SINGAPORE - Razer Pay, the e-payment platform by Singaporean-founded gaming company Razer, will launch in Singapore by the first quarter of 2019, nearly half a year after it was rolled out in Malaysia.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Sept 7), Razer co-founder and chief executive officer Tan Min-Liang said that a year ago, Razer had committed - in an e-payment proposal to the Singapore Government - to spearhead support for an e-payment solution for Singapore. This solution could be run by "any third-party e-payment provider that is already gaining traction", Razer had said.
In the event that there was no viable third-party e-payment provider, Razer would launch Razer Pay, which will be funded and run by Razer, with a view to issue one million wallets in Singapore by April 2019, Razer had added in its proposal.
In the Facebook update, Mr Tan said: "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."
Mr 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".
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, Mr Tan said.
FAST, which stands for fast and secure transfers, is an electronic funds 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.
