Google is adding to its growing arsenal of mobile applications and services--according to a patent originally filed in February 2006 and made public last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the search giant is planning a mobile payment service. The so-called "GPay" service would enable consumers to authenticate payments, debit purchaser accounts and credit seller accounts via text message. Described in the patent application as "a computer-implemented method of effectuating an electronic on-line payment," GPay appears roughly similar in concept and scope to existing mobile payment platforms--a year ago, Google launched an online payment system, Google Checkout, and in May released a mobile iteration of the service, which is presently limited to online transactions.

For more on the GPay patent:
- read this Information Week article [1]
- check out this sketch of the UI [2]

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