YES BANK gets a big “yes” from a former U.S. President.

I’d call it a pretty good marketing coup when a bank has an actual endorsement by a former President of the United States on its website’s homepage. And, that what this Indian bank, aptly named YES BANK, achieved. I don’t care what your political affiliation; you have to admit that this bank has moxie.
The homepage allows for a pop-up so the website visitor can read the actual transcript of President’s Clinton’s message to the bank’s founder. In fact, Clinton used the YES BANK’s calling card to pen his personal hand-written message. . . even better. The note is in response to the bank’s backing of the Clinton Global Initiative. The Clinton message rotates with a note from the Indian Union Minister of Commerce thanking the bank for their “efforts in stimulating the economy.”

Here’s a little insight into YES BANK from their “Press Room”. It’s from an article in The New Economy entitled, “A Bank to Be Positive About?” It calls YES founder Rana Kapoor a far-sighted entrepreneur who “has the chance to carve a lucrative and rewarding niche based on technology and highly responsive, top quality service.” The article notes that India is hugely under-serviced in terms of banking services. A country of more than one billion people has only about 250 million bank account holders. Meanwhile India’s banking industry grows by 15-17% annually, versus the 1-2 % growth rate of European banks.” (Note: Winter 2008 article) Kapoor said YES BANK is also the first Indian signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and has engaged with global thought leadership forums like the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

YES BANK has more interesting aspects to their bank marketing strategy that I will explore in my next post. . . one being entitled as “Human Capital." An intriguing concept for a financial institution.

And, YES I do like their name!