Grouping payments and payment requests

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a payment service system, an indication from a payment application executing on a first mobile device operated by a first user to send a request for a money transfer. The method includes identifying second users in proximity to the first user based on identifying information associated with each second user of the second users received by the first mobile device over a wireless connection established by the first mobile device with each second mobile device. The method includes selecting one or more second users based at least on a contextual relationship between the first user and each second user of the one or more second users based on contextual information accessed by the payment service system or received from the first mobile device. The method includes causing each selected second user to receive the request for the money transfer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a payment service system, an indication from a payment application executing on a first mobile device operated by a first user to send a request for a money transfer;   identifying, by the payment service system, a plurality of second users in proximity to the first user based on identifying information associated with each second user of the plurality of second users received by the first mobile device over a wireless connection established by the first mobile device with each second mobile device of a plurality of second mobile devices;   selecting, by the payment service system, one or more second users from the plurality of second users based at least on a contextual relationship between the first user and each second user of the one or more second users based on contextual information stored by the payment service system or received by the payment service system from the first mobile device; and   causing, by the payment service system, each selected second user to receive the request for the money transfer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising causing the payment application executing on the first mobile device to establish the wireless connection with each second mobile device of the plurality of second mobile devices using a first network interface. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first network interface is a Bluetooth Low Energy wireless network interface and the wireless connection is a Bluetooth Low Energy wireless connection. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the payment service system receives the indication from the payment application via a second network interface of the first mobile device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the second network interface is a WiFi network interface or cellular network interface. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information includes a transaction history associated with the first user indicating that the first user previously conducted a money transfer transaction with each second user of the one or more second users. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information includes a list of identifiers for one or more second users received from the first mobile device, thereby representing the first user having a pre-existing association with the second user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information includes schedule information derived for the first user from calendar events or social network activities associated with the first mobile device, wherein the schedule information is usable to identify one of the one or more second users as an attendee of an event. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information further includes an indication that the first mobile device and each second mobile device are located in a same geofenced area. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information further includes that the first user and each second user of the one or more selected second users are tagged in a social network post. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to causing each selected second user to receive the request for the money transfer, receiving, by the payment service system from the payment application, a confirmation from the first user to send the request for the money transfer the one or more selected second users. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the payment service system, the request for the money transfer for each selected second user comprising an identifier for a second mobile device of the selected second user, user identifying information for the selected second user, and the specified amount of money, wherein the identifier for the second mobile device of the second user or the user identifying information for the selected second user corresponds to information from a contact list associated with the first user. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the payment service system, a confirmation of the money transfer from at least one second user of the one or more selected second users; and   transferring, by the payment service system, an amount of money associated with the money transfer between a financial account associated with the first user and a financial account associated with the at least one selected second user.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request for money transfer is:
 a request for group payment, where the first user requests payment from each selected second user; or   a request for group transfer, where the first user requests payment to each selected second user.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising causing, by the payment service system, the payment application to display a list of the selected second users recipient mobile devices for confirmation or modification by the first user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request for the money transfer received by each selected second user is received at the second mobile device corresponding to the selected second user and includes a customized message from the first user to the selected second user. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each second mobile device is executing an instance of the payment application, and wherein, when the payment application executing on the first mobile device establishes the wireless connection with each second mobile device, the payment application executing on the first mobile device exchanges the identifying information with the instance of the payment application executing on each second mobile device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein causing one or more of the selected second users to receive the request for the money transfer comprises causing the request for the money transfer to be sent to the one or more second users via a communication channel based on the identifying information associated with the one or more second users, respectively. 
     
     
         19 . A payment service system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media in communication with the one or more processors and comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the payment service system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by the payment service system, an indication from a payment application executing on a first mobile device operated by a first user to send a request for a money transfer;   identifying, by the payment service system, a plurality of second users in proximity to the first user based on identifying information associated with each second user of the plurality of second users received by the first mobile device over a wireless connection established by the first mobile device with each second mobile device of a plurality of second mobile devices;   selecting, by the payment service system, one or more second users from the plurality of second users based at least on a contextual relationship between the first user and each second user of the one or more second users based on contextual information stored by the payment service system or received by the payment service system from the first mobile device; and   causing, by the payment service system, each selected second user to receive the request for the money transfer.   
     
     
         20 . One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a payment service system, are configured to cause the payment service system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by the payment service system, an indication from a payment application executing on a first mobile device operated by a first user to send a request for a money transfer;   identifying, by the payment service system, a plurality of second users in proximity to the first user based on identifying information associated with each second user of the plurality of second users received by the first mobile device over a wireless connection established by the first mobile device with each second mobile device of a plurality of second mobile devices;   selecting, by the payment service system, one or more second users from the plurality of second users based at least on a contextual relationship between the first user and each second user of the one or more second users based on contextual information stored by the payment service system or received by the payment service system from the first mobile device; and   causing, by the payment service system, each selected second user to receive the request for the money transfer.