JP Morgan raises stakes with string of intriguing patents

The largest financial institution in the US has filed a flurry of payment technology patents that hint at how consumer services are likely to change in the coming years.

Many of these patents look at ways to simplify how transaction data is entered and transmitted, how new customer accounts are registered, and how customers sign in online to networked financial services. This includes ideas that move towards banking in the cloud. However, a rise in hack attacks appears to have had an impact on JP Morgan Chase’s strategy, with new ways to prevent against identity theft in development.

Card technology also features, with the firm exploring options for smart cards that can display a prepaid balance and the filing of a scheme called System and Method for Card Processing with Automated Payment of Club, Merchant, and Service Provider Fees, which seeks to make recurring monthly payments easier for customers by using a hardware storage device with access to a card issuer database.

More intriguing innovations include a payment reward systems for mortgage holders and credit account holders. There are also attempts to increase inclusion, with a patent for a self-serving kiosk that can understand sign language.

JP Morgan Chase has been a forerunner of banking and financial sector innovation in recent years, investing $30m in a Financial Solutions Lab that develops new technologies for the industry. It is also active in the funding of non-profit groups working in financial technology, giving $5m to a programme designed to help potential homeowners get on the housing ladder and contributing heavily to projects that aim to reduce blight and strengthen critical infrastructure.

 

 

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