What it is
Tmoney (티머니) is a small plastic card with a prepaid balance on it. You put money in, and the reader deducts a fare or purchase amount when you use it. Entry and exit taps also allow the system to calculate the correct fare. An ordinary unregistered card has a prepaid balance rather than credit. Whoever holds the card can spend that balance, so treat it like cash. It has been available since 2004 and works across many local bus and subway networks, so you can use a card bought in Seoul on supported services in Busan or Gyeongju without registering it again. The few places it does not reach are on “Will my Tmoney card work in Busan and outside Seoul?”.
Buying one
Participating CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart24 or Storyway sells them, as do the ticket machines in subway stations and the kiosks in the airport arrivals hall. A plain card costs about ₩3,000–5,000; character and tourist editions can cost more and may include different benefits. Nobody asks for ID, a Korean phone number or a bank account. “How do I buy a physical Tmoney card?” walks through the counter and the machine.
Loading money onto it
Hand cash to the convenience-store clerk and say how much, or use the yellow-and-black reload machine in any subway station. Loads go in steps of ₩1,000–10,000 depending on the machine, and some machines only offer a reload once the balance is under ₩20,000. Card payments for a reload are a separate story — “Can I top up a Tmoney card at a subway station?” covers what a foreign card can and cannot do at the machine, and the Mobile Tmoney app is how a balance gets onto a phone rather than a card.
What it pays for
| Where | Works? |
|---|---|
| Subway, in Seoul, Busan and every other city with one | Yes |
| City, village and rural buses | Yes |
| Taxis | Most, in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon and other big cities — not every older or rural cab |
| Convenience stores (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart24) | Yes, at the till |
| Vending machines, some cafés, bakeries and fast food | Some — it depends on the shop |
| Every taxi, every small shop, every region | No — think “most places”, not “everywhere” |
Other cards that are also Tmoney
- WOWPASS — a different card that does everything a Tmoney card does and
also turns foreign cash into won at a kiosk and pays in shops. It rides buses, the subway and taxis as a Tmoney card without a separate purchase. “What is WOWPASS, the prepaid card for visitors?” explains it.
- Tmoney in Apple Wallet — since 21 July 2025 an iPhone or Apple Watch
can hold a Tmoney card and open a gate with no unlocking. It is its own card with its own balance; you cannot move a plastic card's balance into it. “Can I add a Tmoney transit card to my iPhone?” covers the setup and the foreign-card rules.
Treat it like cash
- Keep the balance modest. Money on an ordinary unregistered lost card may not be recoverable. Protection depends on the product and any registration requirements; check the terms rather than assuming every card has the same loss protection.
- “Most taxis” is not “all taxis”. Carry some cash for the older cab that
takes nothing else — “How much Korean won cash should I carry?”.
- Design is not function. A decorative card and a plain card normally have the same transit function.
