Why has ICICI Bank randomly done a Total Freeze on my Account?

[dvader]

This is the whole reason I try to avoid UPI like the plague. You don't know who you are sending money to. Am I am not talking about merchants, Merchants are mostly fine, it's those shop owners with personal UPI IDs, with accounts in the name of god knows who. I have made a policy of not shopping at Personal UPI QRs and People who don't accept RuPay CC.

 

[aditya128]

In the past month may be around 50

50 cr? Because in lacs I don't think account get freeze until and unless you have opened account last year and you haven't declared correct income

 

[boyella]

50 cr? Because in lacs I don't think account get freeze until and unless you have opened account last year and you haven't declared correct income

Nah man just no of transactions that's all..in terms of value less than 10lkh for sure..past 1yr around 35lkhs..

 

[boyella]

My issue was I have a personal loan and car loan running through the same account and those emis are gonna get bounced and my cibil is gone for good..this is just a disaster. Bank officials are not responding properly as usual

 

[KGF]

Legally all banks must allow 300-600 UPI txns a month (10-20 a day). What are these people smoking?? I make 70-100 txns on my SBI account a month and my dad makes 7-10 a day on his Karnataka Bank a/c for years now. Better to walk around with cash then.

 

[dvader]

@OP Any update on this?

 

[boyella]

@OP Any update on this?

My bank manager said the same reason unusual transactions most probably due to UPI or high transaction issues..he is busy with the audit atm and asked me to contact again Friday or Saturday.. hopefully problem can be solved..i am waiting for the guys reply who is facing the exact same issue as mine

 

[MikeShinoda]

Brother what's the update now? I got the same message like yours. Even mine was wealth management account. Kindly let me know if there is any solution to unfreeze the account

UPDATE

I got a call from the Branch Manager. The issue is NOT UPI transactions.

The issue is that I was using this account to funnel money between my other bank accounts. ie: money used to come in and out very quickly. So it was frozen as a precaution. She asked me where I worked and my designation, and stated that when I come to the branch, they will confirm my identity and unfreeze it for me.

This will happen only in March. Shall keep y'all posted.

 

[boyella]

UPDATE

I got a call from the Branch Manager. The issue is NOT UPI transactions.

The issue is that I was using this account to funnel money between my other bank accounts. ie: money used to come in and out very quickly. So it was frozen as a precaution. She asked me where I worked and my designation, and stated that when I come to the branch, they will confirm my identity and unfreeze it for me.

This will happen only in March. Shall keep y'all posted.

I got the exact same message like yours but my deputy branch manager said that no idea may be upi transactions lol..yes I also transferred between my other bank accounts so that must be the reason but my bank officials are clueless lol🤦

 

[dvader]

UPDATE

I got a call from the Branch Manager. The issue is NOT UPI transactions.

The issue is that I was using this account to funnel money between my other bank accounts. ie: money used to come in and out very quickly. So it was frozen as a precaution. She asked me where I worked and my designation, and stated that when I come to the branch, they will confirm my identity and unfreeze it for me.

This will happen only in March. Shall keep y'all posted.

Not as a precaution. Transfering your money between your own accounts should be the safest thing in banking. There may have been an unethical push to discourage user from keeping money in other bank accounts

I would suggest raising an Ombudsman complaint with 100000 Compensation to teach these bastards a leason.

 

[VasukiVasuki is verified member.]

Not as a precaution. Transfering your money between your own accounts should be the safest thing in banking. There may have been an unethical push to discourage user from keeping money in other bank accounts

I would suggest raising an Ombudsman complaint with 100000 Compensation to teach these bastards a leason.

Banks & their poor algorithm

Also high security due to rising frauds

 

[boyella]

Not as a precaution. Transfering your money between your own accounts should be the safest thing in banking. There may have been an unethical push to discourage user from keeping money in other bank accounts

I would suggest raising an Ombudsman complaint with 100000 Compensation to teach these bastards a leason.

