Samsung Pay, the Korean vendor’s response to rival services from the likes of Apple and Google, last week (15 July) started a trial in South Korea ahead of its full rollout.

The trial will involve “select customers”, according to the Samsung Tomorrow blog, without actually specifying how many are involved.

The company previously said a commercial launch is scheduled for H2 2015 in South Korea, as well as the US, but has yet to supply further details.

Users of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will be the first to access the new service. The blog explains the steps involved in using the payments app, after users download it for the first time.

Firstly, users log into their Samsung account and choose whether they want to use the fingerprint or PIN when authorising payments. Then users add their credit or debit cards to the app, either by using the phone’s camera or inputting the information manually.

They must agree to the service’s terms and conditions, then complete a user authentication process, which can be done via SMS in South Korea. A code will be sent to the users, which they will need to input to finalise the process. After that, the user registers their PIN and signature for the card.

Users can start a Samsung Pay transaction by swiping their phone screen up from the bottom of the locked screen or home screen. This will work, even when the screen is turned off.

They then swipe left and right to view the cards registered in Samsung Pay. Then, either via a fingerprint scan or PIN, the user is ready to hold their phone against an NFC card reader, which clears a transaction.

Users can also review their payment history by tapping against a particular card to call up a list of transactions on that card. From this screen, users can also remove a card from the app by touching a Delete button. Removal is authenticated by fingerprint (or PIN).

The blog also aims to reassure on security, which is twofold. Firstly there is tokenisation which substitutes a unique, encrypted token for a user’s actual card number. Secondly, no payment is completed without fingerprint or PIN, it points out. And the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge run Samsung’s Knox mobile security platform, which monitors the devices for any malicious activity. However, if a user does lose their device then they can remotely lock it via the Find My Mobile feature, or wipe data if it is permanently lost.