MobiKwik celebrates the ban on Chinese apps, takes a sly dig at Paytm because of its “Chinese” investors

The government had banned 43 Chinese apps that were detrimental to national security on 24 November 2020.

MobiKwik, an Indian fintech platform known for its digital wallet offering has tried to hit two stones with one tweet that read, “220 Chinese Apps banned. Are you still paying your bills with the 221st?”

Go #VocalForLocal. Download the truly Indian payments app - https://t.co/MzRiectsll#SwitchToMobiKwik pic.twitter.com/G8FLU2TPoo

— MobiKwik (@MobiKwik) November 25, 2020

MobiKwik is referring to the number apps India has banned this year, the 221st jab is towards Paytm, another Indian fintech company which was in the news some time ago because China's Alibaba and Ant Financial are its major investors; people were questioning its Indian-ness at a time when the anti-China sentiment was at its peak.

It’s a piece of moment marketing where MobiKwik decided to go all out just like Paytm did with its newspaper ad a day after Prime Minister Modi announced demonetisation in November 2016.

On 24 November 2020, the government of India banned 43 Chinese apps. This was the government’s third such move after it banned 118 apps in September and 59 apps in June.

An official statement from the Ministry of Electronics & IT read, “This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”

“Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued the order for blocking the access of these apps by users in India based on the comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs.”

The banned apps included the likes of Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Lalamove India - Delivery App, and Snack Video.

Referring to Snack Video, a Chinese short-video app’s ban, Varun Saxena, founder and CEO, Bolo Indya App said, “This is yet another welcome move from the government to stand against Chinese apps that always have had serious privacy issues."

"We happily extend our support to all the language users and creators of Snack video especially who are residing in tier 3/4 cities to come and join Bolo Indya as we stay committed to provide them the unparallel opportunity to earn by making videos, gaining follower base and highly engaging content that users love to watch over 30 min every day.”