ICICI Bank has reversed its recent hike in minimum monthly average balance (MAB) norms for new savings accounts after facing strong public criticism. The bank had last weekend announced a steep increase—raising the MAB for new accounts in metro and urban branches from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000, in semi-urban branches from ₹5,000 to ₹25,000, and in rural branches from ₹2,000 to ₹10,000. Customers failing to meet these requirements would have faced a penalty of 6% of the shortfall or ₹500, whichever was lower.
On Wednesday, the country’s second-largest private lender rolled back the changes, setting new MAB limits at ₹15,000 for metro and urban locations, ₹7,500 for semi-urban, and ₹2,500 for rural areas.
In its statement, the bank said, “We had introduced new requirements for the Monthly Average Balance (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.”
The revised MAB norms will not apply to salary accounts, senior citizens and pensioners above 60 years, BSBDA/PMJDY accounts, accounts for people with special needs, or any savings account opened before July 31, 2025.
ATM Transaction Charges Unchanged
The bank also reiterated its existing schedule of charges for ATM transactions. At ICICI Bank ATMs, customers can make five free cash withdrawals per month, after which ₹23 per financial transaction will be charged. All non-financial transactions—such as balance inquiries, mini statements, and PIN changes—are free at the bank’s ATMs.
For non-ICICI Bank ATMs, in six metro cities—Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad—three transactions (financial or non-financial) are free each month, with subsequent transactions charged at ₹23 for financial and ₹8.5 for non-financial. In other locations, the first five such transactions are free. The bank clarified that a maximum of five free transactions per month is allowed across all locations, with a cap of three free transactions at the six metros.
MAB is calculated as the simple average of day-end balances over a calendar month.
