ICICI Bank cuts new savings account MAB to ₹15,000 in metros.
Semi-urban and rural MAB revised to ₹7,500 and ₹2,500.
Reversal follows strong customer backlash over steep MAB hike.
Rival banks keep lower MAB or waive balance requirement entirely.
ICICI Bank has reversed its decision to raise the minimum monthly average balance (MAB) for new savings accounts in metro and urban cities to ₹50,000, bringing it 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, Business Standard reported.
Addressing the reversal, the bank said, “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 simple average of day-end balances for a calendar month is referred to as MAB.
This decision comes days after the bank faced sharp criticism from customers as well as civil society groups, for raising the MAB for new savings accounts.
However, even after the reversal, the MAB is higher than the previous structure. Before this, MAB for new savings accounts in metro and urban areas was ₹10,000. In case of semi-urban branches, it was ₹5,000, and in rural branches it was ₹5,000.
Earlier this week, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra clarified that the regulator has left it to individual banks to decide their extent of MAB and that there is no regulatory restriction on this.
In case of other large private-sector lenders such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, etc., the MAB requirement is lower, standing at ₹10,000 in metro and urban centres. On the other hand, 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.
In addition to that, the country’s largest private-sector bank, HDFC bank clarified that there has been no change in its average monthly balance (AMB) requirement for any account type.
The AMB for the regular savings account continues to be ₹10,000 and AMB for the savings max account remains at ₹25,000, the bank noted.
As per HDFC Bank, “Given customer usage in metro areas, the bank will prioritise offering the savings max account to customers opening new accounts in metro branches.”
