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Whether you’re a gamer or not, there’s a high chance that you know someone who uses Razer products – a laptop, mouse, or gaming chair – or you have used them yourself.
The same can’t be said for Razer Pay, though. The e-wallet was launched in Malaysia in 2018 and in Singapore a year after that. But despite the high anticipation, Razer Pay didn’t live up to its hype and was unpopular even among Razer’s core ecosystem of gamers.
The reasons for Razer Pay’s closure range from its struggle to differentiate itself in a hypercompetitive digital payments space to a lack of expertise in rolling out and operating an e-wallet, which some former employees attested to. The failure to clinch a coveted digital banking license in Singapore could have also thrown Razer Fintech off, an industry watcher says.
In this story, we spoke to Razer Fintech CEO Li Meng Lee about everything from how the Razer Pay’s shutdown affects the company’s fintech ambitions, why it’s betting big on merchant services instead, and its strategy for crypto – a space that it’s keenly watching.
— Melissa
THE BIG STORY
What’s next for Razer Fintech after Razer Pay’s demise?
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Despite the prevailing narrative, Razer Fintech CEO Li Meng Lee says that e-wallet Razer Pay “was going well.”
DEEP READS
1️⃣ Buying a bank turned Lending Club around. Now the fintech industry is watching
Lending Club, the peer-to-peer lending platform that became a banking marketplace, reported second quarter earnings with a surprising profit just a year after it had bought Radius, a Boston-based online bank.
Lower costs of loans and a new revenue stream – interest income – have helped drive better margins and consequently, revenue. Lending Club’s transition towards becoming a balance sheet lender (as opposed t0 simply connecting potential lenders with borrowers) has also given it added credibility, its CEO says.
We previously wrote about Singapore-based fintech firm Finaxar, which is seeing a similar opportunity in this space. You can check out that story here.
TRENDING NEWS
STARTUP WATCH
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