ICICI Bank, a large bank of the private sector, was recently taken over the minimum average balance. However, it has withdrawn its old decision in a few days. Earlier, the bank had fixed a MAB of Rs 50,000 in the metro and urban areas for those who opened new accounts, on which the customers had strongly opposed. After criticism, the bank has now implemented a new rule, making banking services somewhat easy for the middle class.
While government banks like SBI, PNB and Canara Bank are giving relief to customers by abolishing the condition of MAB, private sector banks like ICICI, HDFC and Axis are still conditioned to maintain minimum balance. In such a situation, customers must check their bank’s MAB policy before opening the account. So, penalty can be avoided.
ICICI Bank’s new rule
According to the new change, the minimum average balance for urban and metro cities will be Rs 15,000. It has been fixed at Rs 7,500 in semi-urban areas and Rs 2,500 in rural branches. However, this limit is still more than many banks, which have reduced or removed the condition of minimum balance.
Rules of other banks
The country’s largest government bank SBI had completely removed the condition of minimum balance from all savings accounts rural and metro in 2020 itself. Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank also decided not to keep MAB for all savings accounts and not to put penalty. This gave great relief to crores of account holders.
In rural areas, SBI and PNB have completely abolished the condition of minimum balance, that is, an account can also run on zero balance here. If you have a checkbook in Union Bank, then it is necessary to keep Rs 250 and only 100 rupees without checkbook. HDFC Bank has to maintain a balance of Rs 2,500 for rural accounts, while ICICI Bank has to maintain balance ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500 in rural areas. Axis Bank demands a minimum balance of Rs 2,500, Bank of Baroda Rs 500 and IDFC First Bank Rs 10,000 or Rs 25,000.
SBI and PNB also do not have this condition in urban or metro areas and the account is also operational on zero balance. Union Bank has to keep a minimum balance of Rs 1,000 with checkbook and Rs 500 without checkbook. It is mandatory to maintain Rs 10,000 in HDFC Bank, Rs 15,000 in ICICI Bank and Rs 12,000 in Axis Bank. At the same time, this amount in Bank of Baroda is Rs 2,000 and IDFC First Bank has to keep a balance of Rs 10,000 or Rs 25,000.