잔액 (janaek, balance) 24,300원 on the counter reader, a flight tomorrow, and a GS25 cashier telling you the refund won't go through. Nothing is wrong with your card. T-money refund limits are set by the convenience store chain, not by the card: GS25 only refunds balances under 20,000 won, 7-Eleven takes up to 20,000 won, and CU and emart24 take up to 30,000 won, each for a 500 won fee. So the fix for that 24,300 won is a CU or an emart24 down the street, not a second try at the same GS25.
Match the balance to the counter
The rules live on T-money's own normal card refund page (정상카드 환불, jeongsang kadeu hwanbul). Turned into a decision, it looks like this:
- Under 20,000 won: any of the four big chains. One trap: exactly 20,000 won is refused at GS25, which is "under," but accepted at 7-Eleven, which is "up to."
- 20,001 to 30,000 won: CU or emart24 only.
- 30,001 to 50,000 won: no convenience store will do it in one go. Use a subway station (next section) or T-money Town.
- Over 50,000 won: T-money Town, or a bank ATM that pays into a Korean account in your own name.
At the counter, hand over the card and say kadeu janaek hwanbulhae juseyo (카드 잔액 환불해 주세요), "please refund the card balance." The store pays the balance in cash minus 500 won. The card itself is not refunded, so the 3,000 to 5,000 won you paid for it is gone either way. Keep it for your next trip instead of handing it over.
That flat 500 won fee is why small balances aren't worth the trip. On 20,000 won it costs 2.5%. On 3,000 won it's 16.7%, and on 1,000 won it eats half. Below about 1,500 won, spend it rather than refund it: one more subway ride at the 1,550 won base fare almost clears it, or pay toward a snack at a shop that shows the T-money logo, since VisitKorea's transportation card page lists affiliated stores displaying that logo as places to use the card.
One correction to a common shortcut. You'll often read that anything under 50,000 won goes back at a convenience store. No single chain takes more than 30,000 won, so a 42,000 won card will be turned away at all four. Plan for the middle band separately.
The awkward middle: 30,000 to 50,000 won
No convenience store covers this band, so Seoul-area subway stations are the easiest answer. The customer service desk inside the station (고객안내소, gogaek annaeso) can do a partial refund (부분환불, bubun hwanbul): you ask for a set amount in 10,000 won units, between 10,000 and 50,000 won per request. Convenience stores can't do partial refunds at all, only T-money's headquarters and these station desks can.
Here's how that plays out with a 45,000 won card. Ask the station desk for 40,000 won back and keep the remaining 5,000 won on the card for your last rides to the airport. If you'd rather leave with an empty card, refund the leftover 5,000 won at any of the four chains and walk away with 4,500 won. If a few hundred won matters to you, ask the desk whether a fee applies before you commit.
The better fix is not to land in this band at all. In your last two or three days, top up in small amounts at the station machines instead of loading 50,000 won at once. If your card stays under 30,000 won, a CU or emart24 can clear it on the way to the airport.
Over 50,000 won: T-money Town, and stay under 100,000
T-money Town is T-money's own service counter near Seoul Station Exit 10, at 110 Huam-ro, Jung-gu. It refunds up to 500,000 won per person per day, and there's no fee until your refunds pass 500,000 won in a month. From 50,000 won they confirm who you are (name, date of birth and phone number), so bring your passport.
The real line is 100,000 won. At that amount and above, T-money deducts the balance on the day you visit and pays it into a bank account after 6 p.m. on the next business day, and you're asked to bring a copy of your bankbook along with ID. Weekends and public holidays don't count. Hand in a card on Friday, October 30 and the money lands Monday, November 2. Hand one in on Thursday, December 24 and Christmas plus the weekend push it to Monday, December 28. Without a Korean bank account, a 100,000 won balance is much harder to get back than a 99,000 won one, so keep your card below six figures.
The bank ATM route has the same problem. It refunds up to 500,000 won a month into the cardholder's own account at the listed banks, so it only helps if you already have a Korean bank account.
T-money's customer center (1644-0088) answers on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For help in English, call 120 and press 9 for the foreign-language service. Call before you head to T-money Town, especially if you're thinking of a weekend visit.
All of this applies to the plastic card. Mobile T-money is refunded through the app into an account in your name, with a 500 won fee and 4% on refunds over 20,000 won. A card that no longer reads goes through a separate damaged card process: pick up a refund envelope at a station or one of the four chains, and the balance is paid into a bank account within 10 business days.
Tonight, find out your exact balance, then pick the counter that fits the number before you leave for the airport.
Sources checked October 29, 2026
- T-money, 정상카드 환불 (normal card refund guide), t-money.co.kr
- T-money, 고장카드 환불 (damaged card refund guide), t-money.co.kr
- VISITKOREA, Transportation Cards, english.visitkorea.or.kr (updated August 2026)
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