Payments in communication systems

A computer-implemented method to send, by one or more computing devices, electronic payments via social networking systems, comprising:

• determining that social networking payments are enabled and if electronic payment account information associated with a recipient is registered by the recipient on a recipient social network identity page;
• in response to determining that social networking payments are enabled and electronic payment account information is registered, displaying the recipient social network identity page in a social networking application on a sender remote computing device, the recipient social network identity page displaying a payment object interface;
• detecting selection of the payment object interface indicating that a user associated with the sender remote computing device intends to send a payment to the recipient;
• in response to the detecting, displaying, a payment information object on the displayed recipient social network identity page, the payment information object comprising fields to receive an input of payment transaction information via the sender remote computing device, the payment transaction information comprising at least a sender payment account identifier associated with a sender payment account and a payment amount;
• receiving the input of the payment transaction information;
• communicating to a payment processing system the received payment transaction information and an instruction to settle the payment amount from the sender payment account to a recipient payment account associated with the recipient;
• and
• in response to receiving the payment transaction information from the one or more computing devices, transferring, by the payment processing system, the payment amount from the sender payment account to the recipient payment account.

A computer program product, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable storage device having computer-executable program instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computer cause the computer to send electronic payments via social networking systems, the computer-executable program instructions comprising instructions to:
• determine if social networking payments are enabled and if electronic payment account information associated with a recipient is registered by the recipient on a recipient social network identity page;
• display the recipient social network identity page in a social networking application on a sender remote computing device, the recipient social network identity page displaying a payment object interface, in response to determining that social networking payments are enabled and electronic payment account information is registered;
• detect selection of the payment object interface indicating that a user associated with the sender remote computing device intends to send a payment to the recipient;
• in response to the detecting, display a payment information object on the displayed recipient social network identity page, the payment information object comprising fields to receive an input of payment transaction information via the sender remote computing device, the payment transaction information comprising at least a sender payment account identifier associated with a sender payment account and a payment amount;
• receive the input of the payment transaction information;
• communicate to a payment processing system the received payment transaction information and an instruction to settle the payment amount from the sender payment account to a recipient payment account associated with the recipient;
• and
• transfer the payment amount from the sender payment account to the recipient payment account in response to receiving the payment transaction information from the one or more computing devices.

A system for sending electronic payments via social networking systems, the system comprising:

• a storage device;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device and that cause the system to:
• determine if social networking payments are enabled and if electronic payment account information associated with a recipient is registered by the recipient on a recipient social network identity page;
• in response to determining that social networking payments are enabled and electronic payment account information is registered, display the recipient social network identity page in a social networking application on a sender remote computing device, the recipient social network identity page displaying a payment object interface;
• detect selection of the payment object interface indicating that a user associated with the sender remote computing device intends to send a payment to the recipient;
• in response to the detecting, display a payment information object comprising fields to receive an input of payment transaction information via the sender remote computing device, the payment transaction information comprising at least a sender payment account identifier associated with a sender payment account and a payment amount;
• receive the input of the payment transaction information;
• communicate to a payment processing system the received payment transaction information and an instruction to settle the payment amount from the sender payment account to a recipient payment account associated with the recipient;
• and
• in response to receiving the payment transaction information, transfer the payment amount from the sender payment account to the recipient payment account.