ICICI Bank raises minimum balance requirement for metro customers, first hike since 2015

The revision does not affect salary accounts opened with the bank. (Courtesy: Reuters file photo)

ICICI Bank has increased the minimum monthly average balance (MAB) requirement for regular savings accounts in metro and urban locations to Rs 50,000, which is a sharp jump from the earlier Rs 10,000. This marks the lender's first such reset since 2015.

The change took effect on August 1, 2025, and applies to all new accounts. The revision does not affect salary accounts opened with the bank, which continue to have separate terms.

The move signals a sharper focus on affluent customers while trimming its exposure to the mass-market segment. In 2015, ICICI had been among the first private banks to raise minimum balance thresholds.

According to the bank’s updated service charge schedule dated August 1, effective immediately, the new MAB for semi-urban locations is Rs 25,000, while rural accounts must maintain Rs 10,000. Customers failing to meet the required MAB will face a penalty of 6 percent of the shortfall or Rs 500, whichever is lower.

However, pensioners remain exempt from these charges.

The bank has also kept in place existing restrictions on cash transactions for savings account holders. Customers are entitled to three free cash deposits or withdrawals per month at ICICI Bank branches. These are further subject to a value cap of Rs 1 lakh in total for the month, across both deposits and withdrawals.

Once a customer exceeds either the number limit (more than three transactions) or the value limit (more than Rs 1 lakh in total), charges kick in. These charges are Rs 150 per transaction or Rs 3.50 per Rs 1,000 transacted, whichever amount is higher.

If a single transaction breaches both the number and value limits in the same month, the bank applies the higher of the two applicable charges.

Additionally, third-party cash deposits and withdrawals, where someone other than the account holder performs the transaction, are capped at Rs 25,000 per transaction for all savings accounts.