T-money and Transit Cards in Korea

Buy a T-money card for ₩3,000 at a convenience store, load it with cash and tap it on every subway gate and bus: a Seoul subway ride then costs ₩1,550 and transfers within 30 minutes are discounted. Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards cannot be tapped on Seoul’s gates or buses yet, so almost every visitor needs a transport card. Fares and card rules were checked against T-money’s and the Seoul city government’s English and Korean pages on 6 October 2026.

Your situation	What to do
First trip, a few rides a day, travelling beyond Seoul	Buy a basic T-money card and top it up with ₩20,000–30,000 in cash
Many rides every day, staying inside Seoul	Compare a Climate Card short-term pass (₩5,000 for 1 day to ₩20,000 for 7 days)
You have an iPhone and no Korean cash	Use the T-money app and top up with Apple Pay (Mastercard, Amex, UnionPay or JCB, not Visa)
Travelling with children aged 6 to 18	Register each child’s card with their date of birth when you buy it
Leaving Korea with money on the card	Get the balance back at a convenience store before you fly (₩500 fee)

What a T-money card is and what it costs

T-money is Korea’s most common rechargeable transport card. You load money onto it and touch it on a reader to pay; it is not a pass, so each ride takes the normal card fare from your balance. One card works on public transport across the country.

• Card: ₩3,000 for a basic card at 7-Eleven, emart24, GS25, CU and Tmoney Town; ₩5,000 for the design sold at airport railroad (AREX) stations. The card price is not refundable.
• Balance: top up in steps of ₩1,000, from ₩1,000 to ₩90,000 at a time, up to a maximum balance of ₩500,000.
• Payment: Korean won cash at convenience stores and station machines.
• Discount: a card ride is about ₩100 cheaper than a single-journey ticket in Seoul and unlocks transfer discounts.

No passport or ID is needed to buy a basic adult card.

How to buy and top up a T-money card

1. Get some won in cash. Exchange money or use an ATM at the airport; see money in Korea for which ATMs take foreign cards.
2. Buy the card at a convenience store counter (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, emart24) or at the staffed information centre of a Seoul subway station on lines 1 to 8. Ticket machines in stations do not sell T-money cards.
3. Ask for a top-up at the same counter: hand over the card and the cash, and say the amount. Staff put the card on a reader and give it back loaded.
4. Top up again later at the ticket and top-up machines in subway stations: put the card on the reader, select the amount and insert won notes. The machine screen shows the balance.

Arriving at Incheon Airport, buy the card before you take the AREX airport railway or a bus into Seoul: T-money’s tourist card is sold at the airport’s convenience stores and bus ticket offices.

How to ride with T-money: tapping, transfers and fares

Touch the card on the reader when you enter the subway gate and again when you leave (the Seoul subway guide covers lines, last trains and exits). On buses, tap when you board and tap again on a reader by the door when you get off. The tap out matters: the system uses it to calculate distance and transfers.

Seoul city fares for adults paying by card, checked on 6 October 2026:

Ride	Card fare	Without a card
Subway, first 10 km	₩1,550	₩1,650 single-journey ticket, plus a ₩500 deposit
Subway, early-bird (before 06:30)	₩1,240	Card only
City bus (blue and green)	₩1,500	₩1,500 cash on routes that still take it
Village bus	₩1,200	–
Red wide-area bus	₩3,000	–
Late-night bus	₩2,500	–

On the subway, every 5 km beyond the first 10 km adds ₩100, and beyond 50 km the surcharge drops to ₩100 per 8 km. Seoul raised the subway fare from ₩1,400 on 28 June 2025; older guides still quote the old price. Single-journey tickets return their ₩500 deposit at the deposit refund machine after the ride, which is one more reason to carry a card.

Transfer discounts

In Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, a card ride is charged by total distance rather than per vehicle when you change between subway and bus. The conditions:

• Board the next bus or train within 30 minutes of tapping out (60 minutes between 21:00 and 07:00).
• Up to 4 transfers, so 5 rides in total, count as one journey.
• One card per person, and no discount for changing to the same bus route.
• If you forget to tap out of a bus, the chain breaks and the next ride is charged a full fare.

Travelling as a group, each person needs their own card. Bus drivers can charge several people on one card, but the transfer discount then stops at the subway.

Using T-money outside Seoul

T-money works on public transport nationwide. Its official coverage list includes the subways of Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Incheon, city and intercity buses across the country, airport buses and buses on Jeju. Many taxis accept it too, but T-money notes that some regions limit taxi payments, so carry cash or a card as a backup.

In Busan, fares are set by Busan Transportation Corporation: a card ride on the metro costs ₩1,600 in zone 1 and ₩1,800 in zone 2 for adults, and children ride free. In Gyeongju and on Jeju, where there is no subway, T-money pays for local buses.

KTX and other long-distance trains need a separate train ticket; see how to book KTX trains. Intercity bus tickets booked online cannot be paid with T-money.

Other visitor cards and mobile options

T-money is the safe default, but four alternatives matter for visitors. Korea Field Notes compares them in detail in T-money vs WOWPASS vs Climate Card.

Card	Price	Best for	Limits
Climate Card short-term pass	₩5,000 (1 day), ₩8,000 (2), ₩10,000 (3), ₩15,000 (5), ₩20,000 (7) plus a ₩3,000 card	Many rides a day inside Seoul	Seoul subway and Seoul buses only
Tmoney Travel Card	₩4,000	Visitors who want a tourist design with the same T-money functions	Sold at convenience stores and Incheon Airport bus ticket offices
WOWPASS	Card fee varies by card type; passport needed	Visitors who also want a prepaid payment card loaded with foreign cash	The T-money balance is topped up separately from the payment balance
Mobile T-money (iPhone)	Free app	iPhone users without won cash	Top-ups by Apple Pay with Mastercard, Amex, UnionPay or JCB; Visa not supported

A Climate Card short-term pass runs from the day you load it, so it cannot be preloaded for a later date. Since 17 March 2026 the new ticket machines in Seoul Metro stations on lines 1 to 8 sell it with foreign credit and debit cards. It covers the Seoul subway (you may also ride to Incheon Airport but not board there) and buses licensed by Seoul, but not the Shinbundang line, GTX, red wide-area buses, airport buses or the Seoul public bikes. The 30-day Climate Card ended on 1 October 2026; its replacement is for Seoul residents only.

The Korea Tour Card has been discontinued. Seoul plans to accept foreign contactless cards on city buses first and on subway lines 1 to 8 from 2027, and the plan’s final stage runs to 2030; until then, a transport card is required.

Getting your balance back before you leave

Leftover money on a plastic T-money card can be returned in cash, minus a ₩500 fee. The card price itself is not refunded.

Where	How much	Notes
GS25	Balances under ₩20,000	₩500 fee
7-Eleven and independent stores	Up to ₩20,000	₩500 fee
CU and emart24	Up to ₩30,000	₩500 fee
Seoul subway information centres	Partial refunds of ₩10,000–50,000 in ₩10,000 steps	Plastic cards only
Tmoney Town, Seoul City Tower 1F (near Seoul Station)	Over ₩50,000	The only place for large balances

The easiest plan is to stop topping up in the last day or two and spend the rest at a convenience store, where T-money also pays for snacks. Balances on mobile T-money are refunded only to a Korean bank account, so load small amounts on the app.

What can go wrong

Where to next

Most first trips start in Seoul, where a T-money card covers the subway, buses and many taxis. For long-distance travel, read the transportation overview and how to book KTX trains; for cards, cash and tax refunds, see money in Korea. Keeping mobile data on helps with route apps: compare SIM cards and eSIMs.