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hanguker
Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject: Can I pay for the bus/subway with my smartphone? |
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I'm on Olleh (KT) and I was wondering if there is any system in place where I could use my Smartphone to pay for the bus? I've heard that there may be some special sim card or something. Thanks. |
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nick70100
Joined: 09 Sep 2005
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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What kind of phone do you have? You need to have a T-Money SIM card AND your phone must have the capability as well. So it's possible, but currently only a few phones have this functionality.
I know the Galaxy S1 and S2 both work. And I think some of the SKY phones too. But if you have a phone that's not Korean (iPhone, HTC, etc) you can probably forget about it. |
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hanguker
Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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I've got a Motorola Atrix, so I'm probably out of luck. Thanks for the advice. |
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eamo

Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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Your phone would need to be NFC enabled.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_Field_Communication
The Galaxy S2 can do it.....it'll be interesting to see if the iPhone 5 will......
I imagine this will be something Koreans will go nuts for. |
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vDroop
Joined: 25 Aug 2010
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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It's pretty cool. I've just started using it this month. (galaxy s2)
There's a T-money app where you can check your balance and track your trips. You can also charge them by throwing them in the card charger machine at the station. It was quite funny to put my phone in there the first time and I was surprised when it worked. |
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nstick13
Joined: 02 Aug 2009
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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Olleh just released a NFC case for the iphone that lets your iphone take advantage of this. Not sure how much it's costing. |
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dsun1226
Joined: 27 May 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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nstick13 wrote: |
Olleh just released a NFC case for the iphone that lets your iphone take advantage of this. Not sure how much it's costing. |
http://shop.olleh.com/weblogic/CellphoneDetailServlet?product_code=3002018
It costs 69,300 won. I was curious about NFC but not exactly sure how bulky this case is in real life.
NFC is still a relatively new technology in the US so I wouldn't expect the next iPhone to have it (or 4G either) but you never know. |
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hanguker
Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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Ha. You guys just gave me an idea, so I slipped my bus card in my phone case. It doesn't fit great but it works. LOL.
However, this isn't exactly what I wanted. I want so that the charges just go on my mobile bill. I don't want to have to charge my card all the time. |
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dsun1226
Joined: 27 May 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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Another option could be to activate your Korean check card for T-Money use. I had to pay a 30,000 won deposit at KB but I just use the check card and it automatically withdraws from my bank account twice a month. It saves me the hassle of having to re-load a T-Money card at the machines. |
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DaHu
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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dsun1226 wrote: |
Another option could be to activate your Korean check card for T-Money use. I had to pay a 30,000 won deposit at KB but I just use the check card and it automatically withdraws from my bank account twice a month. It saves me the hassle of having to re-load a T-Money card at the machines. |
"Check card"? Is that a specific kind of card? I've had ones that said "Cash Card" and "Debit Card".... so many cards!! |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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my visa debit card from shinhan has nfc built in as well. they don't tell foreigners about it most of the time but you can tap it as tmoney and it will automatically draw it out of your account on a certain time every month (for me it's the 15th).
no hassles of reloading a tmoney card and it's a feature of a card you always have with you anyways. plus it keeps track and shows you at the turnstile how much you've accumulated in tmoney charges instead of how much is left on your card. |
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dsun1226
Joined: 27 May 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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DaHu wrote: |
dsun1226 wrote: |
Another option could be to activate your Korean check card for T-Money use. I had to pay a 30,000 won deposit at KB but I just use the check card and it automatically withdraws from my bank account twice a month. It saves me the hassle of having to re-load a T-Money card at the machines. |
"Check card"? Is that a specific kind of card? I've had ones that said "Cash Card" and "Debit Card".... so many cards!! |
It's the standard-issue card you get through your bank. As long as it has the gold computer chip on the card you should be able to activate it for transit use. |
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r122925
Joined: 02 Jun 2011
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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dsun1226 wrote: |
DaHu wrote: |
dsun1226 wrote: |
Another option could be to activate your Korean check card for T-Money use. I had to pay a 30,000 won deposit at KB but I just use the check card and it automatically withdraws from my bank account twice a month. It saves me the hassle of having to re-load a T-Money card at the machines. |
"Check card"? Is that a specific kind of card? I've had ones that said "Cash Card" and "Debit Card".... so many cards!! |
It's the standard-issue card you get through your bank. As long as it has the gold computer chip on the card you should be able to activate it for transit use. |
That's incorrect. The gold chip has nothing to do with transit use. This is an IC chip used for "chip and pin" transactions. This is not yet widely used in Korea, but the chips are being added to more and more cards, presumably for use abroad. You can only communicate with this chip through direct contact.
