Patent filing stokes speculation that "Gpay" mobile payments service could accompany rollout of proprietary "Gphone"

The emergence of a patent filing has stoked speculation that Google is working on a mobile phone-based payments service dubbed ?Gpay? that could be rolled out by the internet search giant with a new phone handset.

Speculation hit fever pitch last week over the possible shape of Google?s next foray into telecoms as a host of blogs carried pictures of what was claimed to be a low-cost, internet enabled handset ? the ?Gphone?.

The fresh patent, which was filed last year by Google but has only just been published, describes how a text message from a mobile phone could trigger a ?computer-implemented method of effectuating an electronic on-line payment?.

While mobile phone-based payments systems already exist, leading some onlookers to snipe that ?Google is trying to reinvent the wheel, other commentators suggested the development of such a service could give Google a lift as it makes a major move into telecoms.