A new service from online payment company and eBay unit PayPal will allow consumers to make purchases or money transfers using text messaging via mobile phones, reports Reuters. Analysts say PayPal Mobile is a step toward bridging online and offline commerce. It will be launched in April in the U.S., Canada and the U.K; other markets will follow. Word leaked out Wednesday when bloggers found links to test pages on PayPal's website describing the service (see FAQ).

PayPal Mobile will offer customers two options for transferring funds over a phone: via text message or by calling an automated customer service system and using voice command. A "Text to Buy" feature allows buying advertised items (e.g., clothes, concert tickets) by sending product codes located in the ads; the merchant would then ship the product to the address of the PayPal user's account.

"A mobile payment service holds out the prospect of reaching vast markets in the developing world where phones, rather than computers, are the main way to connect to the internet," Reuters points out.