ICICI Bank’s New Rule: Savings Account Holders Must Keep ₹50,000 or Pay the Price
ICICI Bank’s New Rule: Savings Account Holders Must Keep ₹50,000 or Pay the Price
ICICI Bank has announced a steep hike in the average monthly minimum balance required for its savings accounts in metro and urban areas. The bank made the announcement through a circular issued on Saturday, August 9.
For customers in metro and urban branches, the average monthly minimum balance has been raised to ₹50,000, compared to the earlier requirement of ₹10,000. This change will apply only to new accounts opened after August 1.
The bank has also revised the minimum balance for other regions. For semi-urban branches, the limit has gone up to ₹25,000 from the previous ₹5,000. In rural areas, the requirement has doubled from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000.
Along with the new minimum balance rules, ICICI Bank has also changed its service charges for cash transactions. Customers will now get three free cash deposits or withdrawals per month at a branch or through a machine. After that, each additional transaction will cost ₹150.
For deposits made through a machine during non-banking hours or on holidays, a charge of ₹50 per transaction will apply if the total deposits in a month cross ₹10,000.
In metro cities, using non-ICICI Bank ATMs will also attract charges after the first three free transactions in a month. The fee will be ₹23 for each financial transaction and ₹8.50 for each non-financial transaction. This limit is based on the combined total of financial and non-financial transactions.
Customers opening new accounts after August 1 must maintain the higher minimum balance. If the balance falls short, a penalty will be applied.
However, ICICI Bank tracks the minimum balance on a quarterly basis. This means that if the balance goes below the required limit on some days, customers can make up for it by maintaining a higher balance on other days within the same quarter. As long as the average balance for the entire quarter meets the prescribed amount, no penalty will be charged.
