BankOn, a partnership between Korean's smallest mobile carrier, LG Telecom, and the nation's largest bank, Kookmin Bank, is planning to start to sell lottery tickets via mobile devices.
Mobile banking services are already a natural fit for Koreans, who are usually tech-savvy and trend-sensitive.
By adding the service, LG Telecom is seeking to increase its subscriber base from 4.8 million to 6 million by the end of this year. (South Korea has a population of 48 million.)
The Korea Lottery Service Corporation (KLSC) launched South Korea's first on-line lottery in December 2002, consisting of one 6/45 Lotto game available via 4,000 Comtec online terminals. By the end of the month, they had installed a little over 5,000 terminals. KLSC increased the network to 10,000 terminals by the end of 2003 and is planning to have 20,000 on-line terminals by the end of 2004.
Lotto sales reached US$39.8 million in the first seven weeks after the launch.
A total of 23 Korean lotteries are offered by 11 government agencies locally, apart from some 10 Internet lotteries.