Automated third-party messaging

• US 10,423,948 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2017
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wilson, Jesse, Dent, Terrill
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai
• Application Number:
  US15/640,245
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 45
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3255 using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/326 Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3267 In-app payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/386 using messaging services or messaging apps using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS G06Q20/3255
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/42 Confirmation, e.g. check or permission by the legal debtor of payment

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed in this specification include chatbots that can automatically identify payment requests and execute payments within third-party chat applications. A payment-service-system server can include an application acting as an additional participant in a messaging application having two or more other participants. Based on the context of the conversation, the payment-service-system server can identify payment requests, suggest making a payment, and execute the payment without leaving the chat application. There is no need to access a separate web page or application to complete the payment.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a payment-service-system server from a messaging-service application, a human-readable textual input in a conversation between a first user and a second user in the messaging-service application, the human-readable textual input corresponding to a payment request from the first user to the second user via the payment-service-system server,

wherein the messaging-service application is configured to execute locally on a computing device that is remote from the payment-service-system server,

wherein the messaging-service application comprises a network interface, and

wherein the payment-service-system server is configured to execute a software agent program for communicating with the messaging-service application over the network interface, and wherein the software agent program is configured to generate a plurality of human-readable outputs for display in the conversation with the first user and the second user;

identifying, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, the payment request in the human-readable textual input, wherein the identifying comprises natural-language processing by parsing the human-readable textual input for one or more strings or characters indicative of the payment request;

in response to identifying the payment request, initiating, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, a payment command based on the human-readable textual input,

wherein the payment command comprises an amount and one or more identifiers associated with one or more users, wherein the amount is identified based on purchase information stored by the payment-service-system server that is determined to correspond with the human readable textual input;

verifying, by the payment-service-system server, that the one or more identifiers comprise a first identifier of the first user and a second identifier of the second user and that the one or more users do not comprise a user who is not a participant to the conversation;

automatically identifying, by the payment-service-system server, a first payment account corresponding to the first user and a second payment account corresponding to the second user, wherein each payment account comprises an account number and a balance;

instructing, by an instruction from the software agent program, the messaging-service application to insert a payment confirmation message, in the conversation in the messaging-service application, for the first user to complete a payment transaction corresponding to the human-readable textual input; and

receiving, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, an instruction to execute the payment transaction responsive to the payment confirmation message inserted in the conversation,

upon receiving the instruction to execute the payment transaction, authorizing, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, a payment instruction to debit the first payment account and to credit the second payment account, wherein the software agent program performs the payment transaction via the payment-service-system server in the background while the messaging-service application continues to display the conversation in the foreground on the computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the payment request comprises parsing two or more human-readable textual inputs.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

upon receiving the instruction to execute the payment transaction, automatically generating, by the payment-service-system server, the payment transaction.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 further comprising:

transmitting, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, the payment transaction to the messaging-service application, wherein the payment transaction includes options to deposit or reject the payment transaction.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

receiving, by the payment-service-system server from the messaging-service application, a selection to deposit funds; and

upon receiving the selection to deposit the funds, automatically transferring the funds and transmitting a payment command to a system of record server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the payment-service-system server, relatedness between the purchase information stored by the payment-service-system server and the human readable textual input.

7. A payment-service-system comprising:

a software agent configured to receive a human-readable textual message comprising a payment request and to receive or transmit one or more other human-readable textual messages to a network interface of a remote messaging-service server,

wherein the software agent is configured to generate a plurality of human-readable outputs for display in a conversation with a first user and a second user, such that the software agent, the first user, and the second user transmit messages to the messaging-service application over the network interface;

a payment-service-system server, in communication with the software agent, configured to receive the human-readable textual message, from the software agent, and to identify the payment request by parsing the received human-readable textual message for one or more strings or characters indicative of the payment request;

a database comprising account records corresponding to the first user and the second user;

the payment-service-system server further configured to request a database lookup to identify a first account record corresponding to the first user and a second account record corresponding to the second user;

the database, in response to receiving the request for the database lookup, configured to identify automatically the first account record and the second account record; and

the payment-service-system server further configured to transmit a command to store a record corresponding to a transfer of funds, from the first account record to the second account record, to a system of record server,

wherein the command comprises an amount, a first user identifier of the first user, and a second user identifier of the second user, wherein the amount is identified based on purchase information stored by the payment-service-system server that is determined to correspond with the human-readable textual message.

8. The payment-service-system of claim 7, wherein the payment-service-system server is further configured to generate a payment option and to transmit the payment option to the remote messaging-service server, wherein the payment option comprises an option to terminate a payment transaction and an option to accept the payment transaction.

9. The payment-service-system of claim 8, wherein the payment-service-system server is further configured to generate automatically the payment transaction and to transmit an option to deposit the funds or decline the payment transaction to the remote messaging-service server via the software agent in response to receiving a selection of the option to accept the payment transaction;

and

the payment-service-system server, in response to receiving a selection of the option to deposit the funds, further configured to automatically transfer funds from a first account of the first account record to a second account of the second account record.

10. The payment-service-system of claim 9, further comprising a first payment application configured to run on a first user computing device;

the payment-service-system server further configured to transmit a completion message to the first user computing device in response to completing the payment transaction; and

the first payment application, in response to receiving the completion message, further configured to generate a notification user interface indicating completion of the payment transaction.

11. The payment-service-system of claim 10, further comprising a second payment application configured to run on a second user computing device;

the payment-service-system server further configured to transmit a second completion message to the second user computing device in response to completing the payment transaction; and

the second payment application, in response to receiving the completion message, further configured to generate a second notification user interface indicating completion of the payment transaction.

