Seoul Subway Fare Payment by Bank Transfer Prohibited
"Causes Issues Like Fare Evasion and Increased Workload"
Effective from January 20 Next Year
Starting next year, it will no longer be possible to use account transfers to ride the subway. Due to an increase in fare evasion through misuse of account transfers, a complete ban is being pursued.
According to Seoul Metro on the 23rd, from the 20th of next month, subway fares cannot be paid via account transfer. The company had allowed passengers to pay fares by account transfer at the exit station since January 14, 2022, considering passenger convenience in situations where cash withdrawal machines were not installed.
However, after three years of operation, various side effects such as fare evasion have occurred. A company official explained, “There were frequent cases where passengers without tickets or cash evaded fares without informing that they intended to pay by account transfer, or lied about their boarding station to pay less than the actual travel distance,” adding, “When cracking down on fare evaders, some passengers also used the excuse that they intended to pay by account transfer.”
The workload has also increased. The number of account transfer transactions rose from 12,155 in 2022 to 31,229 this year, requiring a significant amount of time to process the payments. A company official stated, “Not only does processing claims take time, but there were cases where passengers without tickets or cash called staff at emergency gates and insisted on boarding first as if it were their right.”
Thirteen related organizations operating metropolitan urban railways also reached a fundamental agreement last August to abolish the account transfer system. In particular, disagreements arose over revenue distribution between organizations that allow account transfers, such as Seoul Metro, Korea Railroad Corporation, and Airport Railroad, and those that do not. Internal concerns about increased workload were also consistently raised. Ultimately, the company decided to abolish the system to prevent long-term side effects.
However, the company plans to allow account transfers only in extremely exceptional cases, such as when passengers cannot purchase tickets normally due to malfunctions of ticket vending machines or power outages, or when the stationmaster deems account transfer unavoidable for pregnant women and examinees using the subway.
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