Leading Dutch financial institution Rabobank has launched an NFC-based mobile wallet, although the service is only initially available on a couple of Samsung handsets.

The Android app is now in the Play Store so that users of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 can download and make NFC-based payments at contactless terminals in locations such as shops and restaurants.

In addition, users can check bank balances, store loyalty cards and redeem digital vouchers with the new service.

The commercial launch of the service is not a surprise since the bank has been running a pilot in the Dutch city of Leiden with rivals, ING and ABN Amro. Actually, Rabobank was originally targeting a 2014 launch date.

And the bank was previously part of the ill-fated Sixpack allaince along with the country’s leading operators KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile. But the alliance crashed, with its members claiming regulatory clearance was too slow and difficult.

Since 2013, Rabobank has been doing its own thing in partnership with German vendor Giesecke & Devrient (G&D). The wallet is based on G&D’s mobile application platform and is supported by its Trusted Service Management (TSM) service for secure payments.

G&D’s TSM service, which is connected to Samsung’s provisioning solution, enables the secure transmission of sensitive applications to mobile devices. It enables Rabobank to securely manage its mobile debit card.

A strategic partnership between Samsung and G&D makes it possible to provide service providers and partners such as Rabobank with a package of services.

Using the G&D TSM hub connected to Samsung’s provisioning solution, service providers can send data to the Embedded Secure Element of a Samsung smartphone and provide it with up-to-date personalised user data.