The use of mobile banking services in South Korea hit a record high last year as people refrained from visiting offline bank branches amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The daily average amount of mobile banking services usage recorded a fresh high of 12.86 trillion won (10.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 36.6 percent from the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The daily average number of services usage advanced 22.9 percent to 14.36 million last year. The record-high figure came as people preferred online banking services on the fear of the COVID-19 infection. The daily average amount of Internet banking services use, including mobile banking, reached a new high of 70.55 trillion won (58.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 19.6 percent from the previous year.