Tmoney said on March 16 it will provide a benefit that credits 500 won each time passengers board a Seoul city bus using the tagless payment pilot service, to help activate the trial programme.

It plans to raise public awareness of the Seoul city bus tagless payment pilot service and expand opportunities for citizens to try it. Tmoney has run the tagless payment pilot since October last year on 36 Seoul city bus routes, covering a total of 590 buses. The promotion credits 500 won in T-mileage each time a passenger boards on a Seoul city bus pilot route using tagless payment.

The tagless payment pilot routes include 13 trunk routes: 111, 121, 171, 240, 343, 405, 501, 502, 654, 660, 662, 704 and 761. They also include 23 branch routes: 1132, 1226, 2212, 2224, 2233, 3214, 3322, 3414, 4211, 4433, 5519, 5528, 5621, 5630, 6613, 6632, 7011, 7018, 7713, 7739, 8111, 8561 and 8661.

Tmoney tagless payment is a next-generation public transport payment service that automatically charges fares without requiring users to tap a transit card or smartphone on a terminal. It can automatically recognise a smartphone even when it is in a pocket or bag, allowing boarding and alighting.

Park Yong-sik (박용식), an executive director in Tmoney's AFC business division, said, "We prepared this promotion so more citizens can experience the Seoul city bus tagless payment service." He added, "We will continue to advance the service and steadily expand various benefits so citizens can use public transport more conveniently."