from customers, we have revised these provisions following their expectations and preferences. Withdrawing the previous order under the revised norms, the bank has now reduced this limit from Rs 50,000 to just Rs 15,000 in metros and urban areas. The minimum monthly average balance (MAB) for towns and rural areas has been reduced to Rs 7500 and Rs 2500, respectively, which was Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000, respectively, before August 1.

All categories have been increased by 50% as compared to the previous limit of minimum balance. However, it is less than the previous revision. However, the new conditions will not apply to salary accounts, senior citizens/pensioners, basic savings bank deposit accounts / Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, and accounts of people with special needs.

Along with this, these changes will also not have any effect on savings accounts opened in the bank before July 31, 2025. ICICI Bank's move comes at a time when most public sector banks, including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank, have either removed or reduced the penalty on minimum balance.

MAB is the minimum balance that a customer is required to maintain in their account. If the balance is less than this, the bank can charge a penalty of 6% or a maximum of Rs 500 (whichever is less).

At the same time, ICICI Bank has also changed its cash transaction rules. Customers will get the facility of three free cash deposit transactions per month. Their total amount will be up to Rs 1 lakh. For deposits above this, a fee of Rs 150 per transaction or Rs 3.50 per Rs 1,000 deposit (whichever is higher) will be charged.