The banking industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by digitalization, enhanced security, operational efficiency, ever changing consumer expectations, and growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and cybersecurity. In the last three years alone, there have been over 5,000 patents filed and granted in the banking industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in banking: voice payments. 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 stabilizing 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.

35+ 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 176,000 patents, there are 35+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, mortgage servicing risk management and AR/VR trading platforms are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Cashless settlement, automated banking machines, and asynchronous distributed payments are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are UWB-enabled payments, and mobile check deposit processing, which are now well established in the industry.

Innovation S-curve for the banking industry

Voice payments is a key innovation area in banking

Voice payments refer to a transaction in which payment is made through voice recognition and command technology, without the need for physical interaction with cards, cash or a mobile device.

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 120 companies, spanning technology vendors, established banking companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of voice payments.

Key players in voice payments – a disruptive innovation in the banking industry

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

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

Patent volumes related to voice payments

Company Total patents (2010 - 2022) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Bizmodeline 221 Unlock Company Profile
Alibaba Group 59 Unlock Company Profile
Mastercard 57 Unlock Company Profile
Samsung Group 50 Unlock Company Profile
Capital One Financial 48 Unlock Company Profile
Alphabet 32 Unlock Company Profile
Worldline 32 Unlock Company Profile
Visa 27 Unlock Company Profile
Barclays 24 Unlock Company Profile
Razorpay Software 23 Unlock Company Profile
Tencent 23 Unlock Company Profile
Qualcomm 20 Unlock Company Profile
Advanced New Technologies 19 Unlock Company Profile
PayPal 19 Unlock Company Profile
eBay 14 Unlock Company Profile
Riavera 14 Unlock Company Profile
Nokia 13 Unlock Company Profile
American Express 13 Unlock Company Profile
Rakuten Group 13 Unlock Company Profile
Huawei Investment & Holding 13 Unlock Company Profile
Mobidoo 12 Unlock Company Profile
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson 11 Unlock Company Profile
Fiserv 10 Unlock Company Profile
Amazon.com 10 Unlock Company Profile
Asio 10 Unlock Company Profile
Omnyway 10 Unlock Company Profile
Powa Technologies 9 Unlock Company Profile
Trusona 9 Unlock Company Profile
Nations Technologies 8 Unlock Company Profile
Apple 8 Unlock Company Profile
Bank of America 8 Unlock Company Profile
Soundpays 8 Unlock Company Profile
KT 7 Unlock Company Profile
Intel 7 Unlock Company Profile
LISNR 7 Unlock Company Profile
The Weir Group 7 Unlock Company Profile
Naffa Innovations 7 Unlock Company Profile
Eurazeo 6 Unlock Company Profile
Fidelity National Information Services 6 Unlock Company Profile
Digimarc 6 Unlock Company Profile
Harex Infotech 6 Unlock Company Profile
International Business Machines 6 Unlock Company Profile
JPMorgan Chase 6 Unlock Company Profile
Xiaomi 6 Unlock Company Profile
Fintrax Group 5 Unlock Company Profile
Alico 5 Unlock Company Profile
Shinhan Financial Group 5 Unlock Company Profile
Tsuruha 5 Unlock Company Profile
Shanghai CardInfoLink Data Service 4 Unlock Company Profile
Blaze Mobile 4 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Among the companies innovating in technologies associated with voice payments, Alibaba Group is one of the leading patent filers. The company filed patents related to payment processing methods and apparatus for collecting audio signals, generating graphic codes from the audio signals, verifying the user identity and the account number with voice print technology, and voice broadcasting the payment result.

Bizmodeline, Capital One Financial, and Mastercard are some of the other key patent filers in the voice payments space.

In terms of application diversity, Weir Group held the top position, while Sony Group and Fiserv stood in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Barclays leads the pack, followed by Razorpay Software and eBay.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the banking industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on 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.