Climate Card now rechargeable by credit or debit

Seoul’s Climate Card can now be topped up with credit and debit cards.

A person passes through the subway turnstiles at the platform at Gwanghwamun Station in central Seoul on April 7, with a banner advertising the Climate Card unlimited public transportation pass displayed nearby. [YONHAP]

Seoul’s Climate Card can now be topped up with credit and debit cards.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday, the capital’s unlimited transit pass — both mobile and physical — can be recharged with credit and debit cards instead of cash and wire transfer. Previously, physical transit passes could only be topped up with cash at subway stations, while mobile passes could only be recharged through wire transfer on the Mobile Tmoney application.

The inconvenience of recharging the physical passes, in particular, troubled many commuters, as they had to bring the fees in cash. Depending on the price scheme, a commuter would bring 62,000 won ($45) in cash for unlimited rides on subways and buses or 65,000 won for additional access to public bicycles.

Starting Saturday, physical card users can top up their passes with their debit or credit cards at a ticket vending machine inside a subway station along lines No. 1 to 8. Only one machine will be eligible to recharge Climate Cards in each station. Samsung Pay will also be accepted.

Most transfer stations will have a recharging machine on every line it serves except for two; Chungmuro Station will only have a machine on line No. 4 and Yeonssinnae Station will only have one on line No. 3.

The city government said that the service will expand to subway line No. 9, Ui-Sinseol Line and Sillim Line within the first half of the year.

Mobile pass users can also register their card numbers to recharge the service starting Wednesday.

Promotions will also be held for KB Kookmin, Lotte, Samsung, Shinhan and Hana card users to receive up to 10,000 won in benefits. Further details are available on the Tmoney application and card company web pages.

The city government said it will expand more services for the Climate Card scheme. By late September at the earliest, it plans to launch a credit card that includes Climate Card service.

More than one million Climate Cards have been sold since its launch on Jan. 23.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]