'Frontpage can be bought, trust cannot': Pine Labs takes a dig at Paytm

‘Frontpage can be bought, trust cannot’: Pine Labs takes a dig at Paytm

Merchant platform Pine Labs took a dig at rival Paytm’s frontpage ad in a national daily, triggering a major social media debate.

“The front page can be purchased, but trust cannot,” Pine Labs posted without naming Paytm.

On February 19, Paytm published a newspaper ad stating their omnipresence across the country with sound box and QR codes. Pine Labs took a potshot at the ad with “competitive campaign”.

Paytm had released the ad amid growing concerns over the operational status of the digital payments app after the Reserve Bank of India said Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, or PBBL, the app’s banking wing, cannot take deposits, offer credit services, or facilitate fund transfers from March 1.

The central bank, which in March 2022 directed PBBL to not on-board new customers, cited “persistent non-compliance” issues flagged by an external audit.

Pine Labs has been sharing the post on social media, essentially turning it into an ad.

The ad further said that around “One Million businesses across India count on Pine Labs to power their business in-store, one transaction at a time. Explore the range of our in-store solutions”.

Karthik Srinivasan,  former communications specialist of Ogilvy and Flipkart, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Pine Labs’ jab at Paytm is unwarranted.

“I fully understand that we are in a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog world. But even in such a world, there are perfectly civil ways to use a rival’s misfortune (brought upon by itself) without alluding directly to the rival,” Srinavasan wrote.

“I hold no brief for Paytm and believe the RBI action, after multiple warnings, is appropriate, for taking compliance so casually. But this below-the-belt jab from Pine Labs seems unwarranted,” he added.

Arindam Paul, CBO of Atomberg Tech, tweeted that Pine Labs’ ad was “classless and had a scarcity mindset”.

‘Classless and reeks of the scarcity mindset ( you have to lose for me to win) so ingrained in most of us. There are better ways to promote your brand without demeaning your competitor,’  Arindam Paul, CBO of Atomberg Tech, wrote on X.

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