Explore the key findings below or download the full report
The top five (predominantly North American) banks have published 67% of the AI research, filed 94% of the AI patents, and made 51% of the AI investments that we have tracked across the banking sector.
Canada’s RBC and TD Bank are hot on JPMorgan Chase’s heels, along with payment provider Visa. Of the 650 individuals working in AI research positions across the banks, 40% joined the banks since the start of 2022.
AI research talent is concentrated in four markets: the United States, India, Canada and the UK.
More than 1,400 patents were filed in 2021 alone. Only six banks are seriously pursuing AI patent registration as a strategy: Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, RBC, and TD Bank.
The escalating pace of patent filing suggests that this is an area where first-mover advantage, along with protective lock-in, is being eagerly sought.
This is followed closely by payments, user experience (with an NLP focus) and compliance.
8 out of the top 20 most influential patents were filed by RBC, followed by TD Bank and Capital One. Bank of America falls out of the top 5, into 6th position.
Capital One leads the way in terms of active AI/ML repositories on GitHub.
European banks are playing catch-up. 90% of AI-related investments were made by US banks in 2015, but this has since decreased to 60% in 2022.
Wells Fargo leads, followed by Goldman Sachs and First Citizens (after their acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank) are making the most investments. European banks BNP Paribas, Crédit Mutuel and Barclays make it into the top 10.
