T-money is Korea’s rechargeable transport card. You tap it on the way in and on the way out, it deducts the fare, and it works on subways, buses and taxis across most of the country. It is the single most useful thing you can buy in your first hour here.
Where to buy one
Any convenience store sells them: CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart24. There is one in every subway station and on most street corners. You can also buy at vending machines inside subway stations and at the airport.
Say “T-money card” at the counter. That is enough; staff at any convenience store near a station have done this hundreds of times.
You pay two things: the card itself (a small one-off cost, non-refundable) and whatever you load onto it.
How to top it up
At the convenience store counter, hand over the card and cash and say how much you want to add. At subway station machines, there is an English option; place the card on the reader and feed in notes.
Top up with cash. The machines take notes, not foreign cards, and the convenience store counter is easiest with cash too. This is one of the few situations in Korea where cash is genuinely the simplest route.
How much to load
Start with enough for two or three days and top up as you go. Single subway rides in Seoul are cheap, so a modest starting balance covers a lot of travel.
Do not overload it at the end of your trip. Getting a large leftover balance refunded is possible but fiddly, and small balances are easier to spend down at a convenience store.
What it works on
| Works | Does not work |
|---|---|
| Subway, nationwide | Long-distance KTX tickets |
| City buses | Most attraction entry |
| Taxis (look for the sticker) | |
| Convenience stores | |
| Some vending machines and lockers |
The convenience-store payment is the underrated part. If you have a balance left on your last day, you can spend it on snacks and drinks rather than trying to reclaim it.
The transfer discount
This is the part most visitors miss.
If you tap out of one service and tap into another within the transfer window, you are charged as one continuous journey rather than two separate fares. Subway to bus, bus to bus, bus to subway. It all counts.
The catch: you have to tap out. On buses especially, people get on, tap in, and then walk off the back without tapping the reader on the way out. Do that and you lose the discount on your next leg, and you may be charged a penalty fare.
Tap in. Tap out. Every single time. Even on the bus.
Alternatives worth knowing about
Cashbee works almost identically and is sold in the same shops. If a store is out of T-money, Cashbee is a fine substitute.
Contactless bank cards work on some services, but coverage is inconsistent and it is not something to rely on for a whole trip.
Unlimited transit passes exist for visitors and for Seoul residents. Whether one is worth it depends entirely on how much you plan to move around. If you are doing three or four journeys a day, every day, it is worth checking the current options. For a normal sightseeing pace, pay-as-you-go on T-money is usually cheaper.
Before you leave Korea
- Spend the balance at a convenience store rather than chasing a refund.
- Keep the card. It does not expire and it will still work next time.
That last point is worth taking seriously. A T-money card in your travel drawer means that next time, you walk out of the airport and straight onto a train.