If you keep your money in banks, then this news is of your use. Yes… you must be aware of the minimum balance in the account . The bank insists the customers to maintain a certain amount as Average Monthly Balance (AMB) in their regular savings bank accounts. Talking about AMB, it is different for every bank.
It depends on the location of the customers that how much money they have to keep in the account as a minimum. Location means here urban, metro, semi-urban and rural area. If you do not pay attention to the AMB and it will decrease then you may have to pay a fee to the bank. Some banks offer zero-balance savings account facility to the customers.
Let us tell you about the average monthly average of some major banks in the country. First of all, let’s talk about India’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India i.e. SBI. SBI has removed the condition of AMB on its basic savings accounts in March 2020. SBI account holders were earlier required to keep Rs 3000, Rs 2000 and Rs 1000 in their accounts, depending on the location of their branch in metro, semi-urban and rural areas. If you failed to maintain the AMB, the bank used to levy a penalty on you.
Now SBI has given many types of facilities to the customers. There is no obligation on the part of the bank to AMB. Not only this, SBI also provides additional benefits on ATM transactions to those customers who keep more money in their savings accounts. The bank provides the facility of unlimited free ATM transactions in a month to the customer having an average monthly balance of one lakh.
HDFC Bank
Talking about HDFC Bank, savings account holders of the bank in urban and metropolitan locations are required to maintain an average monthly balance of ₹10,000. Whereas in semi-urban location, minimum monthly limit of Rs 5,000 has to be kept in the bank. Coming to rural areas, customers are required to maintain an average quarterly balance of ₹2,500 in their savings accounts. Bank may impose fines and other charges on you if you are negligent in maintaining the AMB.
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank regular savings account holders are required to maintain a minimum monthly average balance of Rs 10,000 for metro or urban areas, Rs 5,000 for semi-urban locations and Rs 2,000 for rural locations. The bank imposes a penalty on the customers for failing to maintain the average balance.
Punjab National Bank
Savings account holders of Punjab National Bank located in branches located in metro and urban areas are required to maintain a quarterly balance of Rs 20,000. Whereas the minimum quarterly average balance in semi-urban and rural locations is Rs 1000 and Rs 500 respectively.