Korean banks roll out foreigner-only prepaid card for tourists in April
Woori Bank, Nol Universe and Kona AI announced on the 13th that they have signed a business partnership to offer a foreigner-only prepaid card–based financial service. The agreement was described as aimed at improving payment convenience and financial access for foreign tourists visiting Korea.
The three companies plan to jointly roll out a prepaid card service dedicated to foreign customers, with a launch targeted for April. They said system integration and alliance infrastructure development will proceed in preparation for the service rollout.
The service will leverage Kona AI’s domestic card payment infrastructure, enabling both transit card features and online/offline merchant payments. Foreign visitors arriving in Korea will be able to receive the prepaid card at Incheon International Airport’s currency exchange counters, with preferential exchange rates when using the card domestically. The project also includes currency exchange and top-up services via unmanned exchange machines and ATMs.
In addition, the prepaid card will be offered through Nol Universe’s travel platform Nol World, tying together K‑concert tickets and tourism packages. A general version of the product will also be available as a card that can be purchased separately.
For international readers, especially in the United States, the development highlights Korea’s push to streamline tourism payments through fintech-enabled solutions. The partnership signals how banks, fintech providers and travel platforms are collaborating to lower friction for foreign travelers, potentially supporting tourism revenue, cross-border spending and digital payments in a key Asian travel market.
Context for non-Korean readers: Nol Universe operates the travel, ticketing and experiences platform Nol World; Kona AI provides domestic card payment infrastructure; Incheon International Airport is Korea’s main international gateway; Woori Bank is one of South Korea’s largest commercial banks with broad foreign exchange and payments services.
Kim Go-un, deputy head of Woori Bank’s Foreign Exchange Division, said the bank has prepared a differentiated service to make it easy for foreign tourists to use anytime, anywhere, and that the bank will continue to expand financial services for global customers through this partnership.