Pine Labs Takes A Potshot At Paytm: Foul Or Fair?

Taking a jibe at Paytm’s recently published front-page ad in a national daily, the fintech major’s rival Pine Labs has launched a campaign stating that the front page can be bought but not the trust.

To do this, fintech unicorn Pine Labs launched an ad campaign on X, showcasing a POS machine and a kicker that reads — “The front page can be bought. Trust cannot”. 

The Pine Labs ad on X further asserts that its “fully compliant platform” is trusted by 1 Mn businesses.

The move by Pine Labs, which is being touted as moment marketing by many digital media experts, came a day after Paytm got a full-page ad published on the front page of Times Of India, reassuring its users and merchants that its QR, soundbox, and card machine will continue to work.

Meanwhile, Pine Labs’ ad campaign on X has created flutters among many digital marketing experts and brand evangelists.

Speaking with Inc42, ex-India and South East Asia head of Citrus Ad Kushal Sanghvi and a digital marketing expert said that the move by Pine Labs is a perfect example of moment marketing. 

While many see the ad campaign by Paytm’s rival as a move below the belt, Sanghvi believes that there is nothing wrong with such kinds of digital campaigns. 

“To comment about your competitor is absolutely fine and can be easily executed in the digital age. With this, Pine Labs is looking to capture the moment in a smart fashion by investing fractionally less on a digital ad campaign,” he added. 

According to Sanghvi, very few brands have the confidence to pull off such marketing adventures without being distasteful. 

Although the chief executive of Kiaos Marketing Sajal Gupta shares Sanghvi’s belief, he is also of the view that this kind of stunt could prove to be a double-edged sword if pushed too far.  

“Marketing is also about taking advantage of such situations and companies understand this. However, sometimes many cross boundaries, attracting legal action. In this case, Pine Labs needs to be smart to identify when and where to stop,” he added.

This comes at a time when Paytm is dousing many fires after the RBI action. For the uninitiated, the central bank barred Paytm Payments Bank on January 31, 2024, from taking any deposits or credit transactions or top-ups in customer accounts.

It also stopped Paytm Payments Bank from providing any other banking services, such as UPI facility and fund transfers, after March 15.

However, the VSS-led fintech giant seems to be in recovery mode. Notably, the recovery has come on the back of the RBI extending its February 29 deadline to March 15 and Paytm timely shifting its nodal account to Axis Bank. 

In a further respite, even the ED has not yet found any traces of FEMA violations, sans some lapses related to KYC guidelines.

Meanwhile, other players in the digital payments space have also been trying to take advantage of the situation. However, none of its other competitors like PhonePe or Google Pay have taken the Pine Labs route as of yet. 

In Bengaluru, for example, almost every merchant is witnessing an influx of field agents trying to convince them to switch to their platforms, open a current account with them or purchase their soundboxes.