Where to cash out a Tmoney balance
Tmoney's refund guide gives four routes, and the ceiling changes sharply with the route:
| Where | Refunds up to | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| GS25 or 7-Eleven counter | ₩20,000 | ₩500 |
| CU or Emart24 counter | ₩30,000 | ₩500 |
| Subway station customer-service desk | ₩50,000 | ₩500 |
| Partner bank ATM — Shinhan, Woori, KB Kookmin, Hana and others | ₩500,000, into your own account | ₩500 |
| Mobile Tmoney app | ₩500,000 a month, in at most three refunds | ₩500 up to ₩20,000; above that the app may take about 4% — read the fee it shows before confirming |
The ₩500 is waived only for a balance under the ₩1,550 base fare, or for a card that is genuinely faulty. Cash out ₩1,600 and ₩500 of it vanishes, so either run the balance down to under ₩1,550 or leave enough on it to make the fee worth paying.
Only the balance comes back
None of these routes returns what you paid for the plastic — ₩3,000–5,000 depending on the design. The one exception is a manufacturing fault within two years of the first top-up, claimed through a separate faulty-card route. Treat the purchase price as the cost of a card, not a deposit.
WOWPASS
WOWPASS is a prepaid shopping card with a separate Tmoney transit balance. Refund its shopping balance through the supported WOWPASS process, rather than through a convenience-store Tmoney refund. It is cashed out at the same unmanned WOW Exchange kiosks that loaded it — airports, hotels, tourist areas and convenience stores — for ₩1,000 per withdrawal, ₩100,000 at most per transaction. A large balance takes several turns at the machine and several fees. WOWPASS's own price, about ₩5,000–6,000, is not refunded. Before leaving a balance for another trip, check your account’s current balance and validity conditions in the WOWPASS app. The separate Tmoney balance follows Tmoney’s refund rules, as described above.
On departure day
- Check the balance before you queue — in the app, or by tapping at any
convenience-store till.
- For a smaller balance, ask a participating GS25, 7-Eleven, CU or Emart24 counter for a refund. Check the chain’s limit in the table above.
- For a larger balance, check the station service-desk limit or an eligible bank-account refund route before leaving the city. An airport convenience store will not cash out ₩80,000.
- For a WOWPASS shopping balance, use a supported WOW Exchange kiosk. Allow for the ₩1,000 withdrawal fee and ₩100,000 limit per transaction.
- Expect no refund of the plastic, on either card.
- If you cannot reach a kiosk, check your WOWPASS account’s balance and validity conditions before deciding to leave the money for another trip.
