T-Money Card Korea: Buying, Topping Up, and Refunds

You do not need an ID, a mobile app, or pre-registration to buy a basic physical T-money card.

• Convenience stores: Available nationwide at GS25, CU, 7-Eleven, Emart24, and Story Way counters.
• Airports: Incheon International Airport sells them at arrival-hall convenience stores and ticket vending machines near the airport railroad gates.
• Subway stations: Available at customer safety offices in Lines 1–4, i-Centers in Lines 5–8, and station vending machines.

A standard plastic card costs around 3,000 KRW (~$2.14). Custom character designs or special editions cost more. The card purchase price is empty; you must add transit funds separately.

Physical T-money cards require cash in South Korean won (KRW). Standard kiosks and convenience store counters do not accept foreign credit cards to top up physical transit cards.

You can reload funds in two ways:

• Subway reload kiosks: Select English on the screen, place your card on the cradle, choose your deposit amount, and insert won banknotes.
• Convenience store counters: Hand your card and won cash to the cashier and specify how much you want to add.

Funds can be loaded in increments of 1,000 KRW ($0.71) up to 90,000 KRW ($64.29) per transaction. The total card balance cannot exceed 500,000 KRW ($357.14). A starter amount of 30,000 KRW to 40,000 KRW ($21.43 to $28.57) typically covers 3 to 4 days of standard city travel.

T-money works nationwide across South Korea, not just in Seoul. A single card functions on:

• City subways and metropolitan rail networks in Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and Daegu.
• Public city buses throughout the country, including Jeju Island.
• Taxis displaying the T-money logo on their dashboard readers.
• Participating retail shops, including major convenience stores.

Base public transit fares are around 1,550 KRW ($1.11) for the Seoul subway and 1,500 KRW ($1.07) for Seoul city buses within a 10 km journey.

Tapping gives you an automatic transfer discount of at least 100 KRW (~$0.07) per ride between subways and buses or across different bus routes. To qualify, you must tap out when exiting and board your connecting ride within 30 minutes (extended to 60 minutes between 21:00 and 07:00). You can claim up to 4 discounted transfers in a day. Transfers between vehicles on the exact same bus route do not receive a discount.

When leaving Korea, you can cash out your unused balance. The original plastic card purchase price is strictly non-refundable, and a 500 KRW (~$0.36) administrative fee is deducted from the loaded balance.

Refund options depend on the remaining balance on your card:

If you have only a few thousand won left on your card, spending the remaining balance on snacks or drinks at an airport convenience store avoids the 500 KRW fee.

Watch out for these frequent transit errors:

• Forgetting to tap out on buses: Always tap your card against the reader by the exit doors before getting off. Skipping this step forfeits transfer discounts and applies maximum distance surcharges on your next ride.
• Trying to swipe multiple passengers on one card in the subway: Every traveler must carry their own individual card to pass subway turnstiles. You cannot tap twice for a companion.
• Relying solely on foreign credit cards: Bring won cash with you when landing at the airport. You cannot load a basic physical T-money card at ticketing machines or store registers using international payment cards.