Spanish bank La Caixa has grand plans for the launch of NFC-based mobile payments through an alliance with the country’s three largest mobile operators and Visa.

Initially planning a soft launch early in 2014, the bank said it wants a fully commercial service available in time for the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (24-27 February, 2014).

“La Caixa is launching a commercial payment service in Spain using mobile NFC technology, representing Europe’s largest ever rollout of such a system”, said the company.

The bank hopes to improve its chances of widespread take-up for the new service by joining forces with Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange. Together the three operators account for 80 per cent of Spanish mobile subscribers.

La Caixa said it is the first time that a bank in Europe has launched such a service with the support of leading operators as well as Visa.

La Caixa expects more than 100,000 subscribers on its service in the first year.

It will launch the service in January 2014 by targeting selected customers who frequently make contactless card payments, before going for a wider deployment.