Patent 11403641 was granted and assigned to PayPal on August, 2022 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Techniques are described relating to analyzing user transactions based on time of day of occurrence, and using time of a day as a factor in determining whether a new transaction should be allowed or disallowed. People may have particular tendencies to engage in transaction at certain times of a day. When a new transaction occurs that does not fit a previous pattern, this can indicate someone else has gained access to the account. Past times of transactions can be transformed to a two-dimensional representation that avoids discontinuity. A smoothed probability distribution can indicate a likelihood of whether a new transaction fits previous patterns. If a new transaction is unlikely due to time of day, the new transaction might be denied/prevented from completing. Denial of the transaction may also be based on additional factors besides the time of day.