KORLENS

T-money guide — buy, top up and refund Korea's transit card

T-money is the rechargeable card you tap for the subway, buses and taxis almost everywhere in Korea. Here's where to buy one, how to add money (cash, and where a foreign card now works), mobile T-money for iPhone, and exactly how to get your leftover balance back before you fly home.

  • Buying a card

    Where to buy

    Buy a T-money card at almost any convenience store (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart24) or at the staffed bus-ticket counter at Incheon International Airport. The foreigner-oriented TMONEY TRAVEL CARD costs ₩4,000 for the basic card or ₩6,000 for the TRAVEL CARD+.

  • Topping up

    Topping up with cash

    Add cash at a convenience-store counter or at a subway station's top-up machine — this is still the standard way to recharge a T-money card.

  • Topping up

    New: international cards at subway machines

    Since March 17, 2026, Seoul Metro has installed 440 new ticket machines across 273 stations on Lines 1–8 that take international Visa and Mastercard. Right now they cover Climate Card short-term passes (1/2/3/5/7-day) and single-journey tickets, with roughly a 3.7% service fee — this is not yet a general top-up of an existing T-money card balance.

  • Mobile / no card

    Mobile T-money without a Korean bank account

    Tmoney's official app now has an international-traveler option: link a Mastercard held in Apple Wallet, top up a digital T-money card, then tap your iPhone or Apple Watch at gates and on buses — Apple's Express Transit works without unlocking your phone.

  • Refunds

    Getting a refund

    Refund your remaining balance at a convenience store (up to roughly ₩20,000–30,000 depending on the store, ₩500 fee), a partnered bank ATM such as Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Kookmin or the post office (up to ₩500,000, sent to an account at that bank, ₩500 fee), a subway station customer-service counter (partial refunds of ₩10,000–50,000, ₩500 fee), or T-money's head office (up to ₩500,000 a day).

  • Refunds

    What a refund doesn't cover

    The card's purchase price itself is never refunded at any of these locations — only the money still stored on the card.

Sources

Every fact above is checked against an official T-money, Seoul Metropolitan Government or Mastercard page (verified 2026-09-19). Fees and machine coverage can change — check the official page before you rely on a number here.

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