12. The payment-service-system of claim 7, wherein the database lookup comprises associating a user identifier with an account record.

13. The payment-service-system of claim 9, wherein the software agent is configured to produce one or more buttons, wherein the payment-service-system uses the one or more buttons to generate the payment option and the option to deposit the funds or decline the payment transaction.

14. The payment-service-system of claim 7, wherein the payment-service-system is configured to receive human-readable textual messages in a group conversation with three or more user computing devices.

15. The payment-service-system of claim 7, wherein the payment-service-system server does not identify the payment request unless all parties to the payment request are participants to a group conversation.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a series of instructions to perform a method comprising:

receiving, at a payment-service-system server from a messaging-service application, a human-readable textual input in a conversation between a first user and a second user in the messaging-service application, the human-readable textual input corresponding to a potential payment request from the first user to the second user via the payment-service-system server,

wherein the messaging-service application is configured to execute locally on a computing device that is remote from the payment-service-system server,

wherein the messaging-service application comprises a network interface, and

wherein the payment-service-system server is configured to execute a software agent program, and the software agent program is configured to generate a plurality of human-readable outputs for display in the conversation with the first user and the second user, such that the software agent program, the first user, and the second user transmit messages to the messaging-service application over the network interface;

automatically identifying, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, the potential payment request in the human-readable textual input, wherein the identifying comprises parsing the human-readable textual input for one or more strings or characters indicative of the payment request;

in response to automatically identifying, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, the potential payment request in the human-readable textual input, initiating, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, a payment command based on the human-readable textual input,

wherein the payment command comprises an amount, a first identifier of the first user, and a second identifier of the second user, wherein the amount is identified based on purchase information stored by the payment-service-system server that is determined to correspond with the human-readable textual input;

automatically identifying, by the payment-service-system server, a first payment-service-system account corresponding to the first user and a second payment-service-system account corresponding to the second user, wherein each payment-service-system account comprises an account number and a balance;

instructing, by the software agent program, the messaging-service application to insert a textual request, in the conversation in the messaging-service application, for the first user to complete a payment transaction corresponding to the human-readable textual input; and

upon receiving, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, an instruction to execute the payment transaction responsive to the textual request inserted in the conversation, authorizing, by the software agent program of the payment-service-system server, a payment instruction to debit the first payment-service-system account and to credit the second payment-service-system account, wherein the software agent program performs the payment transaction via the payment-service-system server in the background while the messaging-service application continues to display the conversation in the foreground on the computing device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein identifying the potential payment request comprises parsing the human-readable textual input for one or more predefined identifiers.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein identifying the potential payment request comprises parsing two or more human-readable textual inputs.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 further comprising instructions for:

upon receiving the instruction to execute the payment transaction, automatically generating, by the payment-service-system server, the payment transaction.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 further comprising instructions for:

transmitting, by the payment-service-system server, the payment transaction to the messaging-service application, wherein the payment transaction includes options to deposit or reject the payment transaction.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 further comprising instructions for:

receiving, by the payment-service-system server from the messaging-service application, a selection to deposit funds; and

upon receiving the selection to deposit the funds, automatically transferring the funds and transmitting a payment command to a system of record server.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein identifying the potential payment request further comprises verifying that all parties to the potential payment request are participants to the conversation, and not initiating the payment command if the parties are not participants to the conversation.

23. A method comprising:

receiving, at a payment-service-system server, one or more human-readable textual messages in a group messaging session of a messaging-service server, wherein participants of the group messaging session include a first user, a second user, and the payment-service-system server;

upon receiving the one or more human-readable textual messages, automatically identifying, by the payment-service-system server, a payment command based on text in the one or more human-readable textual messages by parsing the human-readable textual messages for one or more strings or characters indicative of the payment command, wherein the payment command comprises an amount, a first user identifier of the first user, and a second user identifier of the second user, wherein the amount is identified based on purchase information stored by the payment-service-system server that is determined to correspond with the human-readable textual message;

generating, by the payment-service-system server, a payment option and a first human-readable textual message comprising the payment option, wherein the payment option comprises the amount and is associated with the first user of the participants of the group messaging session;

transmitting, by the payment-service-system server, the first human-readable textual message to the messaging-service server for forwarding to the first user and the second user;

receiving, by the payment-service-system server, an acceptance of the payment option from the first user;

upon receiving the acceptance, automatically generating a second human-readable textual message comprising a payment transaction for the second user of the participants of the group messaging session, wherein the payment transaction includes an option to deposit the amount or decline the payment transaction; and

also upon receiving the acceptance, authorizing, by the payment-service-system server, the payment transaction to debit a first payment-service-system account and to credit a second payment-service-system account, wherein the payment-service-system server performs the payment transaction in the background on a computing device, while the group messaging session continues to operate in the foreground on the computing device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein automatically identifying the payment command comprises identifying text in two or more human-readable textual messages associated with the payment command.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising, identifying, by the payment-service-system server, the amount, a recipient, and a reason associated with the payment command from the two or more human-readable textual messages.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

transmitting a completion message to a first user computing device upon completing the payment transaction; and

upon receiving the completion message, automatically displaying, by a payment application of the first user computing device, a notification user interface indicating completion of the payment transaction.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting a second completion message to a second user computing device upon transferring funds; and

upon receiving the second completion message, automatically displaying, by a second payment application of the second user computing device, a second notification user interface indicating completion of the payment transaction.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein identifying the payment command further comprises verifying that all parties to the payment command are participants to the group messaging session, and not initiating the payment option if the parties are not participants to the group messaging session.