How to Buy and Top Up a Transit Card

1. Buy a card

A standard physical T-money or EZL card is a reloadable prepaid card. You can buy and top up these cards at convenience stores. Use them for Seoul subway and city bus journeys; check the operator’s payment rules before using one for another service.

VisitKorea also describes Mpass, WOWPASS and Seoul’s Climate Card. These have different pass periods, payment features, coverage and refund terms. Compare those rules with your planned journeys before choosing a visitor card or pass.

2. Top up

For a physical T-money card, bring Korean won cash to a participating convenience store or subway top-up machine. The Tmoney FAQ lists cash top-ups and some bank-specific alternatives. Those alternatives do not mean that a convenience store can top up your card using a foreign credit card. For a physical EZL card, the issuer also describes cash top-ups at participating convenience stores and station machines.

EZL also offers app-based top-ups. Its Android app integration guide includes identity verification, and payment methods depend on the app and card issuer. The guidance does not confirm access for visitors without Korean identity credentials or acceptance of overseas-issued cards. Bring cash so you do not have to rely on app access.

Hand your card and cash to the staff and say how much to add. On the Tmoney FAQ page, choose the Tmoney usage category and open the question about how to top up a card.

A Climate Card short-term pass is a different product. Seoul’s FAQ says overseas-issued cards are supported, with purchase available at new ticket machines on Seoul Metro lines 1–8. Check the short-term pass instructions and the machine’s payment options; do not apply those rules to every stored-value card.

Pass products such as the Climate Card have different loading and validity rules. Check the pass instructions rather than treating it as a standard stored-value card.

3. Tap on, and tap off

Tap the card on the reader at the subway gate or when you board the bus. Tap again when you leave the station or get off the bus, even though the bus door does not stop you.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government says the combined transfer fare applies only if you tap when boarding and leaving each vehicle, and only if you transfer within 30 minutes of getting off (60 minutes between 9 PM and 7 AM). One trip can include up to four transfers, five rides in total. Getting back on the same route does not count as a transfer. If you forget to tap off, the next ride may be charged as a new trip.

For the adult base fares shown below, a single-journey ticket costs more than paying with a transit card. Extra distance charges and any refundable ticket deposit are separate.

4. Before you fly home

Spend the balance or ask for a refund before you leave. VisitKorea says small T-money balances can be refunded at convenience stores and larger ones at T-money Town near Seoul Station; WOWPASS balances can be withdrawn as cash at its kiosks. Refund limits differ by card, so check the card issuer’s page.

Before your first ride

• Card bought and topped up with enough for today
• You know which line and direction you need
• Tap on when you board, tap off when you leave
• Transfer within the time limit to keep the discount

Continue planning

• Incheon Airport to Hongdae or Myeongdong: Choose Your Rail Route
• Seoul Subway Fares: Base Fare, Extra Charges and Transfers

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