When talking about global benchmarks, people use the term "global standard." A standard means a "norm." A standard is a promise that spans the economy, industry and technology. Technological advances can create the need for a "standard," but a single standard can also drive a leap of revolutionary scale. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards and ChosunBiz selected the "top 10 standards that changed the world" and the "top 10 standards that changed the lives and economy of Koreans" based on a survey of experts from industry, academia, research and the press, and reexamine the role of standards. [Editor's note]
The evolution of public transportation payment methods shows the history of technological progress. From coin-shaped tokens to paper tickets and electronic cards, it has now advanced to an era of transportation cards embedded in smart devices.
In the past, payment methods differed depending on the public transportation used. A transportation card used in Seoul could not be used in Busan. Each city had a different payment system, so they were not compatible. Everything from frequencies to recognition methods and settlement systems varied, inconveniencing users and lowering operating efficiency.
To solve this problem, the government and the transportation and IT industries established a contactless payment standard based on RFID in the mid-2000s. They completed the "KS X 6924 series" based on the international standard ISO/IEC 14443. With this standard, a single transportation card could be used across different public transportation modes, including buses, subways and taxis. At last, the era of "nationwide interoperable transportation cards" opened.
With a single card, people could travel anywhere nationwide. Thanks to transfer discounts, families' transportation costs fell, and the urban transportation network embraced citizens as a single consolidated system. Transportation cards then expanded further into small payments at convenience stores and vending machines.
The results were significant. According to The Korea Transport Institute (KOTI), transportation card usage rose from the 30% range in 2004 to over 90% in the 2020s. With the introduction of transfer discounts and an integrated settlement system, consumer benefits were analyzed to exceed 1 trillion won annually. Related technology was exported to overseas cities such as Japan and Singapore, creating new industrial opportunities.
In addition, the accumulation of transportation data made it possible to design urban transportation policies more efficiently. The needs of consumers and society for "more convenient, safer and smarter payments" led to technological advances.
The transportation card industry later became the starting point for Korea's smart payment and Fintech industries. The IC chip technology, data processing, and mass issuance and operation experience secured through developing transportation cards were accumulated by Korean industry. The accumulated technologies led to credit cards, mobile payments, easy remittances, and today's NFC- and QR-based payments.
The standardization of transportation cards was an innovation that went beyond simply "making it easy to pay bus and subway fares" to break down regional boundaries and consolidate citizens' daily lives into one. A small card connected the nation, and it is regarded as a historic stepping stone that enabled Korean society to leap into a world-class smart city through everyday technological innovation.