KT to acquire 20% of BC Card from Woori

KT seeks to take advantage of increasing use of mobile devices for payments, whose transactions amount to $37.4bn.

KT Corp., South Korea’s largest phone and Internet company, agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in BC Card Co. from Woori Bank to expand into mobile-payment services.

Woori will have the option of buying back a portion of the stake if KT begins its own credit-card business, Lee In Won, a spokesman for the Seongnam, South Korea-based carrier, said by phone today. The deal is subject to further internal approval, he said. Woori’s board will be briefed on the deal tomorrow, said Lee Yong Gyu, a spokesman for the Seoul-based bank.

KT joins companies including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. in seeking to capitalize on increasing use of mobile devices for payments. Global mobile-payment transactions will probably rise to $1.13 trillion by 2014 from $37.4 billion in 2009, according to IE Market Research Corp.

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