Cash withdrawals using bank cards have fallen in volume for the first time in China, as the country heads towards becoming a cashless society, with mobile payments growing in popularity.

About 65.5 trillion yuan (9.51 trillion US dollars) was withdrawn using bank cards last year, down 10.46 percent year on year, a report from the Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC) showed Wednesday.

The growth rate of payment via bank cards has fallen for three consecutive years, due to sluggish growth of large-volume transactions and an increase in the use of mobile payments, such as paying through online platforms by scanning QR codes, according to Wang Suzhen, deputy secretary with the PCAC.

Meanwhile, online payments grew rapidly, with non-banking payment platforms seeing their business volume more than double in 2016.

Chinese also tend to use mobile terminals more than computers to pay online, the report showed.

Chinese mobile payment giants have been encouraging a cashless society. Earlier this month, Alibaba's financial affiliate Ant Financial said it planned to spend six billion yuan (870 million US dollars) in the next two years to push forward the drive.

(Source: Xinhua)