ICICI Bank revises minimum account balance to ₹15,000 from ₹50,000

The revised MAB for new accounts now stands at Rs 15,000 for metro and urban areas, Rs 7,500 for semi-urban, and Rs 2,500 for rural branches, effective August 1

ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender, has reversed its decision to raise the minimum monthly average balance (MAB) for new savings accounts in metro and urban locations to ₹50,000, revising it instead to ₹15,000, effective August 1.

 

The MAB for new savings accounts in semi-urban locations has been revised from ₹25,000 to ₹7,500, and for rural locations from ₹10,000 to ₹2,500.

 

“We had introduced new requirements for the MAB for new savings accounts opened from August 1, 2025. Following valuable feedback from our customers, we have revised these requirements to better reflect their expectations and preferences. We thank our customers for their continued trust and feedback, which help us serve them better,” the bank said.

 

 

MAB is the simple average of day-end balances for a calendar month.

 

The bank faced sharp criticism from customers on social media after raising the MAB for new savings accounts.

 

Even after the revision, the MAB is higher than the previous structure. Earlier, MAB for new savings accounts in metro and urban areas was ₹10,000. In semi-urban branches, it was ₹5,000, and in rural branches, ₹5,000. 

 

Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra, earlier this week, clarified that the regulator has left it to individual banks to decide on the extent of MAB and that there is no regulatory restriction on this.

 

Other large private-sector lenders such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, and others have a lower MAB requirement of ₹10,000 in metro and urban centres. In contrast, state-owned lenders such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, and others have recently waived the minimum account balance requirement for customer convenience.

 

Separately, HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private-sector lender, clarified that there has been no change in its average monthly balance (AMB) requirement for any account type.

 

AMB for the regular savings account continues to be ₹10,000, and AMB for the savings max account remains at ₹25,000, the bank said.

 

“Given customer usage in metro areas, the bank will prioritise offering the savings max account to customers opening new accounts in metro branches,” HDFC Bank said.