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Photo credit: Razer, Jim Mattis. Montage by Tech in Asia.

When the country calls, you step up. That’s what Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan must have thought when Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted on Twitter about the need for a unified payments system for Singapore.

The prime minister was commenting on points he made during Singapore’s National Day Rally, which included the importance of modernizing the city state’s payments infrastructure. The prevalence of cashless transactions in China through QR codes was highlighted as an example.

Tan’s reply to the prime minister? “I’ll have it out in 18 months.”

Say the word and I'll have the epayment system rolled out nationwide in 18 months. For Singaporeans. By Singaporeans

— Min-Liang Tan (@minliangtan) August 22, 2017

Carousell CEO Siu Rui Quek also joined in.

Happy to do our part too! Cc @thecarousell

— Siu Rui Quek (@siurui) August 22, 2017

During his speech, the prime minister said that the Monetary Authority of Singapore is working on integrating different payment services into one. In the continuing bid to go cashless, the country’s Association of Banks recently rolled out a service called PayNow, which allows users to transfer money from one bank to another using their mobile phone and identity card numbers.

Razer has its own ewallet service and digital currency called zGold, created for in-game transactions. In June, it bought a 19.9 percent stake in Malaysian gaming payments provider MOL to convert its Southeast Asia-wide cashless payment system into its zGold service.

The prime minister responded to Tan that he would “study seriously” a proposal from the Singaporean entrepreneur.

Thanks @minliangtan! Make me a proposal, and I will study it seriously.

— Lee Hsien Loong (@leehsienloong) August 23, 2017

This post Prime Minister Lee wants a payment system for Singapore. Razer boss: ‘Hold my mouse.’ appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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