[THE INVESTOR] The amount of e-payment transactions increased at a fast clip in the first quarter despite a drop in the number of users, central bank data showed on June 28.

The daily average amount of e-payments came to some 300.3 billion won (US$253.74 million) in the January-March period, up 8.6 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

This a slight decline from a 9.6 on-quarter spike tallied in the fourth quarter of 2015, but the amount has been on a steady increase from 252.3 trillion won in the third quarter of last year.

The increase also came despite a 10 percent on-quarter plunge in the daily average number of e-payments.

E-payments include all Internet and mobile-based payments, as well as purchases made by electronic credit and debit cards.

As of end-March, there were 74 e-payment service providers in South Korea, with two new service providers added to the list since the previous quarter, according to the BOK.

They include escrow and payment gateway service providers as well as online financial institutions that are strictly dedicated to online or mobile payment services.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)