Smartphones propel mobile banking in South Korea

Bank of Korea said 37 million persons signed up in 2012.

The bank said this total represented a 179% jump from the 13.3 million persons who enrolled in 2012. Two-thirds of the total for 2012 were smartphone users.

Some 86.4 million people signed up for Internet banking services including mobile banking last year, up 16% year-on-year.

The number of smartphone users in South Korea rose to 32.7 million in 2012 from 22.6 million in 2011. In 2012, an average of 12.95 million transactions were made from mobile phones every day amounting to US$884 million, and 98% were by smartphone.

Mobile banking transactions averaged US$1.6 billion a day in the fourth quarter of 2012, surpassing US$920 million or W1 trillion for the first time.