OpenTable, the US firm that enables diners to reserve tables online and via their mobile devices, is developing a mobile payment service that will let users pay for their meal with their phones, according to Reuters.

The firm plans to launch the service in San Francisco later in 2013 but did not give any further details on a conference call with analysts.

Its mobile app is already a big part of OpenTable’s business. About 41 per cent of its diners booked through their mobile devices in the third quarter, up from roughly 30 per cent a year earlier.

Under OpenTable’s business model, if a reservation is made through its website or app, the restaurant pays $1 per diner. If a diner makes a reservation on the restaurant’s website and is directed to the OpenTable system, then the payment  is 25 cents.

The firm reported consolidated net revenues for Q3 2013 of $46.7 million, an 18 per cent increase over Q3 2012. Consolidated net income for Q3 2013 was $7.6 million.