Exploring The Razer Card Beta Programme

A while ago, Razer announced the Razer Card, an extension of their RazerPay ewallet launched in 2019. While not unexpected given the company’s rather public fintech ambitions, it’s a little strange that a gaming company wants to take a deeper dive in what I imagine is a margin-thin industry crowded with big boys. Does Razer have what it takes to pwn the competition?

The card

While anyone can sign up for a RazerPay wallet now (use referral code SETH88 for $1 sign-up reward), the Razer Card is currently on its beta programme and opened to 1,337 applicants, and I was lucky enough to be one of the few l33t enough to qualify. (Update: Razer has since expanded the beta.)

Razer’s slogan for the card is that it’s for youth and millennials, and I’m at least 50% of that (albeit on the older side), but I must be far from Razer’s intended demographic because I’m not a hardcore gamer and don’t buy Razer stuff. A very different story if this were the Apple Card, but nevertheless I’d always welcome another new card, especially one that promises to be literally lit. The premium one that is; the standard card is a standard black with the green triple-snake motif.

Unfortunately, the physical card hasn’t arrived and it’s been more than one month. While Singtel Dash doesn’t have a physical card, it allows the use of its virtual card via mobile payments like Apple Pay or Google Pay. This is not yet a thing for the Razer Card, although Razer states that it is working to implement this feature in 2021.

Until that happens or my physical card arrives (they have mentioned I will receive the card before the end of November), I can only use the card for online payments which does reduce its usability.

Update 2/12/2020: Card arrived!

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The rewards

Base rewards

The base rewards for the Razer Card isn’t terribly exciting at only 1% cashback on all purchases. It’s really underwhelming given the numerous unlimited cards that give at least 1.5%.

The card goes up to a respectable 5% on RazerStore and Razer Gold purchases, with an increased 10% cashback during the beta programme. This may well appeal to fans of Razer, but I can’t really speak to the usefulness of this.

Beta rewards

What appeals to me are the various rewards offered by the beta programme, which are grouped in three categories: Pay, Spend, and Influence.

Pay (minimum $5 per transaction)
1 transaction: $5 credit
10 transactions: Razer Hydrator (water bottle priced at $44.90)
50 transactions: Premium Razer Card (priced at $200) or $50 credit if the card is earned in other categories
150 transactions: Razer Nari Essential Headset (priced at $169.90)
300 transactions: Razer Tarturus Pro keypad (priced at $206.90)

Spend
Spend $50: $5 credit
Spend $200: Razer Tetra (headset priced at $49.90)
Spend $2,000: Premium Razer Card (priced at $200) or $50 credit if the card is earned in other categories
Spend $3,500: Razer Mamba Wireless Mouse (priced at $169.90)
Spend $6,500: Razer Tactical Backpack V2 (priced at $199.90)

Influence
1 referral: $5 credit
10 referrals: Razer Goliathus Medium mousepad (priced at $49.90)
30 referrals: Premium Razer Card (priced at $200) or $50 credit if the card is earned in other categories
60 referrals: Razer Ornata V2 Keyboard (priced at $169.90)
120 referrals: Razer Raiju TE wireless controller (priced at $239.90)

50 transactions of $5 each to get a lit Razer Card under the Pay category? That seems easy enough to hit, and it’s $250 towards the Spend category. After which, hit the spend target of $2,000 after that gets $50, which is essentially a 2.5% cashback on that spend amount.

I aim to hit $2,000 of spending on this across at least 50 transactions. That’d get me $80 ($5 + $5 + $50 + $20 base cashback) which already represents a yield of 4% cashback, and I get a Razer water bottle, a Razer headset, and a Premium Razer Card as well. Not too shabby at all, and I look forward to a card that lights up ✨

Sign up

Here is where you can help me with the third category if you wish. Sign up and enter my referral code SETH88 and we both receive $1 credit after you verify your account. You can then sign up to register your interest for the beta programme.

Other odds and ends

Prepaid cards gather a certain level of interest for mile/cashback farming, and all I can say is that the Merchant Category Code (MCC) for topping up your RazerPay wallet is 5712 (Equipment, Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores except Appliances).

You can join in the discussion over at our Telegram channel on how to optimise this card for rewards.

Conclusion

I wanted to write this as a review, but I am not sure how reasonable it is to judge a product still in its beta stage. On one hand, the beta programme has pretty decent rewards that might not be available during its public launch, or at least not be as generous when it’s widely accessible, so it’s remiss to give it a good score when only 1,337 people have access to it.

On the other hand, faulting a product for taking more than a month to deliver a physical card, or the numerous topping up issues I’ve faced doesn’t seem very fair either.

We’ll put a pin in this and revisit the card again if major updates happen, or when they do officially launch it. Until then, let me know if you have any questions about the Razer Card!

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