Razer Fintech launches new Visa prepaid card: Are you '1337' enough for it?

Razer Fintech has never made a secret of its ambitions in the payment space. This week, the local tech giant took a big step forward with the launch of the Razer Card, a prepaid Visa solution that awards cashback on daily purchases. 

Only 1337 cards will be issued during the beta phase from now till Dec 31, 2020 (and if you need to ask ‘why 1337’, you’re clearly not their target audience). The beta phase was extended till Jan 31, 2021, with no word on when a full rollout will happen.

Razer Card: Key features

The Razer Card is a prepaid Visa that allows users to spend their RazerPay wallet balance at more than 61 million merchants worldwide.

There are three versions of the Razer Card: Virtual, Standard, and Premium. The Virtual version can only be used for online transactions, while the Standard and Premium are physical cards that can be used at brick and mortar stores. You must verify your Razer Pay account before a physical card can be requested.

Regardless of which Razer Card you hold, the cashback rates and benefits are the same. The main difference is the Premium card has a built-in LED logo that lights up when the card is used, for that extra wow factor.

A standard card is issued by default when a physical card is requested; to qualify for a Premium card, you’ll need to complete a certain series of tasks (see rewards section below).

A maximum of $2,500 can be topped up to Razer Pay each month, and card members will earn:

• 1 per cent cashback on all purchases
• 10 per cent cashback on RazerStore (hardware) and Razer Gold purchases (in-game transactions). This is a limited time offer for the beta phase, and will eventually revert to 5 per cent cashback

No minimum spend is required, and there’s no cap on the maximum cashback you can earn.

An earn rate of 1 per cent cashback isn’t all that impressive, if you think about it. There are a swarth of cashback credit cards on the market which will earn you at least 1.5 per cent cashback, also with no minimum spend or cashback caps:

• Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature: 1.6 per cent cashback
• Citi Cash Back+ Mastercard: 1.6 per cent cashback
• ICBC Chinese Zodiac Credit Card: 1.6 per cent cashback
• SCB Unlimited Cashback Card: 1.5 per cent cashback
• AMEX True Cashback Card: 1.5 per cent cashback

It’s important to note, however, that these cards would have various exclusion categories, such as insurance, government payments, education bills and charitable donations. The Razer Card has no such exclusions, at least for now. This makes it a potential option for these transactions, as 1per cent cashback is still better than nothing.

So if you hold any of the cards above, there’s no compelling reason to rush out and replace them with the Razer Card.

ALSO READ: Gaming company Razer applies to be a digital full bank

Moreover, is it fair to compare the Razer Card to credit cards? Remember that the Razer Card is a prepaid Visa, which means there’s no minimum income requirement (credit cards require applicants to earn at least $30,000 per year). This makes it an option for students, or those who don’t earn enough for a traditional credit card.

In that sense, it may be better to compare the Razer Card to cards with no minimum income requirement, such as:

• CIMB AWSM Card: 1 per cent cashback on dining, entertainment, online shopping and telco bills
• Maybank eVibes Card: 1 per cent cashback on everything

The Razer Card is clearly better than the CIMB AWSM, given that the latter limits your 1per cent cashback to a specified set of transactions. It’s on par with the Maybank eVibes card, but to reiterate, the Razer Card has no exclusion categories at the moment.

Razer Card: Rewards

In addition to the base cashback, Razer Card users can earn additional rewards during the beta phase. Rewards are broken into three main types:

1. Task Rewards
2. Ultimate Rewards
3. Meta Rewards

Task rewards

Task Rewards require users to make a certain number of transactions, spend a minimum amount, or refer a certain number of people. Upon achieving this, they’ll earn rewards as follows:

A few points to note:

• Qualified transactions must be at least $5 in value 
• Qualified spending refers to any spending made on the card
• Qualified referrals refer to those where the referred user downloads the Razer Pay app and completes the Razer verification process

A newly-minted Razer Card member could earn a total of $15.50 if he makes one transaction of $50 and refers a friend ($0.50 from 1 per cent cashback, $5 first transaction bonus, $5 spending bonus, $5 referral bonus). That’s a one-time bonus of course, but it’s still a hefty 31 per cent rebate on a $50 outlay.

Based on the table above, it appears that Razer cardmembers will have the option to pay a $50 annual fee for the Premium card, or else earn it by making at least 50 qualified transactions, spending at least $2,000, or referring 30 users.

Ultimate rewards

Beta users who complete all the Pay, Spend and Influence tasks (i.e 15 tasks in total) will receive a Mystery Reward worth $749.90.

ALSO READ: Razer expanding payments network to 54 million merchants via tie-up with Visa

Meta Rewards

Beta users with the highest achievement in each Task will earn further Meta Rewards as shown below:

These gifts are unlikely to appeal to non-gamers, but the Razer Card isn’t a product for non-gamers in the first place.

The full T&C and FAQ are linked here.

Summary

There are certainly some attractive rewards to be earned during the beta phase, but the question is whether the Razer Card is worth using after that.

Those who qualify for regular credit cards will surely find much richer rewards offered by the banks, which means the Razer Card may only have niche appeal for students, or those who don’t earn at least $30,000 per year.

But hey, a light-up card will always have its fans.