The daily use of plastic cards in South Korea grew at a slower pace in the first half compared with six months earlier amid sluggish domestic demand, the central bank said Thursday.

Spending via plastic including credit and debit cards was valued at a daily average of 1.8 trillion won ($1.59 billion) in the January-June period, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

The growth slowed compared with the second half of 2012 when the daily card use grew 5.5 percent on-year, it added.

The use of credit cards has been largely on the slowing trend, affected by tepid consumer spending and stiffer regulation on issuances of credit cards, the central bank said.

Spending via credit card was valued at an average of 1.55 trillion won per day in the first half, up 2.2 percent from the previous year. The growth rate slowed compared to the 3.9 percent on-year gain tallied in the second half of last year.

But debit card spending is on the rise as the government has been encouraging people to use such cards by giving them tax benefits in a bid to curb excessive use of credit cards. (Yonhap News)