If you think that PayPal is the greatest service ever (like I do) and you are on the go a lot, then TextPayMe might work for you. The service lets you transfer funds through text messaging. Once you have signed up and set up a credit card or bank account to transfer funds, you can send money to someone just by sending a message to the company which includes the amount you want to send and the phone number of the recipient. The recipient receives the money instantly.

There are, of course, measures in place to stop fraud. Before the money is sent you receive a confirmation phone call and are asked for a PIN to ensure that no one is trying to steal your money.

This technology isn’t new, of course, but it is the first time we are seeing it on a big scale for this purpose in the U.S. I could see it working well for splitting a bill in a restaurant or even for making bets over a football game at the pub.

A beta version of the service is available now and it is free. Once it officially launches there will be a fee per transaction, much like there is for PayPal, who will most likely eventually buy this company out, and you will be back to PayPal again.