Icici Bank

[chandannasta 4]

Guys is it true that ICICI Bank is going to quit soon from the market. In my building many of the members are just quitting their accounts from ICICI the senior aged members as they say the market is falling down, so its going to quit soon. So just wanted to know as its a private bank. Is it a rumour or is it true?

[Honest 836]

^^^

@Chandan

My dear friend, its not true at all. No such thing is going to happen with ICICI. Its just a rumour.

Their could be another reason belonged to the closing down of the accounts.

One reason could be that from 1st July 2008, ICICI bank is going to increase the minimum balance maintained to Rs.10,000/-, which is till date just Rs.5000/-.

ICICI has send the letters to many of its customers that they are going to increase the minimum balance limit from 1st July 2008. Those clients which do want to close their account can do so before 30th June 2008 without any account closure charges. After June 30th, they will be charged for the account closure.

So, this can be the solid reason for the many account closures in your area branch.

Regards.

[raccoon 53]

Don't know about the financial status of ICICI (& dont really care, as I dont have an a/c with them), but asking for Rs. 10,000 min balance in a basic savings account is BAD news! I certainly hope other private banks don't follow this path...

Edited June 25, 2008 by raccoon

[manishag 17]

in the past I have heard that 1 big scam was caught in ICICI in which it was found that majority of there market investment is invested in ICICI itself after that it was a rumor that ICICI might get close

[Greatest 55]

ICICI is a behemoth... if it shuits down business, India GDP might get halted and start dropping...

Today ICICI is the second largest bank (in terms of business after SBI), and if it closes its doors, there is a possiblity that the financial industry might crumble... im sure its just a rumour...!!

[vmsanghrajka 0]

Its just a rumor.. Rumors mongers please stop it.. Will you?

[copperco2 24]

i am seriously planning th shift my account from icici as the service has gone to being pathetic..

it was est beore it became the biggest..now it has also become lethargic...

the only binding product for me is the demat account.. nothing else.

i would be too happy to shift to BOM or SBI asasp..rumour or no rumour..

[vmsanghrajka 0]

I beg to differ, I am quite happy wit ICICI services.. I am using Corporate Roaming Current A/c, Car Loan and Credit Card.. Contrary to other banks, I simply get great service from ICICI bank

[Sadikk 301]

My 2 home loan from ICICI.

[Ganesh 0]

NO bank can be closed dear. RBI regulations apply. Dont be fooled with all these

[Honest 836]

^^^

And to add with Ganesh's reply, the service of ICICI is really great. No other bank could match the service with ICICI.

Regards.

[commonman 228]

^^^

And to add with Ganesh's reply, the service of ICICI is really great. No other bank could match the service with ICICI.

Regards.

I beg to differ on that point. Being a customer of ICICI Bank for the last 9 years, i have definitely felt the service quality going continuously downwards as their customer base went upwards.

As regards the increase in the AQB requirements, RBI has recently issued a circular to make all transactions at all "other bank" ATMs also to be made free w.e.f. 1.4.2009. The banks are increasing the AQB requirements to compensate for the revenue loss.

Axis Bank is presently offering a product with Zero Minimum Balance and Zero AQB requirement and with all facilities of normal savings account but for an annual charge of Rs.500 or Rs.600 (i am not very sure of the exact amount).

[chandannasta 4]

^^^

And to add with Ganesh's reply, the service of ICICI is really great. No other bank could match the service with ICICI.

Regards.

I beg to differ on that point. Being a customer of ICICI Bank for the last 9 years, i have definitely felt the service quality going continuously downwards as their customer base went upwards.

As regards the increase in the AQB requirements, RBI has recently issued a circular to make all transactions at all "other bank" ATMs also to be made free w.e.f. 1.4.2009. The banks are increasing the AQB requirements to compensate for the revenue loss.

Axis Bank is presently offering a product with Zero Minimum Balance and Zero AQB requirement and with all facilities of normal savings account but for an annual charge of Rs.500 or Rs.600 (i am not very sure of the exact amount).

R u sure that axis bank is opening free O balance savings account. Does it offer debit card too?