Now they called me saying that the freeze happened because the transaction happened in a way that it looks like business transactions which happens in a current account..then she said that the account will be closed usually in these cases..crazy banks man. Just because we do multiple transactions they freeze and close the account what kind of bullishit was this.

 

[aditya128]

Now they called me saying that the freeze happened because the transaction happened in a way that it looks like business transactions which happens in a current account..then she said that the account will be closed usually in these cases..crazy banks man. Just because we do multiple transactions they freeze and close the account what kind of bullishit was this.

How much funds you keep in this account? ICICI hardly freeze account unless there is really something wrong. Their System is pretty strong in comparison to IndusInd or IDFC

 

[boyella]

How much funds you keep in this account? ICICI hardly freeze account unless there is really something wrong. Their System is pretty strong in comparison to IndusInd or IDFC

Depends man may be 20k or something. It's a wealth account..anyway i am gonna meet the manager on Monday will see what happens..i already have a current account in the same branch for my business activities lol..these guys are just crazy..I have ongoing loans and fd and a policy too.. their system fucked up that's all

 

[dvader]

Depends man may be 20k or something. It's a wealth account..anyway i am gonna meet the manager on Monday will see what happens..i already have a current account in the same branch for my business activities lol..these guys are just crazy..I have ongoing loans and fd and a policy too.. their system fucked up that's all

Ok now it's making sense. Did you do a lot of txns from CA to SA or vice versa?

 

[boyella]

Ok now it's making sense. Did you do a lot of txns from CA to SA or vice versa?

Nope very very rare transfer from current to my savings.like may be monthly once..the reason was same like the guy who started the post..too many high value transactions happened like it's a current account
..lol last 6 months 10lkh credits and debits happened in my savings account..if that's too much i should stop using banks altogether..main reason was they want money to stay in the banks i think..like if I am just using it for deposit and withdrawal then the system is gonna flag it..so unless u want to hold significant amount in banks no point in opening a savings account anymore..too many restrictions happening in the background of their system without our knowledge

 

[boyella]

Latest update I met the bm and they are not taking risks at the moment to unfreeze the accounts..what's crazy was there are 100s of accounts already frozen with similar reasons and he explained how internal monitoring has been changed by their bank in the last 1yr and how strict they have become due to lot of cyber cases which are involving the banks in multiple cases too .so if at all they observe something abnormal they are outright freezing and closing the accounts..my family has many current accounts in the same branch so I had a meeting for more than 30mins to unfreeze the same..finally he said he will try his best but don't keep hopes up and asked me to write the letter to have a better chance..a lot more was discussed regarding these freezes..anyway i advise you guys to keep a minimal balance in the bank no matter which bank it is..you are always at risk..good luck guys

 

[bkext]

Looks like ICICI recently hired tech junkies from IDFC. 😬

 

[misteramit]

sad state of affairs with banks these days,

no point in using banking system if they are not ready to unfreeze account and outright close accounts as per their convenience,

I agree that bank algorithm can mess up sometimes but not listening to customers , no manual reviews and closing accounts is totally unacceptable.


They are literally playing bluff with users money, either park money as per bank rules/policy of so called minimum average/maintenance or they deny banking services altogether by freezing and closing bank accounts giving illogical reasoning/excuses.

We are not the end user customers anymore , we are being forced to follow the ever changing T&C , banking policies , internal hidden policies/guidelines , legal constraints, regulations.

We trust banking system with our money and they make internal hidden policies and algorithms at their own interest, not even ready to do manual reviews of system errors and mishaps.

(not talking about the fraud and scam nonsense happening these days using the vulnerable banking networks/systems where scamsters always getaway with some loopholes and let alone suffer the genuine customers or victims who have no clue of the scam happening - cyber complaint is some next level of harassment, a nightmare no one can ever imagine)

 

[iamjeetendra]

My ICICI Bank account too met with same fate on 15th Feb 2025, reason - regulatory/other reasons and account went into frozen status. Met with branch official today, outright I was asked to give an application to close the account (amount available in my account will get credited to my another bank's account). It may take 7 to 10 days, let see.