Have A Savings Account? Find Out How Much Balance You Need To Avoid Penalty Charges

Major banks today require their customers holding regular savings accounts to maintain a certain balance. Failing to comply with these rules - monthly average balance or MAB rules - attracts a penalty charge for the account holders. From State Bank of India (SBI) to ICICI Bank to HDFC Bank, top lenders require the customers to maintain an MAB - which is the average of end-of-day balances in a month - from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. The required average varies depending on type of branch: metro, urban, semi-urban and rural.

Here's a comparison of different minimum balance requirements set by top banks such as SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank:

SBI minimum balance requirement in savings account

SBI requires its customers holding savings bank accounts in metro and urban branches to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs 3,000, according to the bank's website - sbi.co.in. For accounts in semi-urban branches and rural branches, this requirement has been set at Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively, according to SBI.

ICICI Bank minimum balance requirement in savings account

ICICI Bank has set the minimum monthly average balance at Rs 10,000 for its branches in metro and urban locations, according to the lender's website - icicibank.com. For semi-urban branches, the stipulated monthly average balance amount has been set at Rs 5,000. For rural branches, the bank has set minimum monthly average balances of Rs 2,000, according to the ICICI Bank website.

HDFC Bank minimum balance requirement in savings account

HDFC Bank requires customers holding savings bank accounts with it in metro and urban branches to maintain a minimum monthly average balance of Rs 10,000 in a month, according to the bank's website - hdfcbank.com. For semi-urban branches, the bank has set a monthly average balance requirement at Rs 5,000. The bank requires its customers holding accounts in rural branches to either maintain an average quarterly balance or AQB of Rs 2,500, or keep a fixed deposit (FD) of Rs 10,000 with the bank for a minimum term of one year and one day, according to the HDFC Bank portal.