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 is 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 Internet of Things in Banking: contactless payments. Buy the report here.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 195,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the banking industry, there are 60+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Contactless payments is a key innovation area in Internet of Things

Contactless payment is a type of electronic payment method that uses near-field communication (NFC) or radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to enable payments by tapping a card or mobile device on a payment terminal, eliminating the need for physical contact between the card or device and the terminal.

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 contactless payments.

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

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

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

Patent volumes related to contactless payments

Company Total patents (2010 - 2022) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Capital One Financial 174 Unlock Company Profile
Dynamics 123 Unlock Company Profile
DeviceFidelity 106 Unlock Company Profile
Digimarc 73 Unlock Company Profile
Angel Playing Cards 62 Unlock Company Profile
Blackhawk Network Holdings 62 Unlock Company Profile
Tyfone 61 Unlock Company Profile
Cloudparc 56 Unlock Company Profile
Samsung Group 55 Unlock Company Profile
Visa 49 Unlock Company Profile
Neology 49 Unlock Company Profile
SoftBank Group 47 Unlock Company Profile
Trax Technology Solutions 36 Unlock Company Profile
Jj Mackay Canada 36 Unlock Company Profile
Bank of America 35 Unlock Company Profile
Mastercard 35 Unlock Company Profile
Toshiba 32 Unlock Company Profile
IDEX 31 Unlock Company Profile
Dell Technologies 24 Unlock Company Profile
Alphabet 20 Unlock Company Profile
Thales 20 Unlock Company Profile
Tencent Holdings 19 Unlock Company Profile
MC Familiengesellschaft mbH 17 Unlock Company Profile
IDEMIA France 16 Unlock Company Profile
BrilliantTS 16 Unlock Company Profile
Bundesdruckerei 15 Unlock Company Profile
Tendyron 15 Unlock Company Profile
Renesas Electronics 14 Unlock Company Profile
Dominion Harbor Enterprises 14 Unlock Company Profile
Wells Fargo 13 Unlock Company Profile
Kona I 13 Unlock Company Profile
Xiaomi 13 Unlock Company Profile
CodeBroker 13 Unlock Company Profile
International Business Machines 12 Unlock Company Profile
PayPal Holdings 12 Unlock Company Profile
Omlis 12 Unlock Company Profile
Healthy io 11 Unlock Company Profile
Koninklijke Philips 11 Unlock Company Profile
Block 10 Unlock Company Profile
Fidelity National Information Services 10 Unlock Company Profile
LG 10 Unlock Company Profile
Diebold Nixdorf 10 Unlock Company Profile
Anchor Labs 9 Unlock Company Profile
Dashpass 9 Unlock Company Profile
Toronto-Dominion Bank 9 Unlock Company Profile
Infineon Technologies 8 Unlock Company Profile
Fingerprint Cards AB 8 Unlock Company Profile
Metrologic Instruments 8 Unlock Company Profile
Elan Microelectronics 7 Unlock Company Profile
Shenzhen Sensetime Technology 7 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Visa is a key patent filer in the field of contactless payments. The company has filed several patents for gesture-controlled payment instruments, unattended devices to accept a contactless payment, mobile devices containing contactless payment devices, and transactions with contactless payment devices using pre-tap and two-tap operations. Some other key patent filers in the contactless payments industry are Capital One Financial, DeviceFidelity, and Blackhawk Network.

In terms of application diversity, Angel Playing Cards leads the pack. Digimarc and Healthy io stood in the second and third positions respectively. By means of geographic reach, Shenzhen Sensetime holds the top position followed by Samsung and Angel Playing Cards.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the banking industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Internet of Things (IoT) in Banking.

Data Insights

From

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.

GlobalData

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.