US 8,621,215 B1Granted

Methods and systems for creating monetary accounts for members in a social network

AssigneeGoogle Inc.

InventorSitaram Iyer

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Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems and methods of creating monetary accounts for members in a social network. One aspect of one embodiment of the present invention comprises receiving transaction data associated with at least one member of a social network, associating a first member of the social network with a trust factor, associating a second member of the social network with another trust factor, and determining whether to create an account between the first member and second member, based at least in part on the trust factor of the first member and the trust factor of the second member. Another aspect of one embodiment of the present invention comprises receiving transaction data from a plurality of members of a social network, wherein each member has an associated trust factor, and resolving the transaction data based at least in part on the trust factors associated with the plurality of members.

Claims61

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method executed by at least one computer system comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:

(a) receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile based on the bidirectional communication and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network;
(d) associating, using the one or more processors, the first member of the social network with a first trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the first member in the social network and is based on instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member is a trusted member of the social network and a degree of separation between the first member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between the first member and the other members;
(e) associating, using the one or more processors, the second member of the social network with a second trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the second member and is based on the instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the second member is a trusted member of the social network;
and
(f) the one or more processors determining whether to create the monetary account between the first member and the second member to complete a financial transaction associated with the transaction data based on the first trust factor, the second trust factor and by determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community.

4 more elements

A computer-implemented method executed by at least one computer system comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:

(a) receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network, wherein the first member and the second member each have an associated trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of each member in the social network and is based, in part, on instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member and the second member are trusted members of the social network and a degree of separation between each member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between each member and the other members;
and
(d) the one or more processors resolving the transaction data based on the trust factors associated with the first member and the second member and by determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community.

2 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing executable program code, comprising:

(a) program code for receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) program code for establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) program code for receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member of the social network, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network;
(d) program code for associating the first member of the social network with a first trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the first member in the social network and is based on instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member is a trusted member of the social network and a degree of separation between the first member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between the first member and the other members;
(e) program code for associating the second member of the social network with a second trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the second member and is based on the instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the second member is a trusted member of the social network;
and
(f) program code for determining whether to create the monetary account between the first member and the second member to complete a financial transaction associated with the transaction data based on the first trust factor, the second trust factor and determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community.

4 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing executable program code, comprising:

(a) program code for receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) program code for establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) program code for receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network, wherein the first member and the second member each have an associated trust factor that relates to a trustworthiness of each member and is based on instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member and the second member are trusted members of the social network and a degree of separation between each member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between each member and the other members;
and
(d) program code for resolving the transaction data based on the trust factors associated with the first member and the second member and by determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community.

2 more elements

A computer-implemented method executed by at least one computer system comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:

(a) receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network;
(d) associating, using the one or more processors, the first member of the social network with a first trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the first member in the social network and is based on a degree of separation between the first member and other members of the social network and instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member is a trusted member of the social network and a degree of separation between each member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between each member and the other members;
(e) associating, with the one or more processors, the second member of the social network with a second trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of the second member and is based on the instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the second member is a trusted member of the social network;
(f) the one or more processors determining whether to create the monetary account between the first member and the second member to complete a financial transaction associated with the transaction data based on the first trust factor, the second trust factor_and by determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community;
(g) receiving a payment entry from the first member;
(h) determining, with the one or more processors, an amount owed to the second member by the first member;
and
(i) storing the payment entry and the amount owed to the second member in the monetary account.

7 more elements

A computer-implemented method executed by at least one computer system comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:

(a) receiving bidirectional communication between a first member associated with a first profile and a second member associated with a second profile in a social network;
(b) establishing a social relationship between the first profile and the second profile and storing the social relationship as an association in the social network, the association including a type and a level of the social relationship;
(c) receiving, at the social network, transaction data associated with the first member and the second member, the transaction data indicative of a request to create a monetary account between the first member and the second member that is independent of the social network, wherein the first member and the second member each have an associated trust factor that describes a trustworthiness of each member in the social network and is based on instructions received from the other members of the social network that specify whether the first member or the second member is a trusted member of the social network and a degree of separation between each member and the other members of the social network that provided the instructions, the degree of separation reflecting a strength of relationship between each member and the other members;
(d) resolving, using the one or more processors, the transaction data based on the trust factors associated with the first member and the second member, determining that the first member and the second member share a common characteristic, an activity and a community and determining whether a proxy payment can be made by a third member of the other members for an amount owed by the first member to the second member;
(e) receiving a selection from the third member to make the payment to the second member of the social network;
and
(f) sending a notification to at least one of the other members regarding the third member making the payment.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/880,707Filed 30 Jun 2004
Granted: 31 Dec 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G06Q 10/42
Business processes related to social networking or social networking services: determination of affinities or common interests between users
G06Q 10/48
Business processes related to social networking or social networking services: using social graphs
G06Q 20/10
Payment architectures: specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
G06Q
Information and communication technology [ict] specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial