Razer’s Working on a Light-up Visa Prepaid Card
Currently only available in Singapore.
When you hear “Razer Card,” a debit card probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But Razer’s not suddenly getting into graphics cards- instead, you’ll soon be able to make payments with a Razer branded prepaid card that “dominates” with 1% cash back on all purchases. And yes, it lights up.
The Razer Card is a new Visa prepaid debit card from Razer that’s currently accepting just 1,337 (ugh) applicants for a “beta test,” before it goes live at an unspecified future date. The card’s key features are 1% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back for Razer Store and Razer Gold purchases. The physical versions of the card also set themselves apart with a numberless design that’s black across the whole body except for the payment chip, your name and the Razer logo. There’s two options here- standard and premium- with the difference being that the premium option lights up the Razer logo on payment. Because of course it does.
If notifying the whole store that you just bought something isn’t your thing, though, you can also opt for a virtual card instead. The virtual card will be available for free in Razer’s new Razer Pay app, and unlike the physical cards, it’ll show you your card number and information so you can easily make online payments.
The key draw here is, of course, the LED. Like moths to lamps, we gamers love pretty lights. Unfortunately, while we don’t know how much they’ll cost, it seems like the physical Razer Cards won’t be complimentary like the virtual one, since Razer says you’ll need to “upgrade” to get them.
You can sign up for the Razer Card beta right now on Razer’s website, but there’s a catch. The beta program is currently only live in Singapore. But if you are able to sign up, you’ll gain access to special features that us plebs with non-LED cards don’t have. For the duration of the beta, you’ll earn 10% cash back on Razer Store and Razer Gold purchases instead of 5%, and you’ll also be eligible for “a slew of gamified Card Beta rewards where testers complete tasks, level up and stand to earn.”
No word on an RGB card yet.
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Michelle Ehrhardt is an editor at Tom's Hardware. She's been following tech since her family got a Gateway running Windows 95, and is now on her third custom-built system. Her work has been published in publications like Paste, The Atlantic, and Kill Screen, just to name a few. She also holds a master's degree in game design from NYU.
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cryoburner
It might actually be using power supplied from the card-reader. Apparently chip cards typically only draw a few milliamps, but standard EMV card readers allow a chip to draw up to 50 mA. I'm not entirely certain about what voltage that's at, but it's likely enough to power a small LED.Shadowclash10 said:Interesting concept... So this uses a battery, or what? -
Shadowclash10
Technically just a green LED - it can't change colors.nofanneeded said:HAHAHHA RGB VISA card ... whats next ? RGB tissues ?