Brands
Policybazaar, Paisabazaar sign Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador
MUMBAI: ETechAces Marketing & Consulting, which owns insur-tech brand, PolicyBazaar.com, and marketplace for lending products, PaisaBazaar.com, has roped in actor Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador.
Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com have launched their biggest ever marketing campaign, spread across the financial products basket of term insurance, free credit score and others.
The campaign was launched with a video of Kumar donning the avatar of Yamraj for Policybazaar’s campaign on the digital platform. The first TVCs from the duo will be aired across a spectrum of TV channels, including the IPL broadcast.
Commenting on why the maverick actor was a natural choice for the brand to sign as its ambassador, policybazaar.com co-founder and group CEO Yashish Dahiya says, “He is self-made, speaks directly and delivers important messages with humour, these attributes make him a perfect fit for our brands. Like him, our brands stand for transparency, positive social change, reliability, trust and have a genuine connect with the masses. So, this partnership is a natural extension of the values that we share with him. Our shared passion for fitness is an added plus.”
paisabazaar.com co-founder and CEO Naveen Kukreja adds, “Being the market leaders for both insurance and lending products, our next step is to take our brand to every Indian household and who better than Akshay Kumar to spread this message. Along with being one of the biggest names in the Indian entertainment Industry, he is also the face that the common man resonates with. We strongly feel our association with Akshay would further build customer’s trust on Policybazaar and Paisabazaar.”
Policybazaar.com and paisabazaar.com associate director and group head of marketing Sai Narayan mentions, “Our latest marketing campaign, featuring Akshay Kumar, is aimed to garner a wider reach for both Policybazaar and Paisabazaar’s key messaging around financial products. We have already upped the ante through our ongoing campaign during the IPL broadcasts, and will be launching our new campaign with Akshay in the IPL later this week. We will also launch other product-specific campaigns with Akshay through the year.”
The high-impact campaign will be aired on Star Sports, Star Sports HD, Star Gold, &Pictures, &TV, Discovery Channel, History TV18, National Geographic, NDTV 24×7, India Today, Mirror Now, Zee TV, Aaj Tak, ABP News and others.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
