What a tab!

Major banks in Mexico, including Citigroup Inc. and BBVA, are partnering with mobile operators Telefonica SA and Iusacell to launch a mobile charge service, reports Reuters.

Mobile users will soon be able to link savings accounts to their phones, so payments can be made to restaurants or taxis, for example, via text message. The offering is targeted primarily to tech-savvy teens. And while large banks and carriers will participate, America Movil Telcel, which houses over two-thirds of Mexican mobile plans, has not signed up.

The use of mobile phones to pay for commonly-purchased items is commonplace in Japan, in part because mobile operator NTT DoCoMo has partnered with many major businesses over the past several years. And while the trend hasn't quite captured the imaginations of US-based carriers, web retail giant Amazon has begun experimenting with a text-based mobile payment system.