BEIJING, Dec. 24 -- Non-cash payments handled by Chinese banks continued steady growth in the third quarter of 2023, data from the central bank showed.

Non-cash payments via bank cards, electronic payment vehicles, commercial papers, credit transfers, and other settlements hit 1326.19 trillion yuan (about 186.91 trillion U.S. dollars) during the period, up 3.92 percent year on year, according to a report from the People's Bank of China.

Electronic payments took the lion's share of non-cash payments, with a total transaction value of 858.34 trillion yuan, said the report.

A closer look at data for electronic payment vehicles showed that mobile payments expanded 10.1 percent compared with the same period last year to 137.71 trillion yuan.

Bank card transactions also went up in the third quarter, increasing by 1.74 percent year on year to 260.77 trillion yuan, the data revealed.