Chinese mobile telecommunication operator China Mobile or its state-owned parent may buy 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for USD 5.9 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Such an investment may provide the phone company with a platform to offer wireless-banking services to over 527 million customers, according to the same source. In 2009, China Mobile started to enable some customers to pay bills with their handsets. The Chinese phone carrier is not the only company in the region investing in a financial company. South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom acquired a 49 percent stake in Hana Card, the card unit of Hana Financial Group in December 2009.