BofA Reports 94% Growth in AI Patent Portfolio
Bank of America (BofA) has recorded a 94% increase in its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) patent portfolio since 2022.
The bank's intellectual property portfolio now includes 1,100 AI and ML patents and applications, with more than 500 already granted. This forms part of a broader collection of 7,000 patents across the organisation's technology stack, developed by 7,500 inventors across 14 countries and 42 US states. The bank holds the most granted patents of any financial services company.
Strategic Technology Investment
Bank of America's annual technology budget stands at US$12bn, with US$4bn allocated to new technology initiatives in 2024. This investment supports the development of solutions such as Erica, an AI-powered virtual financial assistant that processes natural language queries. The system has processed 2.4 billion interactions since its 2018 launch, with more than 45 million clients using the service.
The patents span multiple technology categories including information security, digital banking platforms, payment systems, data analytics and mixed reality applications. The bank's approach to AI implementation emphasises human oversight, transparency and accountability for all outcomes.
Corporate and Wealth Management Applications
In the corporate banking sector, the bank's CashPro platform serves 40,000 corporate and institutional clients. The treasury management system incorporates AI for transaction monitoring and account management. CashPro Chat uses the same AI and machine learning capabilities as Erica to help clients view transactions and find account information.
The questions CashPro Chat can assist with have doubled since its launch last year, including an AI-enabled feature that routes clients to specialists when needed.
What's more, the bank's Global Markets division has implemented machine learning chatbots across 20 trading areas. These systems access proprietary databases to provide real-time market information, trading volumes and exposure data.
The chatbot connects the bank's systems to deliver responses to trading-related questions such as market depth, trending indicators and current exposures.
For corporate clients, the Intelligent Receivables system employs AI and optical character recognition to reconcile payments across multiple channels, automating the matching of payments to invoices. The system, delivered with a third party, learns from payment patterns to improve accuracy over time and reduces costs associated with manual processing.
Client Insights, launched in 2020 for Merrill Wealth Management and Bank of America Private Bank advisors, uses AI-enabled data analytics to identify changes in client circumstances. The system has delivered 30 million insights to advisors since launch, highlighting opportunities in tax harvesting, 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," says Aditya Bhasin, Chief Technology & Information Officer at Bank of America.
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