S. Korea considers banning cash in lottery purchases

South Korea is pushing to ban the use of cash in buying lotteries and instead introduce electronic cards to prevent excessive purchases and addiction, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

According to the ministry, the government has begun working to make it mandatory for people to use electronic cards to purchase lotteries and asked outside experts to carry out related research.

An electronic card carries personal information of its holders and places a cap on the amount of money that a user can spend on lotteries at one time. It has already been introduced in other areas, including horse racing and casinos, regarded as addictive.

In 2008, the National Gambling Control Commission under the Prime Minister's Office recommended the use of electronic cards in all addiction-prone industries except for lotteries and casinos opened for foreigners.

The commission is reportedly aiming to expand the card use to sales of lotteries earlier next year.

Lottery sales have grown in recent years. The government sold 3.08 trillion won ($2.9 billion) and 3.19 trillion won worth of lotteries in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The government earlier said that it plans to issue a maximum of 3.61 trillion won worth of lotteries next year in order to meet growing demand. (Yonhap News)