 "Fail to keep ₹50k in ICICI urban account? Here's how much you may be fined")
ICICI Bank’s move to raise the minimum monthly average balance for urban savings accounts to ₹50,000 has raised concern among customers. This is a steep hike from the earlier requirement of ₹10,000 to maintain the minimum account balance.
The new account holders, who will open accounts with the bank after August 1, will need to maintain a higher minimum account balance in the savings account. A failure to do so may attract a penalty.
What's the latest
- ICICI Bank’s new rule applies to urban areas from August 1, 2025, replacing the earlier ₹10,000 requirement
- The minimum balance for semi-urban regions has been increased to ₹25,000, from the previous ₹5,000
- The minimum balance for rural branches has been increased to ₹10,000 from ₹5,000.
This applies to new accounts opened after August 1. Existing accounts remain under old rules.
What happens if you fail to maintain minimum balance?
The bank tracks the minimum account balance on a monthly basis. Customers whose balance falls below the required level during the month may offset shortfall days by maintaining higher balances on other days.
Here's how the penalty is calculated for non-maintenance of minimum balance in urban areas:
Charge: 6% of the shortfall in the required MAB or ₹500 (whichever is lower)
GST: Applicable on the penalty amount
(Based on ICICI Bank's latest release)
Exemptions from penalty
Customers meeting the eligibility criteria under premium banking programmes are exempt:
- Select banking: Deposits and balance of ₹2 lakh, or deposits, balance, mutual funds AUM, demat worth ₹25 lakh
- Wealth management: Deposits and balance of ₹10 lakh, or combined value of ₹50 lakh
- Private banking: Deposits and balance of ₹50 lakh, or combined value of ₹5 crore
- Pensioners: Nil charges
- Family banking: If the family maintains 1.5x the programme criteria collectively. If the family threshold is not met, non-maintenance charges apply individually
What it means for customers
- Liquidity lock-in: More money will remain idle in low-interest accounts
- Opportunity cost: Customers could earn higher returns elsewhere
- Behaviour shift: It may trigger account consolidation, leading to customers keeping only one high-balance account while closing others
- Push to premium banking: High balance could qualify customers for bundled services
Other service charge changes
The bank has also revised its cash transaction fees.
- For deposits at branches or machines, after three free transactions, each additional will attract a ₹150 fee
- Cash deposits via machines during non-banking hours or holidays will cost ₹50 per transaction if monthly deposits exceed ₹10,000
- For non-ICICI ATMs in metros, the charge will be ₹23 per financial transaction and ₹8.50 per non-financial transaction after the first three free transactions each month. The limit applies to combined financial and non-financial transactions