Paytm Bank claims of being India’s ‘most sincere bank’, already!

“India’s most sincere bank”?

Shouldn’t people say that after using the bank’s services for at least some time? That is, shouldn’t Paytm Bank earn that after doing business without getting blocked by RBI?

But, this is a paid advertisement, where anything can be said without anyone questioning. So, anything goes.

As of now, they simply seem the most insincere bank given that RBI had blocked them very recently!

Now, there is nothing wrong with this statement. At all.

Only thing, it needs to sound true because it is such a bombastic, generic claim.

It can be a statement of achievement (already done) or a statement of intent (to be done).

It is definitely not a statement of achievement, because then, the ad would have a * and a fine print on qualifying that statement.

So, is it a statement of intent? That is, Paytm wants to be India’s most sincere bank? Sure, it can be – anybody can lay claim to that. But the way it is framed, it sounds insincere already, to begin with. If it was intent, it should ideally be, “We’d like to be India’s most sincere bank. Here is how/why/what…”. That’s a great signalling of intent. One that sounds honest too. And something nobody can question, because then, they’d also think in their minds, “Oh they want to be that? Hmmm, let me see if they do and read up on why they think they can live up to this!”.

Most importantly, they have recently been blocked by RBI, only one among 2 banks (along with Fino Bank). And their founder/head has been famously in a well-reported blackmail scheme. And the alleged perpetrators include his own communications head.

These do not add up in people’s mind as a clean slate or as an organization that can lay claim to ‘India’s most sincere’ whatever. Right now, it sounds like a very astute politician’s election promise – it adds to the organization’s aura without committing anything or framing it with any sense of intent or trust.

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