Alipay and WeChat Pay Payments to Become Available on Busan City Buses from the 21st

[Financial News] Foreign tourists visiting Busan will soon be able to use city buses with mobile payments, without purchasing a separate transit card or exchanging currency into Korean won.
Busan Metropolitan City Government announced on the 15th that it will launch the “Zero Pay QR easy payment service” on city buses starting on the 21st to make public transportation more convenient for foreign tourists.
The service allows passengers to pay their fares by scanning Zero Pay QR codes attached inside buses, without requiring a separate bus payment system.
Using Zero Pay’s global payment network, operated by the Korea Easy Payment Foundation, passengers can use their usual participating payment apps without installing a separate app or purchasing a transit card.
The process is simple. After boarding a city bus, passengers open their payment app, scan the QR code inside the bus, and select the payment button. The fare is then paid through automatic currency conversion. Passengers must show the payment screen to the bus attendant.
The standard cash fare of 1,700 won per person applies. Passengers traveling together can pay for the number of people in their group. Unlike regular transit cards, the service does not offer transfer discounts, and youths and children are also charged 1,700 won.
In line with the service launch, the city plans to place QR codes and multilingual information stickers on all city buses. It will also actively provide guidance at bus stops near major tourist attractions and at tourist information centers.
More than four million foreign tourists are expected to visit Busan this year. Visitors from Asian countries, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, are projected to account for more than 60 percent of the total.
As mobile easy payments such as Alipay and WeChat Pay have become common, particularly in China, the new service is expected to significantly reduce inconveniences for foreign tourists while traveling around the city.
Busan Metropolitan City Government plans to review the service’s performance and user feedback. It will also consider linking QR payment functions to new transit card terminals when they are introduced in the future.

[email protected] Kwon Byeong-seok Reporter