Bank of America makes significant strides in AI and ML patent development, with a notable 94% growth since 2022, reflecting the bank’s commitment to financial innovation.
- Now holding 1,100 AI and ML patents, Bank of America demonstrates leadership in the financial sector’s digital transformation.
- The bank allocates a substantial annual technology budget, with a strong focus on new technology initiatives to drive innovation.
- AI-driven platforms like Erica and CashPro are crucial to Bank of America’s client solutions, enhancing user interactions and financial management.
- AI implementation at Bank of America underscores a commitment to transparency and accountability, integrating technology with human oversight.
Bank of America has considerably expanded its intellectual property portfolio, highlighting a remarkable 94% increase in its AI and machine learning (ML) patents since 2022. This accomplishment raises its total to 1,100 patents and applications, displayed within a broader framework of 7,000 patents across its technology stack. This achievement underlines Bank of America’s preeminence in holding the most granted patents among financial services globally.
The financial institution’s annual technology budget, amounting to US$12 billion, dedicates US$4 billion to new technology initiatives for 2024. This investment underpins the development of advanced solutions like Erica, the AI-powered virtual financial assistant that expertly handles natural language queries. Since its inception in 2018, Erica has processed approximately 2.4 billion interactions and served over 45 million clients, reinforcing its indispensable role in Bank of America’s client interaction strategy.
Bank of America’s patents span a diverse range of technological categories, encompassing information security, digital banking platforms, payment systems, data analytics, and mixed reality applications. The bank emphasises human oversight and accountability in its AI deployment, ensuring all outcomes remain transparent and effectively managed.
In the corporate banking domain, the CashPro platform caters to 40,000 corporate and institutional clients, bolstered by AI for transaction monitoring and account management. CashPro Chat adopts AI and ML technologies to simplify client interactions, enabling users to access transaction data and account information effortlessly. Since its launch, the platform’s query capacity has doubled, offering AI-enabled features that efficiently route clients to specialists when necessary.
Moreover, the Global Markets division has incorporated machine learning chatbots across 20 trading areas, accessing proprietary databases to present real-time market information, trading volumes, and exposure data. These innovative systems link the bank’s architecture to provide trading-related responses, including market depth and trending indicators.
For corporate clients, the Intelligent Receivables system utilises AI and optical character recognition to streamline payment reconciliations across various channels. By automating the matching of payments to invoices, this system enhances accuracy, reduces manual processing costs, and adapts to evolving payment patterns.
Launched in 2020, the Client Insights tool for Merrill Wealth Management and Bank of America Private Bank advisors employs AI-driven data analytics to identify shifts in client circumstances. This tool has delivered 30 million insights to advisors, pinpointing opportunities in areas such as tax optimisation, retirement planning, and student banking needs. “We innovate to meet and anticipate our clients’ needs. As our pace of innovation accelerates, we’re continually listening to clients and building solutions to improve and simplify their experiences,” remarks Aditya Bhasin, Chief Technology & Information Officer at Bank of America.
Bank of America’s advancements in AI patents mark a pivotal step in enhancing digital transformation within the financial services sector.
