To provide personalized customer experiences, TD Bank is developing AI technology, which has resulted in more patents for the company.  

“TD has filed more than 450 patent applications in relation to AI [since 2020],” Senior Vice President and Chief Architect Licenia Rojas said on May 15 during TD Tech and Innovation Day. TD has “over 50 [AI] use cases that are either in development or are already being deployed.” 

The $1.9 trillion bank has received more than 2,500 patents since 2020, with nearly 20% related to AI, according to a release from TD today.

“AI is a central piece of our portfolio,” Josh Death, vice president of intellectual property and ideation at the bank’s innovation arm, TD Invent told Bank Automation News. “In 2023, we filed a series of patents in relations to a generative AI assistant that we’re now testing in our contact centers, and it is helping our colleagues to answer customer inquiries faster.” 

According to the bank’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, TD has been granted over 55 AI-related patents since 2018, Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said during the bank’s earnings call on Nov. 30. 

Bank of America is also boosting AI-focused innovations through its patent efforts. 

The $2.4 trillion bank was granted 644 patents in 2023, up 6% year over year, and now has more than 6,000 patents, according to a March 6 release. Like TD, 20% of the patents granted to Bank of America in 2023 were AI or machine learning-focused, a release from the bank stated. 

AI innovators 

To develop and deploy AI, TD looks to its employees for ideas and has increased its AI team, according to a May 16 release. 

“Our patents are a product of our colleague-led innovation relating to the products and services they’re creating for our customers and colleagues,” Death said. 

The bank’s patent inventor base surpassed 1,000 in 2023, growing more than 40% from 2000 to 2023, according to the release. 

The bank collected over 18,000 ideas from staff through its TD Invent internal ideation program’s internal program Id8, the release stated. 

According to The Dispatch: Talent Capability report by AI company Evident, published today, TD ranks 15th among top 50 global banks for its AI-focused talent, with Capital One and JPMorgan grabbing the first two spots, respectively. 

TD is set to report its fiscal second-quarter earnings on May 23.