What is the minimum balance required in SBI, PNB, ICICI, HDFC savings account?

Minimum Balance Bank Rules- Big news for bank customers. ICICI Bank, a big private sector bank, recently took a decision regarding the minimum average balance. However, it has withdrawn its old decision within a few days. Earlier, the bank had fixed a MAB of Rs 50,000 for those opening new accounts in metro and urban areas, which was strongly opposed by the customers. After criticism, the bank has now implemented a new rule, which has made banking services somewhat easier for the middle class.

While government banks like SBI, PNB and Canara Bank are giving relief to customers by removing the MAB condition, private sector banks like ICICI, HDFC and Axis still impose the condition of maintaining minimum balance. In such a situation, customers must check the MAB policy of their bank before opening an account. So that penalty can be avoided.

ICICI Bank’s new rule

As per the new changes, the minimum average balance for urban and metro cities will be Rs 15,000. In semi-urban areas, it has been fixed at Rs 7,500 and in rural branches, it has been fixed at Rs 2,500. However, this limit is still higher than many banks, which have reduced or removed the minimum balance condition.

Rules of other banks

The country’s largest public sector bank SBI had completely removed the minimum balance requirement from all rural and metro savings accounts in 2020 itself. Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank had also decided not to maintain MAB and not to charge penalty for all savings accounts. This provided great relief to crores of account holders.

In rural areas, SBI and PNB have completely abolished the condition of minimum balance, which means that the account can be operated even with zero balance. In Union Bank, if you have a cheque book, then you must keep Rs 250 and without a cheque book, you must keep only Rs 100.

In HDFC Bank, for rural accounts, the balance has to be maintained at Rs 2,500, while in ICICI Bank, the balance in rural areas ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500. Axis Bank asks for a minimum balance of Rs 2,500 in rural branches, Bank of Baroda asks for Rs 500 and IDFC First Bank asks for a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 or Rs 25,000.

Even in urban or metro areas, SBI and PNB do not have this condition and the account remains active even with zero balance. In Union Bank, the minimum balance to be maintained is Rs 1,000 with cheque book and Rs 500 without cheque book. 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 is Rs 2,000 in Bank of Baroda and Rs 10,000 or Rs 25,000 balance has to be maintained in IDFC First Bank.