SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's daily plastic card spending rose in the first half due to the post-pandemic consumption recovery, central bank data showed Thursday.

The daily average spending through credit, check, debit and prepaid cards came to 3.26 trillion won (2.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 8.4 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Credit card spending advanced 8.8 percent to 2.59 trillion won (1.9 billion dollars) in the first half on a daily average basis as demand increased for travel and dining-out services as well as auto purchases.

Expenditure through check cards gained 7.7 percent, but prepaid card spending diminished 37.1 percent during the six-month period.

The face-to-face settlement with credit and check cards advanced 11.0 percent, while contact-free settlement grew 4.2 percent in the first half.