[amtrag 20]

Dear commonman,

Axis bank is offering zero balance with yearly charge of Rs.500. So even if your actual AQB is more than Rs 10K, you still end up paying Rs.500 compulsarily.

On the other hand, ICICI does not charge you anything, but you have to maintain AQB of Rs.10K. But still your money is always available to you, even if you have to maintain zero balance for a few days, and and you can average it out with a deposit of say Rs.20K for equal no. of days. For salaried people, it should not be a problem, maybe for students (or anybody not having a regular cash flow), it might be a hassle to maintain.

And otherwise also, ICICI used to have an AQB of Rs.5000 long long back. Taking into account the inflation, value of Rs 5000 8-10 years ago should not be less than Rs.10000 today.

[manishag 17]

but SBI is offering the services with the Balance of Rs 1000

they do have all sort of facilities like Core Banking ATM, Internet Banking, NEFT Money Transfer. and they have the widest network you can find SBI ATM even near a small Village where as ICICI Bank is available in big cities only. Apart from that SBI charges nominal for the services where as ICICI charges are very High. And then they do not offer good services at all

[commonman 228]

Dear commonman,

Axis bank is offering zero balance with yearly charge of Rs.500. So even if your actual AQB is more than Rs 10K, you still end up paying Rs.500 compulsarily.

On the other hand, ICICI does not charge you anything, but you have to maintain AQB of Rs.10K. But still your money is always available to you, even if you have to maintain zero balance for a few days, and and you can average it out with a deposit of say Rs.20K for equal no. of days. For salaried people, it should not be a problem, maybe for students (or anybody not having a regular cash flow), it might be a hassle to maintain.

And otherwise also, ICICI used to have an AQB of Rs.5000 long long back. Taking into account the inflation, value of Rs 5000 8-10 years ago should not be less than Rs.10000 today.

Dear amtrag

A salary account is normally offered by practically all banks at Zero AQB requirement. But these days people tend to have multiple accounts. Sometimes they may also be required to maintain these additional accounts as a mandatory requirement of their loan agreements with such other banks. And thats when the punch of AQB comes in.

The concept of AQB is that the closing balance of 90/91 days should total up to Min. AQB x 90/91 i.e. Rs. 9,00,000 if AQB is 10,000. So if a person wants to maintain zero balance for say 10 days each month, then for the balance 60 days of the quarter, he needs to maintain a daily closing bal. of 15000. There can be other combinations also. But it may not be easy for everybody.

Even today, most people bank with PSU banks primarily because most of the PSU banks have min. balance requirement of Rs.1000 only.

Thats why RBI has come up with the concept of No-frills accounts etc. The product from Axis bank is one such "option" for those who may not want to keep their funds blocked in but still want an additional account with all facilities. Other banks are also expected to come up with similar options. At the end of the day everybody has to make a choice based on their own financial position and judgment.

So on these matters there could probably never be a standard possible opinion that fits all, as our friend manishag agrees.

Edited June 30, 2008 by commonman

[raccoon 53]

but SBI is offering the services with the Balance of Rs 1000

Quite so! In fact, I belive if you dont avail of the cheque book facility, the min. balance needs to be Rs. 500 only.

All public sector and co-operative banks have similar requirements.

As for pvt. banks, I have an a/c with HDFC, and my bal is way above the min. Rs. 5,000 required (regular savings a/c), but would HATE it if it increased... dont like the idea of having to keep money tied up if I require it... in fact may consider closing the account in that scenario. Anyway, HDFC already has Savings Plus and Savings Max accounts (with more frills) where you need to keep Rs. 10,000 & Rs. 25,000 as AQB. So I hope they dont make any changes.

I just hope other banks dont start copying #^$!#&*%$ ICICI !!!

Edited June 30, 2008 by raccoon

[KumaarShah 143]

^^^

I also have accounts with SBI, ICICI, Citibank, Dena Bank, PNB etc.

I closed my accounts with HDFC, SCB, ABN, Indian Bank.

Of all the above SBI is the cheapest at 500 bucks without cheque book but with ATM card. At Citibank, I have a Gold account and hence there are no transaction charges of any kind whatsoever. PNB and Dena are also core banking but charges area bit heavier than SBI. As for ICICI, it is the costliest bank in terms of charges of any kind.