Razer – the Singapore based gaming company – will launch an e-payment platform called Razer Pay by the first quarter of 2019. This e-payment aims to get one million people to use mobile wallets in Singapore.
Razer co-founder and chief executive officer Tan Min-Liang said Razer had committed to spearheading support for an e-payment solution. This solution could be run by any third-party e-payment provider that is already gaining traction.
"Accordingly, as we do not see any third-party consumer e-payment provider that is gaining traction, we plan to launch Razer Pay in Singapore by Q1 2019,” he wrote on his Facebook post.
Tan noted that while Singapore had, in the last year, introduced various e-payment initiatives, including SG QR and PayNow Corporate, the country has "hardly become a cashless economy".
As Tan outlined in his post, a lot has happened at Razer over the past year – particularly on the digital payments front – and he submitted this as evidence of the firm’s readiness to take on the challenge single-handedly.
In the meantime, Razer has made a few moves in the area of cashlessness, including acquiring South-east Asia-focused e-payment network MOL for US$100 million (S$137 million), partnering Singtel to create a regional e-payment network, and working with UOB to pioneer a non-bank, e-wallet app to offer both transfers and cash-outs through FAST.
FAST, which stands for fast and secure transfers, is an electronic fund transfer service that enables customers of participating banks to transfer Singapore dollars from one bank to another in the Republic almost instantly.
In July, Razer launched Razer Pay in Malaysia, with over 6,000 acceptance points at major retail and food and beverage outlets. Razer Pay has since become one of the largest, if not the largest, e-payment wallet in Malaysia, according to Mr Tan.
Razer is now seeking interested users and merchants for Razer Pay in Singapore and hiring for the Razer Pay team.
source: techinasia.com, straitstimes.com