Bank of America was granted a record 608 patents last year by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a 19% rise year over year.

Key automation technologies such as AI and machine learning (ML) applications were at the fore, alongside information security and payment end uses, emanating from a diverse global workforce.

The bank rose to 75th position from 86th on the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s (IPO) list of top 300 patent owners, in its 40th anniversary data cut compiled in association with Harrity Analytics.

The bank’s 2022 USPTO patents were granted in the following areas:

• Information security, 27%;
• AI and ML for financial services, 21%;
• Programming technology, 17%;
• Payment technology, 14%;
• Online/mobile/consumer banking applications, 11%;
• Data analytics, 6%; and
• Blockchain end uses, 4%.

“Our culture of innovation is driven by our inventors’ passion for ideating, developing and patenting meaningful capabilities for our clients and teammates,” said Aditya Bhasin, chief technology and information officer for Bank of America, in a release. More than $10 billion in annual investment in these innovations “earned our company a patented portfolio of solutions that spans AI, cybersecurity, payments and other technologies that help our clients live better financial lives.”

Bank of America’s active portfolio of 5,837 patents comes from more than 6,700 inventors across 42 states and 14 countries, including an application granted to Rob Oddy, a U.K.-based enterprise architecture executive in the bank’s global technology unit. He developed an AI method to convert complex human requests into a series of automated actions across various formats and channels, from consumer to corporate banking.

Increasing processing efficiencies

Every day FIs get simple and short voice, text or other messages from customers and clients to perform actions such as changing account information or processing a transaction. The new Bank of America AI tool patented by Oddy increases processing efficiency by automating these requests and cutting human interaction, as far as possible, to prevent any need for re-statements and error investigations, thereby enhancing productivity, speed and customer satisfaction.

“AI and ML are key technologies that can increase overall processing efficiencies, allowing our clients to focus on more strategic tasks,” Oddy told Bank Automation News. “It’s all about creating tools that are focused on client need — what will make a difference to their day-to-day business.

“Automation tools such as this can help determine the purpose(s) or so-called ‘intent’ associated with complex non-scripted messages that we receive via voice, text, chatbot, mobile, automated banking center directions and so on,” Oddy added.

An example, he said, is when the bank “receive[s] a request along the lines of: ‘If I have more than $2,000 in my checking account, transfer half to my savings account and then send me a statement.’ This customer request has three distinct intents, each of which requires a specific action to complete. Our new algorithm can more easily handle and automate this type of request.”

Diversity of inventors

Of the bank’s active portfolio of 5,837 patents, 26% were created by women, compared with fewer than 17% of women inventors worldwide, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in its latest Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) report, which provides a benchmark for measuring innovative activity in the global economy and diversity breakdowns.

Victoria Dravneek, a deposits and payments integration executive at Bank of America, is one of the bank’s lauded female inventors. She has filed 52 patents and 43 were granted, spanning categories in global treasury applications, fraud, and digital banking.

One of Dravneek’s most recent patent publications is related to the customization of client interfaces within multiple banking channels, and she is leading a team responsible for new product developments in this area.

“I originally came from the world of startups, where ideas were fast and furious,” said Dravneek in a release. “At Bank of America, I’m encouraged to leverage the same [start-up] mindset to dream big, identify new opportunities and find new ways to leverage technology to help our clients better manage their financial lives.”

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