South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom is set to enter the Korean card market with the acquisition of a 49 percent stake in Hana Card, the card unit of Hana Financial Group.

Hana Financial’s board has green-lit the the sale, which is worth an estimated USD 350 million. SK Telecom’s decision to expand into the country’s credit card market is seen as a signal that the company is looking to tap into a new revenue stream. The latter is generated by a combination between telecom services and mobile financial services (such as mobile banking), in a country where smartphone usage is growing at a very high rate.

In South Korea, 97 percent of the population has a mobile phone while most adults carry an average of 4 credit cards.