Daily usage of mobile banking in South Korea spiked 45.5 percent from a year earlier in 2014 as a growing number of elderly users started using their smartphones for bank transactions, central bank data showed Wednesday.
  

The volume of daily transactions processed via smartphones averaged at 31 million last year, compared with 21 million in 2013, according to the Bank of Korea.
  

While the figure continues to post a double-digit growth, it marks a slowdown compared with recent years when transactions nearly doubled each year since its launch in 2009.
  

By amount, transactions via smartphones reached 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) on a daily average basis, growing 29.7 percent from a year earlier.
  

The central bank attributed the growth in both volume and amount to a growth in the middle-aged population using mobile banking. While the portion of users in their thirties or younger slipped to 62.9 percent from 66.6 percent, the reading for those in their forties or older rose to 37.1 percent from 33.4 percent.
  

But despite growing usage, people were still reluctant to process major transactions through their smartphones, the data showed.
  

While smartphone-based banking accounted for nearly half of all Internet banking transaction volume, its value accounted for 5 percent of total transaction value, according to the data. (Yonhap)