Foreign cards to work on Seoul buses from 2027

SEOUL – Foreign visitors will be able to pay for rides on Seoul buses by tapping the contactless credit or debit cards they use at home, without buying or topping up a local transit card.

Tmoney said on Sept 17 it plans to introduce the service on Seoul city buses in 2027, followed by buses in Incheon and airport bus services. System development and testing are scheduled to run through the end of 2026.

The service will use an open-loop payment system based on EMV, the global standard used for contactless card payments. Passengers will be able to tap an eligible foreign-issued card directly on a bus reader, with fares charged through their card network.

Tmoney signed an agreement with Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, JCB and Hana Card to build and operate the system. Hana Card will serve as the domestic acquiring partner.

“This agreement marks an important first step towards removing the inconvenience foreign visitors face when purchasing and recharging transit cards,” Tmoney chief executive Choi Moon-keun said.

Under the agreement, Tmoney will develop the system that records individual trips, calculates fares and processes settlements. The participating card companies will handle overseas card authorisation, network certification, payment security and settlement.

The system is intended to remove a common hurdle for overseas visitors, who currently need to buy a local transit card and learn how and where to add funds.

Tmoney operates much of Korea’s public transportation payment and settlement infrastructure. Its services include Mobile Tmoney, Tmoney for Apple Pay and contactless “tagless” fare payment. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK