Seoul Subway Foreign Card Payment 2026: What Works Now and What Starts in 2027

Bottom line: At newer ticket machines in major Seoul subway stations, you can now buy or top up a T-money transit card directly with a foreign-issued credit card. What you still can't do is tap that card straight on the gate — open-loop subway payment isn't coming until 2027.

If you didn't know: travelers who assume open-loop is already live and tap a foreign card straight on the gate will find it simply doesn't work, holding up the line behind them. On the flip side, stations that still only have older machines may not accept foreign cards at all, so without cash on hand you can't buy a transit card there and waste time hunting for a convenience store instead.

Seoul Metro is building out its open-loop payment network together with Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, JCB, and Hana Card. The plan extends to village buses and other Seoul-area connecting transit operators by 2030. For now, the practical move at a station with new machines is to buy or reload a physical T-money card with your foreign card, then use that card only at the machine, not the gate. Which stations actually have the new machines varies, so if you only find an older one, buying a prepaid card at a nearby convenience store is faster. If you get a payment error, it may be your card issuer's own security policy — switching to a different card usually saves more time than retrying the same one.

Journey stage: First hour · Verified 2026-10-16 · Source Compiled from Seoul city press reports (Asia Economy)