A single mobile app allows foreign tourists in Seoul to use services in a more convenient and safer manner.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on December 10 the launch of Trip.PASS, a mobile passport-based travel¡¤finance O2O app designed to enhance the convenience and safety of services for foreign tourists in Seoul.

Trip.PASS offers a range of features, including identity verification, tax refunds, transportation cards, and easy mobile payments.

With the mobile passport feature, foreign tourists can use their mobile passport for identification, eliminating the need for a physical passport.

The app can also be utilized at locations where ID verification is required or at stores offering tax refunds after shopping.

By adding value to the prepaid card automatically produced based on a mobile passport through a credit card, a user can use services such as mobile payment and immediate tax refund at branches of the convenience store chain CU and designated duty-free stores.

The transportation card function of the prepaid card allows access to all modes of public transportation such as the airport railroad, subway, intra-city buses and taxis without the need for cash.

The city government predicted that Trip.PASS will also contribute to revitalizing smaller businesses and boosting convenience for sightseers. This is because the QR code technology-based app enables mobile payment without the need for a separate passport reader or a terminal that accepts credit cards issued outside Korea.

The app provides service in Korean, English, Japanese, and simplified and traditional Chinese. The city said Vietnamese and Thai will be added in the first half of next year.