Visa Europe is to launch an NFC mobile payments service in the UK by the end of 2013, the payments network has confirmed to NFC World — although the exact launch date and full details on how the service will work are yet to be revealed.

A new video ad shows off the mobile contactless service and says that it will be launched by December 2013:

In February Visa and Samsung announced a plan to pre-load the payments network's payWave applet on embedded secure elements in "selected" next generation devices from the Korean phone maker — potentially enabling banks to offer NFC payments without any involvement from mobile network operators.

When asked if the UK NFC launch was connected to the deal with Samsung, a Visa Europe spokesperson told NFC World: "It could well be, but we are not confirming anything at the moment. We are keeping that as a surprise."

Weve, a joint venture between three of the UK's major mobile network operators, revealed earlier this week that it will launch NFC payments in the UK in 2014.