Many retailers and technology providers in Internet retailing espouse the power of personalization. And studies have shown that shoppers presented with a personalized offer are more likely to convert than those presented with a generic offer.

Apparel and accessories retailer Gap Inc. is taking personalization to a whole new sphere: text messaging. And it’s doing so with the help of a heavy hitter in payments, Visa Inc.

Gap on Friday sent out an e-mail marketing piece urging shoppers to sign up online on a secure Visa.com page for Gap Mobile 4 U. Shoppers enter their mobile phone number and their Visa card number and they’re set to receive up to two text messages with customized offers per week.

The Visa card is not used for payment; rather, Visa scours the shopper’s transaction history, at Gap and elsewhere, looking for buying trends. Gap sends out text message promotions based on the shopper’s buying trends.

“Gap Mobile 4 U is an interactive mobile service intended to enhance your shopping experience with features and functionality that tracks the purchases you make anywhere with your enrolled Visa card to deliver customized Gap offers and messages to your mobile device based on one or more triggers,” Gap says. “Triggers can include: where you use your enrolled Visa card to make a purchase, which may be at a physical store or online; the type of merchant where you make a purchase with your enrolled Visa card; purchases at the Gap and its affiliated brands; time of day of your transaction; transaction count; and transaction amount.”

Gap is No. 23 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.