Razer creates prepaid Razer card, steps closer to global youth bank ambition

Razer Fintech, the financial technology arm of lifestyle brand for gamers Razer, has collaborated with Visa to unveil a prepaid card named "the Razer Card".  The card encompasses facilities such as  cashback features, a gamified in-app rewards system, and will be able to make payments at over 61 million merchant locations globally where Visa is accepted. According to Kunal Chatterjee, Visa country manager for Singapore and Brunei, the Razer Card will also feature contactless payment technology, allowing cardholders to tap to pay for their day-to-day activities such as taking public transportation on buses and trains, buying movie tickets at the cinemas and purchasing a meal at quick-service restaurants.

The card will be offered to Razer users at no subscription, with the option to upgrade to a standard or premium physical card. This integrated prepaid payment solution is said to be aligned to Razer Fintech’s ambition to establish the world’s first global youth bank. Marketing has reached out for additional information. All versions of the Razer Card will be made available to users in Singapore from January 2021 before expanding globally. Following the launch in Singapore, the Razer Card will be made available in other countries globally where its e-wallet Razer Pay is available.

Prior to its official launch, the Razer card will be made available to 1,337 selected users from now until 31 December via an exclusive three-month beta testing program. This will provide selected users an opportunity to experience the virtual beta and physical card first-hand and play a part in the product-enhancement process by providing user feedback before the card’s public release, according to a press release. To incentivise active testing, the beta testers will enjoy increased 10% cashback on RazerStore and Razer Gold purchases, and a slew of gamified rewards where testers complete tasks, level up and stand to redeem up to SG$2,000 worth of Razer gear and free card upgrades. The beta testing opportunity is the first time a new Razer solution is being conducted in the Singapore market.

Razer is the latest brand to establish a partnership with Visa in recent months. Last week, eCommerce platform Shopee entered a five-year regional partnership with Visa. Through the partnership, Shopee users will be able to pay using Visa and enjoy additional promotions and rewards. Meanwhile, Visa will tap on Shopee’s extensive user base to expand its presence with Southeast Asia businesses and online shoppers. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has also collaborated with Visa to address the needs of Singapore’s tourism and lifestyle SMEs impacted by COVID-19. The STB-Visa collaboration focuses on two strategic areas to revive the local tourism industry - marketing partnerships and joint research and analytics.

The launch of Razer Card comes as the company noted that more than 174 million people across Southeast Asia still lack bank accounts or access to credit cards, while another 30 million make minimal use of banks, according to a study done by Boston Consulting Group. This has resulted in nearly three-quarters of consumer payments in the region to be transacted in cash.

Lee Li Meng, chief executive officer, Razer Fintech, said: “A lot of time and effort has gone into developing and perfecting this product that is truly going to value-add significantly to the lifestyle of our users. With this Razer Card, we have co-developed a unique prepaid solution that further cements our position as the largest offline-to-online digital payment network in the region. This collaboration opens up many opportunities for us to reach out and meet the needs of consumers, particularly the youth and millennials."

Last month, Razer experienced a data breach which allegedly exposed 100,000 Razer customer data. The breach was found by cyber security consultant "Volodymyr 'Bob' Diachenko", who said in his LinkedIn post that the exposed information includes full name, email, phone number, customer internal ID, order number, order details, billing and shipping address. Diachenko also added that Razer has since acknowledged the "server misconfiguration", and assured that no other sensitive data such as credit card numbers or passwords were exposed. 

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