Generating peer-to-peer transaction risk ratings

• US 8,788,420 B1
• Filed: 10/15/2012
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Green, Travis Harrison Kroll, Cozens, Narelle, Pennarun, Avery, Schmitt, Peter, DePasquale, Michael, Mizhen, Boris
• Primary Examiner(s): Maguire, Lindsay M.
• Application Number:
  US13/652,443
• Time in Patent Office: 645 Days
• Field of Search: 705/44
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/326 Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/384 using social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing

Abstract

The invention provides a computer-implemented method for generating a risk rating for a peer-to-peer transaction. The method comprises receiving a request to generate a risk rating for a proposed peer-to-peer financial transaction; identifying information associated with a plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor; identifying one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions that are related to the proposed transaction; assigning a score to each of the related peer-to-peer transactions, the score being based at least in part on a determination of a level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions; determining the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction; determining a payor risk rating for the payor; adjusting the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the payor risk rating of the payor; and presenting the risk rating for the proposed transaction.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to generate transaction risk ratings, comprising:

receiving, using one or more computing devices, a request to generate a risk rating for a proposed peer-to-peer financial transaction, the request comprising information regarding at least a payment amount for the financial transaction and information identifying a payor for the financial transaction;

identifying, using the one or more computing devices, information associated with a plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor;

identifying, using the one or more computing devices, one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions that are related to the proposed transaction based on one or more factors comprising the information in the request;

assigning, using the one or more computing devices, a score to each of the related peer-to-peer transactions, the score being based on one or more factors comprising a determination of a level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions;

determining, using the one or more computing devices, the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction;

determining, using the one or more computing devices, a payor risk rating for the payor based on one or more factors comprising an analysis of a portion of the plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor;

adjusting, using the one or more computing devices, the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the payor risk rating of the payor;

determining, using the one or more computer devices, a strength of social graph connections of the payor to a payee, the strength based on one or more factors comprising a number of segments of the social graph of the payee in which the payor appears and a closeness of a connection between the payor and the payee in the segments of the social graph of the payee in which the payor appears, wherein a higher number of segments in which the payor appears is an indication of a higher strength, and a closer connection on a segment of the social graph of the payee is an indication of a higher strength;

adjusting, using the one or more computer devices, the risk rating for the proposed financial transaction based on one or more factors comprising the strength of the social graph connections; and

providing for display, using the one or more computer devices, the risk rating for the proposed transaction.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions are identified as being related to the proposed transaction if the proposed transaction and the one or more previous transactions comprise one or more of a similar transaction counter-party, a similar merchant location, a similar transaction value, and a similar product being purchased.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions is based on one or more factors comprising one or more of a completion of the transaction, a speed of the transaction, and a dispute of the transaction.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction is calculated by averaging the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction is calculated by a weighted average of the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction, transactions that are more similar to the proposed transaction being weighted more heavily in the weighted average compared to transaction that are less similar to the proposed transaction.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein presenting the risk rating for the proposed transaction comprises communicating the risk rating for the proposed transaction to a user computing device of a payee for display via the user computing device of the payee.

7. 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 generates a transaction risk rating, the computer-executable program instructions comprising;

computer-executable program instructions for receiving a request to generate a risk rating for a proposed peer-to-peer financial transaction, the request comprising information regarding at least a payment amount for the financial transaction and information identifying a payor for the financial transaction;

computer-executable program instructions for identifying information associated with a plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor;

computer-executable program instructions for identifying one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions that are related to the proposed transaction based on one or more factors comprising the information in the request, wherein the one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions are identified as being related to the proposed transaction if the proposed transaction and the one or more previous transactions comprise one or more of a similar transaction counter-party, a similar merchant location, a similar transaction value, and a similar product being purchased;

computer-executable program instructions for assigning a score to each of the related peer-to-peer transactions, the score being based on one or more factors comprising a determination of a level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions;

computer-executable program instructions for determining the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction; and

computer-executable program instructions for providing the risk rating of the proposed transaction to a computing device of a payee for display.

8. The computer program of claim 7, further comprising

computer-executable program instructions for determining a payor risk rating for the payor based on one or more factors comprising an analysis of a portion of the plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor;

and

computer-executable program instructions for adjusting the risk rating of the proposed financial transaction based on the risk rating of the payor.

9. The computer program of claim 7, further comprising:

computer-executable program instructions for determining a strength of social network information connections of the payor to the payee, the strength based on one or more factors comprising a number of occurrences of the payee in the social network information of the payor, wherein a higher number of occurrences is an indication of a higher strength and a lower number of occurrences is an indication of a lower strength; and

computer-executable program instructions for adjusting the risk rating for the proposed financial transaction based on one or more factors comprising the strength of the social network information connections.

10. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the determination of the level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions is based on one or more factors comprising one or more of a completion of the transaction, a speed of the transaction, and a dispute of the transaction.

11. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the determination of the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction is calculated by averaging the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction.

12. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the determination of the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction is calculated by a weighted average of the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction, transactions that are more similar to the proposed transaction being weighted more heavily in the weighted average compared to transaction that are less similar to the proposed transaction.

13. A system for generating a transaction risk rating, the apparatus comprising:

a storage resource;

a network module; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage resource and the network module, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage resource and that cause the system to;

receiving from a user computing device of a payee a request to generate a risk rating for a proposed peer-to-peer financial transaction between a payor and the payee, the request comprising information regarding at least a payment amount for the financial transaction and information identifying the payor for the financial transaction;

identifying information associated with a plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor;

identifying one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions that are related to the proposed transaction based on one or more factors comprising the information in the request;

assigning a score to each of the related peer-to-peer transactions, the score being based on one or more factors comprising a determination of a level of success of each of the related peer-to-peer transactions, wherein the determination of the risk rating for the proposed transaction is based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction is calculated by a weighted average of the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction, wherein transactions that have a greater number of similar features to the proposed transaction are weighted more heavily in the weighted average compared to transaction that are less similar to the proposed transaction;

determining the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the scores assigned to the transactions related to the proposed transaction; and

providing the risk rating of the proposed financial transaction to the user computing device of the payee for display via the user computing device of the payee.

14. The system of claim 13, the instructions further causing the system to:

determining a payor risk rating for the payor based on one or more factors comprising an analysis of a portion of the plurality of previous peer-to-peer transactions of the payor; and

adjusting the risk rating for the proposed transaction based on the payor risk rating of the payor.

15. The system of claim 13, the instructions further causing the system to:

determining a strength of social network information connections of the payor to the payee, the strength based on one or more factors comprising a number of occurrences of the payee in the social network information of the payor, wherein a higher number of occurrences is an indication of a higher strength and a lower number of occurrences is an indication of a lower strength; and

adjusting the risk rating for the proposed financial transaction based on one or more factors comprising the strength of the social network information connections.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more of the previous peer-to-peer transactions are identified as being related to the proposed transaction if the proposed transaction and the one or more previous transactions comprise one or more of a similar transaction counter-party, a similar merchant location, a similar transaction value, and a similar product being purchased.