Information checked: 21 September 2026
You can top up a physical T-money card at participating convenience stores and subway recharge machines in Seoul (서울).
The Korea Tourism Organization lists convenience-store chains and subway machines as recharge options.[1]
This guide concerns an existing physical card, not adding a transport card to a phone.
Choose a place that fits your next journey
| Your situation | A useful option | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| You are already inside a subway station | A machine offering transport-card recharge | That you selected recharge, not ticket purchase |
| You are preparing to board a bus | A nearby participating convenience store | That it handles T-money top-ups |
| You arrive very late | A location you can confirm is open | Access hours and service availability |
These are place types, not a promise that every branch or machine is available around the clock.
Recharge before you are relying on the last practical option for your journey.
Can you pay with a foreign bank card?
Do not assume so.
Seoul’s official guide describes card payment on selected recharge devices.[2]
It does not establish universal acceptance for foreign-issued cards.
Keep Korean-won cash as a fallback and check the terminal’s payment instructions.
Equally, it would be too broad to say that every recharge method is cash-only.
The method available at a particular device is what matters.
Check the balance before walking away
At a machine, choose the option for recharging your existing transport card, follow the displayed steps and leave the card in place until the transaction is complete.
At a shop, make clear that you want to add credit to the card you already have.
Use a simple arithmetic check.
Illustrative example: a starting balance of ₩2,300 KRW plus a successful ₩10,000 KRW top-up should give ₩12,300 KRW before any new travel or purchase.
This is not a fare estimate.
When the result does not match, keep the receipt and check whether the transaction completed.
Do not repeatedly pay without establishing what happened to the first attempt.
The useful distinction is place, payment and balance: find a recharge point, confirm its accepted method, then confirm the new amount on the card.
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