The banking and payments industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation owing to ever changing consumer expectations. The rapid technological developments in the areas of banking and payments that aim to offer seamless experience to consumers are now becoming even more vital for industry participants as competitors leverage new technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cybersecurity, and embedded finance as they compete to stay relevant and grow in the market. In the last three years alone, there have been over 92,000 patents filed and granted in the banking industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in Banking: intelligent contact centres. Buy the report here.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

60+ innovations will shape the banking industry

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the banking industry using innovation intensity models built on over 195,000 patents, there are 60+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, AI-assisted OCR is a disruptive technology that is in the early stage of application and should be tracked closely. Transaction splitting, automated payment card scanning, and automated clearing houses are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas is the metadata extraction for payments, which is now well established in the industry. 

Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the banking industry

Intelligent contact centres is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence

Voice-activated banking virtual assistants, such as Bank of America's Erica and U.S. Bank Smart Assistant, can make it easy to quickly transfer money or make payments to businesses, friends or family. For instance, customers can give instructions to carry out basic transactions while speaking to the U.S. Bank Smart Assistant.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 50 companies, spanning technology vendors, established banking companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of intelligent contact centres.

Key players in intelligent contact centres – a disruptive innovation in the banking industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Patent volumes related to intelligent contact centres

Company Total patents (2010 - 2022) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Samsung Group 1967 Unlock Company Profile
Alphabet 1713 Unlock Company Profile
Microsoft 1187 Unlock Company Profile
Apple 1007 Unlock Company Profile
LG 791 Unlock Company Profile
International Business Machines 623 Unlock Company Profile
Baidu 579 Unlock Company Profile
Amazon.com 517 Unlock Company Profile
Sony Group 482 Unlock Company Profile
Mitsubishi Electric 306 Unlock Company Profile
Panasonic 244 Unlock Company Profile
Hyundai Motor Group 228 Unlock Company Profile
Tencent Holdings 220 Unlock Company Profile
Toyota Motor 216 Unlock Company Profile
Sonos 213 Unlock Company Profile
Honeywell International 210 Unlock Company Profile
Intel 189 Unlock Company Profile
Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China 187 Unlock Company Profile
Meta Platforms 177 Unlock Company Profile
Huawei Investment & Holding 176 Unlock Company Profile
Toshiba 167 Unlock Company Profile
Lenovo Group 149 Unlock Company Profile
AT&T 145 Unlock Company Profile
People.ai 142 Unlock Company Profile
Ford Motor 140 Unlock Company Profile
Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai 136 Unlock Company Profile
Baidu 134 Unlock Company Profile
General Motors 124 Unlock Company Profile
Xperi Holding 122 Unlock Company Profile
Motorola Solutions 120 Unlock Company Profile
Midea Holding 119 Unlock Company Profile
Accenture 118 Unlock Company Profile
Walmart 118 Unlock Company Profile
Honda Motor 116 Unlock Company Profile
Capital One Financial 106 Unlock Company Profile
Avaya Holdings 104 Unlock Company Profile
Alibaba Group Holding 100 Unlock Company Profile
Qualcomm 98 Unlock Company Profile
Soundhound 95 Unlock Company Profile
Cirrus Logic 95 Unlock Company Profile
ADOBE 83 Unlock Company Profile
Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories 78 Unlock Company Profile
Furukawa 77 Unlock Company Profile
GuangDong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications 74 Unlock Company Profile
Verint Systems 74 Unlock Company Profile
Kia 72 Unlock Company Profile
Sharp 67 Unlock Company Profile
SoftBank Group 65 Unlock Company Profile
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone 64 Unlock Company Profile
Faurecia 60 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Samsung Group is one of the leading companies in the area of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered intelligent contact centres. The company offers range of services based on AI, such as automated routing, voice bot, and chat or email bot. Some other key players in this space include Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, LG, and IBM.

In terms of application diversity, Huawei leads the pack. People.ai and Walmart stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, People.ai holds the top position, followed by Meta Platforms and Apple.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the banking industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Banking.

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.