Impulse Buying Goes Mobile

Paypal has announced it is supporting the use of secured text messages as a payment method for retail purchases.  This will support Internet purchases and is expected to penetrate OTC as a strong competitor in the next 12-18 months.  With a little targeted consumer data, this could lead to either push- or on-demand generation of coupons and promotional information via your phone.  This technology has proved to be very popular in the Far East, where you can walk by a music store, Text Message to a number listed on the store window, receive an instant coupon within moments, then walk in and perform an entire transaction over your phone.  Aram Sinnreich, an analyst with Radar Research, expressed concern that this will increase spontaneous purchasing habits for many people, but I see little difference between this and a credit card, other than the cool novelty of buying via phone.

Check out Paypal's site for a demo of the technology.