Seoul metro ticket machines: service fee on foreign card payments

≈3.7% average% of the transaction, average

The convenience is real and it is not free. Stating the fee alongside the capability keeps the guidance honest — a traveller topping up in small amounts pays it every time, and for anyone staying more than a few days a prepaid transport card loaded with cash is still cheaper. It is also the kind of figure that moves quietly once a service is established.

Applies to: Foreign-issued card payments at the new Seoul metro ticket machines
Review cadence: Checked quarterly

What we have recorded

2026-03-17
≈3.7% average
Announced as an average service fee on overseas card payments at these machines. The issuer's own foreign transaction fee, where the card has one, applies separately on top.
Seoul Metropolitan Government announcement

One reading so far. This becomes a history the first time the figure moves while we are watching — which is the part that cannot be reconstructed later.

Guides that depend on this figure

When this figure moves, every guide above needs the same edit. That is why it is tracked here rather than copied into each one.