Razer Steps Into Mobile Payments Market

On the surface, the news that Razer—well-known in the field for high-quality PC gaming components, and with good reason (its hardware is, commonly, excellent)—is stepping into the mobile payments arena might sound too ludicrous to countenance. Looking at it more closely, however, suggests that this may not be so outlandish after all, and that Razer Pay could be a smart buy after all.

Razer Pay is pretty much what the name suggests, part of a growing body of e-wallets released by equipment manufacturers. This time, however, Razer Pay is focusing on Malaysia for the early going, and may not go far beyond that. Razer Pay is easily topped up by just stopping in any 7-Eleven in Malaysia—over 2,000 just in 2016—and buying a Razer Pay top-up PIN. Online banking accounts can also be used to drop cash in the account.

The system accommodates peer-to-peer (P2P) cash transfers, and readily routes money from the Razer Pay account to a bank account as well. Online transactions are also a breeze, with a range of services from Steam Wallet to PlayStation and well beyond accepting Razer Pay. Plus, prepaid mobile customers can even tap Razer Pay to top up those services as well if they’re with some of the biggest telcos in Malaysia like Digi, Maxis, and others.

Even offline payments are possible; those who want to set up a gaming break with Wendy’s, Kenny Rogers, Krispy Kreme or several other brands—including Starbucks—can pay from the Razer Pay interface.

In fact, about the only thing it won’t do—and I figure that may be a matter of time thanks to the book, and now movie, “Ready Player One”—is convert in-game currency directly to local cash. It’s a clever enough application; Razer is a brand that a lot of gamers trust, and so seeing them put their cash directly in Razer’s hands might work well. The fact that Razer is focusing on brands Malaysian gamers would likely connect with like Starbucks and Wendy’s doesn’t hurt either, and making it directly related to mobile devices, game purchases, and similar matter only improves things.

Razer Pay shows us a lot of the potential for mobile payments, and by focusing tightly on the gamer market, may well have made itself a top-notch niche player.