Bank of America (BoA) has recorded the most patents granted in the first half of any year in the company’s history, covering a range of solutions including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), information security, data analytics, mobile banking and payments.
AI and ML accounted for 25% of the patents, while mobile banking accounted for 21%, information security for 16% and blockchain for 8%.
Overall, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) granted the bank 227 patents during the first half of 2021, a 23% increase over last year.
“We’re in a period of unprecedented change, and as any great company knows, delivering for customers and clients requires a strong focus on innovation,” said Cathy Bessant, Bank of America’s Chief Operations and Technology Officer.
“The culture we’ve created at Bank of America is immensely creative and forward looking, driving solutions that make our clients’ financial lives better.”
Bank of America employees continue to innovate despite a nationwide downturn in patent applications.
The Bank applied for 403 patents, despite 85% of its workforce continuing to work from home during the pandemic.
One of the company’s inventors is Manu Kurian, a senior vice president within global banking.
Kurian ranks in the top 300 patent holders in the world, filing more than 360 patents since 2014, with more than 220 of those having been granted.
Kurian recently filed patent applications for technology to enable authentication and data access capabilities for the bank.
“My primary responsibilities are on mobile data,” Kurian said.
“The bank really values the way we handle our data. And so part of that is also being able to move that data efficiently between our different systems so that we have that opportunity to serve our clients.”
The bank’s patent portfolio consists of 4943 patents granted or applied for, resulting from the work of nearly 6000 inventors based in 42 US states and 13 countries around the world.
