SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Money transfer using smartphones in South Korea posted a double-digit growth in the first half amid the rising usage of money transfer apps, central bank data showed Thursday.
The daily money transfer through smartphone apps, including Kakao Pay and Toss, averaged 200.5 billion won (169 million U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 60.7 percent from the previous six-month period, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The number of mobile money transfer advanced 34.8 percent to 2.18 million in the cited period.
The mobile money transfer began to grow sharply in amount and number last year after the launch of apps enabling the money transfer in the cyberspace.
The daily average mobile payment, which requires no certificate verification, climbed 12.9 percent to 486.8 billion won (410.8 million U.S. dollars) in the first half compared with the previous six-month period.
The number of mobile payments averaged 5.35 million in the first half, up 18.2 percent from six months earlier.
