Razer unit, Sheng Siong owners toss hat in ring for digital bank licence

Singapore

A CONSORTIUM including Razer Fintech and Sheng Siong's founders has submitted an application for a digital full-bank licence in Singapore, focusing on the "underserved youth and millennials segment" for the bid, gaming lifestyle brand Razer Inc said in a statement on Thursday.

The consortium also includes insurance business FWD, Internet company LinkSure Global, Singaporean technology venture fund Insignia Ventures Partners, and vehicle wholesale marketplace Carro. The Lim brothers who founded supermarket chain Sheng Siong, are participating via their private vehicle Sheng Siong Holdings. The mainboard-listed entity Sheng Siong Group is not involved in the bid.

Razer Fintech will take up a 60 per cent stake in the consortium, with the remaining interest to be held by the other strategic partners.

Razer Fintech - the company's financial technology arm - plans to extend its fintech offerings to digital banking services by building a global youth bank known as Razer Youth Bank, the company said.

The bank will initially target youth and millennials between the age of 12 and 35 years old, a company spokesperson told BT on Thursday. It also intends to serve the needs of budding entrepreneurs and small and micro enterprises, which have had challenges accessing capital to fund growth and digital transformation, the company said. In addition, Razer Youth Bank aims to promote financial literacy among youths, provide fair product offerings, and create an engaging banking experience. It expects to be headquartered in Singapore with ambitions to build a global banking network.

To integrate lifestyle experiences into its digital banking platform, Razer Fintech has also gathered service providers including co-working space operator JustCo, travel company SkyScanner and global payments tech firm Visa.

This year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is issuing up to five digital banking licences - two full-bank licences that permit retail banking, and three for wholesale banking. The awards of the digital banking licences are expected to be in mid-2020.

Razer told BT in mid-December that it has been in talks with "prospective partners" to apply for a full-bank licence, but said the application time frame was "tight". Digital banking applications in Singapore closed on Dec 31, 2019.

Other contenders for the digital full-bank licence include Grab Holdings and Singtel which on Monday made public their joint application. Grab would hold a 60 per cent stake in the proposed consortium, with the telco giant holding 40 per cent. The partners see financial services as a natural extension of their core businesses, senior executives from Grab and Singtel said on Monday.

Separately, a prominent consortium comprising OCBC, Validus Capital, Keppel Corporation and Vertex Ventures has decided against applying for a digital wholesale banking licence. The late breakdown in talks, BT understands, comes amid Keppel's ongoing strategic review of its core operations, with Temasek Holdings due to take control of the conglomerate via a partial offer.

Among other things, Razer Inc's legal and financial obligations related to Razer Youth Bank are subject to the award of the licence by MAS, finalisation of the consortium arrangements, and compliance with the applicable regulations, including the listing rules of the Hong Kong stock exchange, where Razer Inc is listed.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Razer Inc announced it has appointed Edwin Chan as chief investment officer (CIO), with his deputy Tan Chong Neng succeeding him as chief financial officer (CFO) of the company. The changes were effective from Jan 1, 2020.

Mr Chan is an executive director of the company and served as CFO from June 2013 to Dec 31, 2019. His new focus will be managing the company's investment portfolios, Razer said. This will involve developing both short-term and long-term investment strategies including corporate finance and treasury investments, venture capital investments, as well as M&As (mergers and acquisitions).

Mr Tan served as senior vice-president and corporate controller of the company from Nov 1, 2017 to Dec 31, 2019. Mr Tan is a finance veteran with more than 20 years of experience, and was group CFO of Tri-Star Group prior to joining Razer in 2017, the company added.

Founded in 2005, Razer Inc is dual-headquartered in Irvine, California and Singapore and has 18 offices worldwide.

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