Everything started with a tweet by a Singapore Leader. In Aug 2017, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong tweeted about the need of single e-payment system and Razor CEO Tan Ming-Liang tweeted back that he could roll up a system island-wide in 18 months.
Since then, Razor has been betting on cryptocurrency as a strategy to compete in the gaming market; rarely mentions about Singapore or South East Asia (SEA) market. 9 months have passed and finally, they are entering a MoU with Singtel, largest telco in Singapore to collaborate in high grown areas of e-payment, esports, gaming-related digital media and telecommunication services across Southeast Asia.
As Asia’s leading communications group and the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers respectively, the Singtel Group and Razer will leverage each other’s strengths and capabilities to engage the region’s consumers and audiences. The Singtel Group, which includes whollyowned subsidiary Optus and regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel, has a combined reach of over 680 million mobile customers across the region.
Mr Arthur Lang, CEO of Singtel’s International Group, said, “As a Group devoted to connectivity, we are making a big push to create an ecosystem of digital services for our customers. Digital services from mobile payments to entertainment have become a big part of their lives, especially the millennials. Our collaboration with Razer, which shares our vision on e-payments and esports, will help advance our goal to empower customers to spend seamlessly across borders and experience the thrill of esports. We look forward to working with gaming partners and supporting community initiatives to grow esports in the region.”
“We are incredibly excited about the many opportunities Razer and Singtel can tap together to benefit millions of gamers and consumers in Southeast Asia,” said Mr Min-Liang Tan, cofounder and CEO of Razer. “This is our opportunity to lead and accelerate the growth of esports and e-payments in a unified push across the region.”
Creating the largest e-payments network in Southeast Asia: The e-payments scene in the region is currently fragmented across multiple platforms. Subject to regulatory approvals, the Singtel Group and Razer plan to enable the interoperability of their respective e-payments systems to create a seamlessly integrated regional network.
Both companies have recently taken bold steps in this direction.
In March, the Singtel Group announced plans to connect the mobile wallets of Singtel and its associates through an interoperable platform, which will link over 50 million registered wallet users with more than 1 million merchant points across Asia. This interoperable platform can also connect with other third-party payment apps offered by telco and non-telco companies, providing ready access to the Group’s customer and merchant bases.
Last month, Razer announced its intention to acquire MOL Global, which operates one of the largest e-payment networks in South-East Asia. The latter’s online payment gateway is used by major companies such as Lazada, Grab and UNIQLO, and offers more than 1 million offline payment points across the region. MOL Global handled over US$1.1 billion of digital payments in 2017.
The interoperability of both networks will create one of the largest connected e-payment networks in Southeast Asia. Mobile wallet users of Singtel and its regional associates will be able to seamlessly access Razer’s e-payment merchant network of over a million payment points, the zGold virtual credit system, and Razer’s full suite of gamer-related digital services, which has more than 40 million registered users.
At the same time, Razer will deepen its penetration in Southeast Asian countries by adding Singtel Group’s more than a million merchant points across Asia to its network, as well as gain access to the Group’s more than 680 million mobile customers.