Bank of America has experienced a significant growth in its patent portfolio over the past 5 years, with an increase of nearly 70%. In 2021 alone, the company was granted a record 644 patents, bringing its total to nearly 6,600 granted patents and pending applications. This represents a year-over-year increase of 13%, moving the bank from 75th to 64th on the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s Top 300 list of patent owners.
Twenty-eight percent of the patents granted last year were in the Information Security sector, highlighting Bank of America’s commitment to providing clients with world-class capabilities to manage their finances efficiently and securely. Aditya Bhasin, the chief technology and information officer for Bank of America, emphasized the importance of technology in meeting and anticipating clients’ needs. The company aims to continuously improve its experiences based on client feedback while investing $12 billion annually in technology, including $3.8 billion allocated for new technology initiatives in 2024. Over the past decade, Bank of America has spent $32 billion on new technology initiatives, demonstrating its commitment to innovation.
The impact of Bank of America’s patents is further highlighted by their citation by other companies in the financial services and technology industries more than 53,000 times. This shows that the company’s innovation has had a significant role in shaping the future of these industries and underscoring its importance as a leader in financial technology. With such diverse inventors across different states and countries, including women who make up more than one quarter of them, it is clear that innovation is at the heart of everything that Bank of America does.
