Money Transfer Utilizing a Social Network Environment

1 . A method for facilitating a money transfer transaction, the method comprising:

collecting, by a processing device of a money transfer service, transaction information from a sender, the transaction information including a transaction amount and transaction destination information;

collecting, by the processing device of said money transfer service, profile information derived from an online social network profile belonging to the sender;

using the collected profile information to authenticate the propriety of the money transfer transaction;

accepting funds from the sender; and

generating the money transfer transaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising collecting at least one of transaction information or profile information from a mobile device application.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein upon a mobile device coming near a money transfer agent location, said method further comprises:

automatically receiving, by the processing device of said money transfer service, the profile information; and

authenticating the sender, based at least in part on the automatically received profile information.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the mobile application has access to Global Positioning System (GPS) information from the mobile device.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

collecting information from a receiver;

comparing said information to the profile information; and

completing the transfer transaction upon obtaining a successful authentication.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the receiver does not have an online social network profile.

7 . The method of claim 5 wherein the receiver has an online social network profile and profile information for the transaction is provided via the receiver's online social network profile.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein profile information includes at least one of: information about the sender regarding previous transactions, information about the sender's connection with a receiving party, and location information of at least one of the sender and receiver.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein transaction information includes information relating to the amount and destination of the transaction.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein transaction information is collected, via an application accessing the social network.

11 . A method for facilitating a money transfer transaction, the method comprising:

collecting information from a receiving party of a money transfer transaction, wherein the collected information includes information obtained from a social network profile for the receiving party;

authenticating a previously generated money transfer transaction utilizing, in part, the information obtained from the social network profile of the receiving party; and

upon successful authentication, providing payment to the receiving party to complete the money transfer transaction.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the sender is not part of the social network.

13 . The method of claim 11 wherein the sender has a profile on the social network.

14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the sender utilizes the social network information to establish, at least in part, the collected information used for authentication.

15 . The method of claim 11 wherein the receiver is notified of the transaction via the social network.

16 . The method of claim 11 wherein the receiver initiates the receiving portion of the transaction via an application accessing the social network.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the application resides on a mobile device.

18 . The method of claim 17 wherein the application automatically communicates information to be sent to a money transfer agent location when the receiving party is proximate to the agent location.

19 . A system comprising:

an online social network profile database configured to store and correlate profile information for a plurality of users;

a money transfer transaction processing device in communication with the online social network profile database, wherein the money transfer transaction processing device is configured to utilize information derived from the online social network profile database to authenticate a money transfer transaction.

20 . The system of claim 19 wherein the money transfer transaction processing device is configured to utilize information derived from the online social network profile database to obtain transaction information for a money transfer transaction.

21 . The system of claim 19 further comprising a plurality of client devices configured to communicate with the online social network profile database and to provide profile information for one or more users.

22 . The system of claim 21 wherein at least one of said plurality of client devices is further configured to communicate with the money transfer transaction processing device.

23 . The system of claim 22 wherein the at least one client device is configured to provide at least one of transaction information and authentication information to the money transfer processing device.

24 . The system of claim 23 wherein transaction information includes information relating to the amount and destination of the transaction.

25 . The system of claim 23 wherein authentication information includes at least one of: information about the sender regarding previous transactions, information about the sender's connection with a receiving party, and location information of at least one of the sender and receiver.

26 . The system of claim 21 wherein the online social network database is configured to exchange information with one or more additional social network databases.