The transit chip is much smaller and is put inside of the plastic. You can't see it without tearing the card apart. It can communicate without any contact (RFID).
So it's possible to have a card with a gold chip that doesn't work for transit. And it's also possible to have a card without a gold chip that does work.
So how can you tell? Look at the back of the card. Each company labels their cards a little differently. BC cards will have a little logo on them that looks like a subway train. Hana/SK cards don't have a logo, but they say "교통카드" on the back. I don't know what other companies use to label theirs. If all else fails, simply try the card and see if it works or just ask your bank.
To the original poster, if you really want to use your phone to pay for the bus or subway it's possible to take apart a card, remove the chip, and stick it inside your phone somewhere.(behind the battery cover for example). The chip is really small so it will fit almost anywhere.
Get a card from your bank that automatically deducts transportation charges from your account. If you don't already have another card for normal use, request that the bank give you 2. Soak the card in acetone for a few hours. After that, the 2 layers of plastic should pull apart very easily. Then remove the transportation chip, this is the small one (usually on the right side) not the big gold one. The chip is quite small. You can stick it inside your phone, or inside of anything really. |
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dsun1226
Joined: 27 May 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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r122925 wrote: |
dsun1226 wrote: |
DaHu wrote: |
dsun1226 wrote: |
Another option could be to activate your Korean check card for T-Money use. I had to pay a 30,000 won deposit at KB but I just use the check card and it automatically withdraws from my bank account twice a month. It saves me the hassle of having to re-load a T-Money card at the machines. |
"Check card"? Is that a specific kind of card? I've had ones that said "Cash Card" and "Debit Card".... so many cards!! |
It's the standard-issue card you get through your bank. As long as it has the gold computer chip on the card you should be able to activate it for transit use. |
That's incorrect. The gold chip has nothing to do with transit use. This is an IC chip used for "chip and pin" transactions. This is not yet widely used in Korea, but the chips are being added to more and more cards, presumably for use abroad. You can only communicate with this chip through direct contact.
The transit chip is much smaller and is put inside of the plastic. You can't see it without tearing the card apart. It can communicate without any contact (RFID).
So it's possible to have a card with a gold chip that doesn't work for transit. And it's also possible to have a card without a gold chip that does work.
So how can you tell? Look at the back of the card. Each company labels their cards a little differently. BC cards will have a little logo on them that looks like a subway train. Hana/SK cards don't have a logo, but they say "교통카드" on the back. I don't know what other companies use to label theirs. If all else fails, simply try the card and see if it works or just ask your bank.
To the original poster, if you really want to use your phone to pay for the bus or subway it's possible to take apart a card, remove the chip, and stick it inside your phone somewhere.(behind the battery cover for example). The chip is really small so it will fit almost anywhere.
Get a card from your bank that automatically deducts transportation charges from your account. If you don't already have another card for normal use, request that the bank give you 2. Soak the card in acetone for a few hours. After that, the 2 layers of plastic should pull apart very easily. Then remove the transportation chip, this is the small one (usually on the right side) not the big gold one. The chip is quite small. You can stick it inside your phone, or inside of anything really. |
My bad on that. I just assumed that's what it was for since American debit/credit cards don't come with that chip. |
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ayahyaha
Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Location: Seoul, South Korea
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 7:12 am Post subject: |
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Does anyone know if you get the same transfer deals as you would using a T-Money card when using a debit/check card to pay on public transit? |
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