Mumbai, India – Indian payment services RuPay has launched a new campaign for the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a humorous ad that had cricketer Dinesh Karthik dealing with an unlikely predicament – trying to juggle and catch falling artefacts in a museum. A guy then appears offering Dinesh a ‘safe catch service’.
The ad, conceptualised by DDB Mudra Group, is a metaphorical hit on RuPay’s ‘game-changing’ product which allows users to access their RuPay credit cards through the UPI platform. The Unified Payments Interface is an instant real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.
RuPay parent company NPCI has partnered with IPL to launch the campaign on the opening day of the season. The ad aims to highlight the benefits of RuPay credit card linkage on UPI, encouraging consumers to inquire with their bank about the feature.
Additionally, as part of the campaign, three other films developed by DDB Mudra Group will also be released throughout the league season. The films playfully describe how customers will be able to use UPI, whilst also enjoying rewards and the loyalty points program of their favourite credit card.
“We, at NPCI, are proud to share this path-defining offering of RuPay Credit Cards on UPI and believe it would play a significant role in India’s credit journey,” Praveena Rai, COO at NPCI, commented. “We have always looked to create innovative products facilitating convenience for better payments systems for the nation. Our partnership with IPL, just like the partnership between RuPay and UPI, will amplify our efforts in consumer awareness on the benefits of having access to credit on UPI. The RuPay campaign is witty and breaks clutter. We hope consumers enjoy the ads, as they do IPL.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Mathew, CCO & executive director of DDB Mudra Group, commented, “RuPay is the first credit card that allows you to pay through UPI. It’s such a breakthrough and disruption in the category. We felt a product that’s so differentiated and is a standout, needs work that is the same.”
The use of the card is live on cards issued by HDFC Bank, BoB Financial Services, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Axis Bank. Other banks like Kotak Mahindra Bank shall also soon be live with their UPI functionality on RuPay credit cards.