Cross-Network Social Payments Through an Embedded Gateway
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social networking platforms lack the ability for users to make seamless payments to other users within or across networks without leaving the platform, requiring users to navigate to external payment service providers.
Innovation Solution
A social network payment gateway that integrates with multiple social networks, allowing users to send payments and receive payment alerts without leaving their social network, using a payment service provider to facilitate transactions through a unified system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users make payments through external payment service provider websites, then payment transactions can be completed, but users must leave their social network platform which disrupts the user experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the payment service provider's functionality with the social network platform by embedding the payment gateway within the social network. This allows users to initiate and complete payments without leaving the social network interface, merging two previously separate processes (social networking and payment) into a unified experience while maintaining both payment reliability and user experience continuity
2Adaptability or versatility
If a unified payment gateway is integrated across multiple social networks, then seamless cross-network payments are enabled, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a payment gateway as an intermediary layer between multiple social networks and the payment service provider. This gateway handles the complexity of cross-network communication, authentication, and transaction coordination, enabling seamless cross-network payments while isolating the complexity within the gateway itself rather than requiring each social network to implement complex payment logic
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing social network payments includes receiving a request to make a payment. The request is associated with a social network payer and a social network payee. It is determined that the social network payer is associated with a first payment provider identifier and an authorization token, and a second payment provider identifier for the social network payee is then retrieved using the authorization token. An instruction to make a payment from the social network payer to the social network payee is then transmitted to a payment service provider. The instruction includes a payment amount, the first payment provider identifier, and the second payment provider identifier. A payment alert is also adapted for a payee social network associated with the social network payee, and the payment alert is send to a social network provider device associated with the payee social network.