Data Snack: Bank of America continues racking up patents in H1 2022
- In the first half of 2022, the US Patent Office granted Bank of America 341 patents, which is a 50% increase YoY.
- Last year, the bank registered 512 patents, up 16% from the 444 patents it registered in 2020.
Bank of America is among the most innovation-focused banking giants in the country. This reflects in the sheer amount of patents that come out of the organization – after a record-breaking year for patents registered in 2021, it has now set another record for patents granted in the first half of 2022.
The innovation comes courtesy of an emphasis on addressing clients’ needs to help them build better financial lives, according to the firm’s statement. Additionally, to address the specific concerns of today’s digital world, a push to safeguard client information has contributed to the number of patents registered. That is demonstrated by the fact that BofA now has 1,000 information security patents pending or granted – the highest among financial service providers.
Other patents granted span security, privacy, fraud detection, payment technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mobile banking.
The bank now has 5,556 patents granted or pending approval. These patents come directly from employees, with some 6,500 inventors in the bank’s ranks, spread across 14 countries and 43 American states, and across all eight lines of business.
Globally, 26% of the bank’s inventors are women, while in the US, less than 17% of inventors are women.
“The diversity of our patent-winning portfolio represents the diverse experiences and unique perspectives of more than 6,500 inventors around the world,” said Aditya Bhasin, Bank of America’s chief technology and information officer.
Other organizations also recognize the bank's focus on innovation. That’s apparent by the fact that, thus far in 2022, BofA has been cited in over 2,400 patents across industries. All in all, this takes the bank’s total number of citations to over 43,000.
Patents in H1 2022
In the first half of 2022, the US Patent Office granted Bank of America 341 patents, which is a 50% increase YoY. Michael Young, ex-Marine Corps, came out as the bank’s top inventor, filing 65 patents spanning cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data security.
“While I am passionate about inventing, the best part is the opportunity to collaborate with talented teammates across the organization,” Young said.
Of the patents granted to BofA in 2022:
- 21% lay in the information security category;
- 20% lay in the artificial intelligence and machine learning category;
- 18% lay in the programing technology category;
- 16% lay in the payment technology category;
- 14% lay in the online/mobile/consumer banking category;
- 6% lay in the blockchain category;
- 5% lay in the data analytics category.
This comes on the back of a record-setting 2021, where BofA registered 512 patents, up 16% from the 444 patents it registered in 2020. That pushed the bank to the 86th spot on the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s Top 300 list of patent owners, up from 106th.
Here are some examples of the patents granted to BofA so far in 2022:
- Real-time authentication using a mobile device on a high generation cellular network (Patent 16/520,661)
- The system is designed to authenticate banking customers – including but not limited to credit card holders, debit card holders, account holders – and protect them from fraud. It leverages a user's mobile device connected to a high generation cellular network (e.g. 5G) to collect and analyze data to seamlessly identify them, and prevent potentially fraudulent transactions.
- Payment Card With Light-based Signature (Patent 17/560361)
- The patent is for cards that can be authenticated using light. A light source will shine light on the surface of the payment card and generate a light pattern that is unique to that card. A photodetector will capture that and compare it to a reference light pattern to authenticate the payment card.
- Smart Card With Reverse Payment Technology (Patent 17/060114)
- The patented card, which includes a microprocessor and a wireless interface, will allow users to securely complete online transactions without entering any sensitive transaction information into a third-party system.
- Artificial Intelligence Security Configuration Engine (Patent 17/078176)
- This AI-based configuration engine accepts human-readable policy requirements and generates technical configuration settings that implement policy requirements consistently across diverse technology platforms.